The German mobile services market reached EUR 19.5 billion in revenues in 2009, down 2.1 percent from 2008, according to a report from Telecompaper. The annual growth of EUR 0.6 billion in non-voice service revenues (messaging and data) was not able to compensate fully the continuous pressure on voice service revenues, which fell by EUR 1.0 billion. Fourth-quarter service revenues showed a seasonal decrease of 1.7 percent. Compared to the same quarter last year, services revenues fell 2.2 percent, as non-voice revenues growth was not able to compensate for the decline in voice. Vodafone and T-Mobile's combined market share dropped by 0.7 percent in 2009, mainly due to Vodafone's weaker performance. Challenger E-Plus was again the only operator to show annual revenue growth, although at a lower rate than in the previous year. E-Plus' overall market share increased by 0.4 percent point to 15.5 percent in 2009. O2 only showed a small annual drop in service revenue and was as such able to increase its fourth place position by 0.3 percent to 14.7 percent market share. In terms of mobile subscribers, the German market increased by 0.3 million in the last quarter and only 1 million for the full year, to a total 108 million customers. Market penetration rose to 132.0 percent at the end of 2009, from 130.6 percent a year earlier. Telecompaper forecast service revenues in 2010 to come in flat to slightly lower.
