Western Europe net additions: WCDMA growth erodes GSM installed base

In mid-2006 we reported that WCDMA adoption in Western Europe had moved into a new phase, in which it was taking the majority of net additions (i.e. market growth) compared to GSM-only phones. Now, in Q1 2007, we have seen negative net additions for GSM for the first time. This tells us that WCDMA is entering another new phase and is starting to eat into the installed base of GSM. Our forecasts show this will accelerate as WCDMA phones become more widely available on prepay tariffs in H2 2007.