IE Market Research Corp., the Canadian-based provider of market intelligence services, announced today the release of its 1Q.2011 United Kingdom Mobile Operator Forecast, 2010 - 2015.

“Given the latest quarter numbers, we expect that the number of mobile subscriber connections in the UK will rise to 88.8 million in 2012. In the UK market where prepaid is widely accepted as a payment model rather than an option for the credit-unworthy, the majority of the mobile subscriber connections is prepaid. We expect that about 55% of the total number of connections will continue to be prepaid over the next two years,” said Nizar Assanie, Vice President (Research) at IEMR. “Market dynamics are changing rapidly especially with the increasing presence of Everything Everywhere - the joint-venture between T-Mobile and Orange. We forecast that Everything Everywhere’s market share will increase to 38.5% by the end of 2012.”

IEMR’s United Kingdom Mobile Operator Forecast covers 50 financial and operational metrics on wireless operators in the United Kingdom, including Everything Everywhere, Telefonica O2 UK, Vodafone UK, and Hutchison 3G UK. Our Mobile Operator Forecasts are updated quarterly and are available for one-time delivery or through regular updates.

Notable highlights of the 1Q.2011 United Kingdom Mobile Operator Forecast include:

- In the competitive UK market, wireless carriers are battling to attract and retain customers. As Everything Everywhere enjoys strong customer additions, we expect market share declines at O2 and Vodafone over the next eight quarters. We forecast that subscriber market shares at O2 and Vodafone will be 27.3% and 19.7% respectively by the end of 2012.

- Despite the expected market share loss, smartphones are driving Vodafone UK’s revenue growth; we expect that Vodafone’s profitability will remain higher than that of Everything Everywhere. We forecast that EBITDA margins at Vodafone and Everything Everywhere will be approximately 26% and 20% respectively in 2012.