Optus snapping at Telstra's heels

Telstra is still bestriding Aussie telecoms like a colossus, according to the latest report from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) into how the country's telcos are faring.

The ACCC annual report, which studies how Telstra, Optus, AAPT, Primus and Vodafone performed in the 2005 to 2006 financial year, reveals Telstra still remains way ahead in revenues and market share.

Optus, however, is pressing forward. While Telstra's market share in fixed-line telecoms remains steady year-on-year at some 60 percent, Optus is making advances at the expense of smaller telcos, increasing its market share to around 26 percent.

In mobile telecoms, the study shows, Telstra's revenues remained static while both Optus and Vodafone's increased. Equally, both Optus and Vodafone increased their services in operation (SIOs) -- individual subscriptions -- while Telstra's decreased.

"The total number of services in operation (SIO) increased to 17.56 million in 2005-06, an increase of 15.6 percent on the previous year. Similarly total minutes continued to increase, with carriers reporting over 19 billion voice minutes in 2005-06.

"Market shares in the mobile market altered slightly with Telstra's revenue from mobile services decreasing marginally (by less than 0.1 percent) to AU$3.491 billion while Optus and Vodafone both reported slight improvements in market share for revenues and services in operation," the report said.

The five telcos monitored by the study earned AU$18.1 billion during the 2005 to 2006 financial year, up from AU$17.9 billion the preceding year, with increases in Internet and mobile services making up for the ongoing decline in fixed line revenues.