Austrians sent more than 5.7 billion text messages in 2009

Press release dated 7 June 2010

„Austrians are dedicated users of text messaging: more than 5.7 billion text messages were sent in 2009, which is about 1 billion or 21.7% more text messages than in 2008,“ Georg Serentschy, Managing Director of RTR's Telecommunications Division, stated, presenting statistics from the most recent Telecom Monitor report. “Among the reasons for this increase is that mobile service operators are increasingly offering flat-fee packages which include both phone minutes and a specified quantity of text messages.“

„Sending MMS messages is far less accepted among end customers. About 32.5 million MMS messages were sent in 2009: considering a level of variability of +/‑3%, the number of MMS messages sent has remained more or less unchanged since 2007,“ Serentschy said, presenting additional statistics. In his opinion this may be due to the fact that operators offer only few flat-fee schemes that also include MMS services.

Broadband penetration in Austria increased to 88% by the end of 2009

„As in the first three quarters of 2009, broadband penetration continued to increase in the fourth quarter, reaching a level of 88% by the end of the year, with broadband penetration through fixed networks increasing to 52% and through mobile networks to 36%. This upward trend is continuing in 2010,“ Serentschy stated, revealing further figures from the RTR publication. „With respect to penetration with mobile broadband services, Austria is at the forefront among all EU countries, and for broadband services realized via fixed networks within the European average. One of the aims of the Austrian federal government in establishing the „Internet Society Competence Center“ is to provide additional incentives to promote the use of broadband services as well as access to such services.”

The RTR Telecom Monitor, published every quarter, is based on the data collected by RTR-GmbH. The publication presents a compilation of market data, derived from the fixed-network, leased-line and mobile service sectors, and of financial key figures. The most recent edition of the Monitor, surveying the period from 2007 through 2009, may be viewed on the RTR-GmbH website by following this link: