L'ecosistema Digitale
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1. The communications market in Italy 76 77 2.1. Sector trends In the last year, the communications sector has not escaped the difficulties being faced in the Italian economy between 2011 and 2012. In a The value of the context of substantial deterioration of the macroeconomic framework, with communications sector decreased purchasing power of households and investments penalised by the difficulties in obtaining credit for companies, the sector operators have had to face a situation of economic crisis, consumption stagnation in real terms and uncertainty of growth prospects in the short and medium term. In this framework, the value of the macro sector of communications (including the media, telecommunications and postal service sectors) for 2012 is estimated at Euro 61.4 billion, which corresponds to a total loss of Euro 4.4 billion in terms of sales compared to 2011. Figure 1.1. The communications sector – Revenues (2012, billions of Euro) Source: processed by the Authority using company data 78 Compared to the total value of the sector, telecommunications account for and its single about 62%, while media services account for 26% and postal services 12%. The components. different relative weight of the three sectors is reflected not only on the total value of the communications system, but also on the contribution of each sector to the overall decline in the revenues recorded. Before providing a more accurate analysis in the following paragraphs, it is worth mentioning in advance that, in absolute terms, the most marked decrease occurred in the telecommunications market, which recorded Euro 2.6 billion less than in 2011, confirming the downward trend in total revenues already registered in the two previous years (see par. 2.2). The largest fall in relative terms was recorded in the media sector, however (radio and television, publishing and the Internet), for which the rate of decline was 8%. The loss of turnover in the last year is estimated at Euro 1.4 billion. Moreover, the figure marks a change in the trend of the period 2010-2011, when the total value of the sector was nominally increased (respectively by 4.8% and 0.5%). The postal sector also showed a decline compared to the previous year: in fact, 2012 ended with a contraction of more than 2%. Table 1.1. Breakdown of revenues in the communications sector (Euro mln) 2011 2012 Free TV 5,513 4,855 Pay TV 3,491 3,369 Radio 715 678 Internet 1,408 1,553 Daily newspapers 2,900 2,595 Magazines 3,281 2,712 TOT. MEDIA 17,308 15,762 Universal postal service (including exclusive services) 4,110 3,802 Express courier 3,810 3,909 TOT. POSTAL SERVICES 7,920 7,711 Fixed network 19,570 18,450 Mobile network 21,030 19,530 TOT. TELECOMMUNICATIONS 40,600 37,980 TOTAL 65,828 61,453 Source: processed and estimated by the Authority using company data The trend in revenues, however, shows differences also within individual Trends in the sectors. In the telecommunications sector, the mobile network services - in telecommunication contrast with 2011 - recorded the highest decrease in terms of revenues. This s market seems confirmed by increasing competitive pressure suffered by mobile operators which last year had a particularly significant contraction in the supply of intermediate services (-26%) and a more contained contraction at the retail level (-2%). Also considering this particular fact, the overall trend of the telecommunications market confirms the trends highlighted last year, including a reduction in the prices of telecommunications services to the benefit of consumers and the reduction in the volume of voice traffic on the fixed dial-up network. In this context, the profitability of the sector nevertheless remains stable, mainly due to internal reorganisation processes by major telecommunications operators of fixed and mobile networks. The result of the investments in the networks remains substantially stable in the Italian market, thanks to the increase in the mobile segment which offset the marked reduction in the fixed-network segment. The media sector, on the other hand, although less affected by the negative macroeconomic situation which had a negative impact on the reduction and in the media 79 of household spending, seems to be suffering from the negative trend in the advertising market. In fact, advertising revenues are tending to move towards the new aggregators of online audiovisual content, with less inclination to invest in advertising on the part of the advertisers, mainly due to a decrease in household and business consumption in recent years. In fact, although there is substantial stability on the part of the pay-TV segment, free TV is suffering the greatest losses due to a contraction in revenues from advertising. In terms of audiences, a growing trend for non-generalist TV is confirmed, relative to which the public has become more numerous in all time slots. At the same time, however, the revenues of providers of online audiovisual services and providers of content via the Internet in general have increased, in line with a trend already reported by the Authority and subject to continuous monitoring in recent years, as evidenced by the surveys on the advertising industry in general and online advertising in particular (see par. 1.6). In the media sector, the Internet represents the largest element of change as regards technology and the market, where advertising shows an annual sales growth rate of 40%. What makes advertising on the Internet particularly attractive is, however, a greater ability to "target" users and a greater availability of advertisements regardless of the user's browsing equipment (desktop computer, laptop, tablet, smartphone, etc.), the mode (fixed, mobile, nomadic) and other navigation features. In Italy, the first sector that had to face the challenges of the digital revolution was the printed press, including both newspapers and magazines. In recent years, the advent of the Internet has subtracted a significant proportion of revenues from the publishing industry, exacerbating a largely structural crisis in the segment. Also abroad, in the face of this trend, the major publishing groups have diversified their offer by expanding their own digital information portfolio (websites, digital versions of hardcopy newspapers, etc.) to cope with the different ways of using information in the Internet age. In Italy, it is estimated that the average time spent by an Internet user on Facebook is fourteen times greater than the average time spent on the leading online newspaper. This has led to a decrease in the frequency of newspaper purchasing as well as in the number of readers, without however eroding the strength of the editorial brand name which resists because of the particular features of the product. The latter having its own identity, which is not limited to a mere collection of articles. For that matter, the publishers have also begun to use the new medium, the Internet, where advertising revenues are greater than income from the purchase of copies or subscriptions. While abroad even magazines like Newsweek have permanently abandoned their hardcopy version (in January 2013, the famous magazine published its first digital-only issue), in Italy the digitalisation process has taken place mainly according to the double-track model: printed and online versions for both newspapers and magazines, partly due to legislation which contemplated financial support for publishing which, until the entry into force of Legislative Decree no. 63 of 2012, penalised the abandonment of the hardcopy version. It is to be noted, however, that, at the present stage of Internet development, a mixed composition of revenues in the publishing industry (advertising and subscription for access to premium content) is beginning to gain a foothold in Italy too.1 and in the postal The impact of the Internet does not even seem to have excluded the services. postal services sector, affected by a certain degree of development in the 1 See Annex A to Resolution no. 551/12/CONS, regarding the results of the survey on advertising revenues, which highlights the claim of "premium models, i.e. paid for, at least in part, through forms of direct payment, in some cases driven by a free-content part". 80 express delivery market, where there is the highest level of competition between operators. In this segment, revenues between 2011 and 2012 showed an increase of approximately 2.5%, amounting to around Euro 4 billion. It cannot be ruled out that this figure affects, to a certain extent, the development of e- commerce platforms, as reported by the OECD in a recent report which also takes into consideration the Italian market.2 In contrast, the market for traditional services, in particular those of the universal service and those entrusted exclusively to Poste Italiane, shows a downward trend due to a decrease in volumes in Italy, as in the rest of Europe, thanks the development of e-mail and certified e-mail services. Ultimately, the entire evolution of the communications industry in Italy is marked by recession which affects the economic system and which involves, now more than ever, the Internet, the development of which affects the performance of the traditional sectors. The growth of the markets for Internet services and platforms, and for online media in particular, has inevitable repercussions on other means of communication: traffic volumes and pricing systems for telecommunications services, and the quotas allocated to other communication means for the media sector. For the above reasons, the estimates of the economic impact of the Internet suggest that this media will make a significant contribution to GDP, due to savings in public spending associated with the use of ICT services and technologies in the provision of public services and public administration functions, as well as the development of new markets.