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When reviewing WIDAR for Western European subscriber and ARPU figures so far this year, the most telling observation is the lack of any real movement in these data points. Consider the case for the four largest operators in this region - Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile. and Telefonica/O2 - for the period Q4 2007 through to Q2 2008.

In the UK, where all four companies have operations, O2 gained 300K subscribers in this period, whilst T-Mobile lost 500K - not large amounts for companies with 19 and 17 million subscribers respectively. The other two operators are static. ARPU at the four companies has dropped to an average of €27, but this can be put down to the weakening exchange rate of sterling.

In Spain, Orange and Telefonica's subscriber levels are static, whilst Vodafone has jumped by 400K. ARPU has dropped for everyone in Spain during this period with Vodafone at €32, Telefonica at €31 and Orange at €25. There is no movement in subscribers for Orange in France and ARPU remain constant at €33.

The only exception to this trend is in Germany where operators are still enjoying significant subscriber additions - over 3 million from Q4 2007 to Q2 2008. T-Mobile has added about two million new customers while Vodafone and O2 have added about one million each. A drop in the average ARPU across these operators of €1 to an average of €17 has been more than offset by subscriber increases.

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