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A second operator France Télécomled Mobistar was licensed in and launched services in August . The third operator, KPN Orange, was licensed Links of London and launched in . KPN Orange was renamed BASE in after France Télécom acquired Orange in and thereafter sold its holding in KPN Orange to fellow shareholder KPN Mobile of the Netherlands. Thirdgeneration UMTS licences were auctioned in , although at a time when the G auction bubble had burst. Only the three existing G operators submitted bids for the licences, with each bidding around EURmn. So far, only Proximus and Mobistar Links of London W Charm launched G services commercially, with BASE reluctant to commit to the market until recently. A fourth UMTS licence is to be auctioned in , with fixedlinebroadband operator Telenet tipped to be the primary bidder. Belgium’s mobile market is characterised by growing competition between MVNOs, with BASE working with well over entities at the time of writing though consolidation even here means that Links of London V Charm number of real partners is rather smaller. Proximus and Mobistar are also becoming more active on the MVNO front, with Mobistar likely to do well out of its recentlyexpanded MVNO agreement with Telenet. Belgium’s mobile penetration remains relatively modest compared with some of its neighbours, although this is partially due to a stringent policy of discounting inactive users. By the end of , mobile penetration had risen to . Although this gives Belgium a lower penetration rate than most other west European markets, it is important to remember that other European operators continue to include a certain number of inactive mobile users within their totals. Average Market Growth Indicator takes into consideration the historical growth patterns of the fixedline, internet, broadband and mobile markets, providing a basis Links of London U Charm which to forecast. Using historical data is often the most desirable method of analysis. In most cases, subscriber data is derived from individual operators andor national regulators. Subjective Indicators Indicators look at a number of factors, such as Neighbouringsimilar states. These types of markets often share similar telecoms markets.