Yet emerging market operators continue to trial their developed market counterparts in terms of EBITDA per subscriber, with operators in Western Europe, the USA, Japan and Korea posting high figures.

Emerging market players such as Smart of the Philippines, Thailand’s AIS and MobiNil of Egypt have higher margins than Western counterparts such as Vodafone, T-Mobile and Portugal Telecom, according to World Cellular Operator Benchmarks, a quarterly report from Informa Telecoms & Media. Smart, AIS and MobiNil each had an EBITDA margin of over 50% in Q1 2005, well above the world average of 36.17%.

Chart Top EBITDA margins by operator

EBITDA per subscriber, however, remains highest amongst operators in developed markets such as Japan, the USA and Western Europe, as operators’ focus on driving value from their existing subscriber bases. KDDI, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone each had over USD 50 of EBITDA per subscriber in Q1 2005.

© Informa Telecoms & Media's World Cellular Data Metrics