EIDQ releases market survey results

THE EIDQ Association, the pan-European trade body for the Directory Assistance industry, has completed its fourth market survey into the Directory Information Industry.

Some of the key findings concerned revenues and call volumes and, in 2008, EIDQ member companies alone achieved revenues of €488 million, of which €411 was generated in Europe. Members reported that their directory assistance volumes amounted to 360 million calls per annum.

Further research findings revealed that the directory information industry revenues for the whole research area amounted to almost €7 billion, of which €6.2 billion was attributable to North America. Call volumes amounted to nearly 8 billion, of which 6.4 billion were in North America.

Other findings related to employment and general trends in the industry. The research estimates that, in Europe alone, some 15,000 people (full-time equivalents) are working in the directory information industry.

The general trend in the forecast for call volumes in 2009 is down with the level of expected decrease varying between 5% and >15%.

The liberalisation wave that has gone through Europe in the past decade did not result in the expected increase in call volumes, in fact, such “liberalised” countries have shown the highest decrease rates.

The few countries that expect a more modest decline in their call volumes in 2009 have either:

• Experienced a severe decline previously in past years;
• A relatively strong economy;
• A monopolist situation.

The majority of the countries reporting a more significant decline have either:

• Already gone through the process of liberalisation.
• A high broadband penetration.
• A high penetration of mobile internet.

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