Telstra and Optus have strengthened their share of Australia’s postpaid mobile phone market at the expense of Vodafone, according to a newly published report.
The latest Worldpanel ComTech report from Kantar showed that Vodafone suffered a marketshare loss in postpaid, with customers churning primarily to Telstra, but with Oprtus also gaining a slight increase in marketshare.
According to Kantar, Telstra’s share was up 2.0ppts over last year, with Vodafone and other MVNO’s the largest source of its customer gain.
The report reveals that these customers are joining Telstra on a postpaid tariff to get “better network coverage” and “better customer service”.
{loadposition peter}Kantar says Optus also enjoyed marketshare growth of 0.5ppts, with customer gain coming from Telstra and Virgin.
“This growth is, in part, driven by Samsung customers who joined Optus to get ‘a good deal on the tariff/ contract’ with a Galaxy S6 or S7 included, with Optus’ $85+ tariff packages growing in popularity (these higher value plans include free TV/ music/ sport streaming),” the report notes.
According to the report, 17% of consumers within the postpaid market are “out of contract” of which nearly half are connected to Telstra.
And, the average revenue per user (ARPU) for postpaid customers is significantly higher among those on a 12 or 24 month contract, with 45% spending above $70 per month vs only 19% spending over $70 for those “out of contract”.
Kantar says the difference in ARPU is clearly noticeable in data packages, where 41% of those on a contract have a data allowance of 6GB+ compared to only 23% of those “out of contract”.
The report reveals that whilst the majority of postpaid plans are the traditional SIM and phone contracts, one in four postpaid plans are SIM only and a further 17% are postpaid plans that have run beyond the standard fixed contract term (out of contract).
And, Prepaid customers account for 35% of the mobile market, with most customers recharging as and when needed. Meanwhile, at the total market level, Kantar says Aldi displays the biggest share increase compared to other providers, with growth of +0.9ppt to 2.7%.
Kantar says that carriers will need to target these consumers with attractive SIM and phone plans in order to prevent churn to the MVNO’s.
Within the prepaid sector, Telstra share declined by 2.8ppts on last year to 38.9%, whilst Vodafone’s marketshare stabilised.
Kantar says that carriers such as Boost, Aldi, TPG and Kogan are growing steadily as consumers become spoilt for choice in the prepaid market, and consumers are joining Boost to get better data allowances ($30 for 7GB), Aldi for its network coverage, with Kogan being recommended by family and friends.
Of prepaid customers, 17% are on SIM Only monthly billing, where Amaysim and Optus display a “relative strength, Kantar notes.
“These particular plans are growing in popularity, giving consumers the flexibility of no locked in contracts, whilst taking advantage of high data allowances at a lower cost,” the report concludes.