Summary

The regional market has been continuing its overall strong growth phase and with that there has been a correspondingly strong development of infrastructure. The report looks at the telecom infrastructure in each of the region's economies. Governments across Asia have long recognised-some earlier than others-that there needed to be some encouragement of private sector investment to meet the demand for the all-important investment capital in the telecom sector. At the same time, it was generally well recognised that this strategy could not rely on local investment alone, and would inevitably mean a substantial level of foreign investment. Of course, despite this recognition, there has nevertheless been some resistance within governments to opening up the telecom sector to foreign investors and as a consequence the level of 'encouragement' has been variable.
 
The changing nature of the telecom market has also had a major impact on the approach to investment in infrastructure. With shifting revenue patterns across the market segments and falling ARPUs on many services, operators have been more selective about what they actually invest in. Telecom operators throughout Asia have been increasing investment levels on the back of carefully considered investment strategies. This has seen companies shifting business focus, looking for new ways to add value to existing revenue streams; it has also seen a strong desire to leverage new value from infrastructure that is already in place.
 
Over a number of decades the economies of Asia have progressively built substantial fixed-line national networks followed by national mobile networks. In many of the developing nations of the region, the building of fixed-line infrastructure was not far advanced before it was overwhelmed by the introduction of mobile infrastructure. This has created the phenomenon of 'substitution' in many of the markets of Asia (where mobile services perform the function of the non-existent fixed services.) Nevertheless, despite the unevenness in disposition, fixed infrastructure remains an important component in the overall development of the region's telecom sector. By June 2009, Asia had infrastructure in place supporting a total of more than 2.4 billion telephone subscribers; of these, around 570 million were fixed-line subscribers, the remainder of course being mobile subscribers.
 
More recently the focus of infrastructure building has shifted to the upgrading of domestic telecoms networks to Next Generation Networks (NGNs). Basically, this process is seeing large scale investment by Asia's leading telecoms markets in new-generation IP-based telecommunications networks. Those countries that have government backing for NGN roll-out are the ones that are setting the pace. Even some of the lesser-developed markets are pushing hard on this front.
 
In addition to the national networks, international connectivity remains central to the overall effectiveness of the region's telecommunications services. Submarine cable routes criss-cross the Asia Pacific area, providing both intra-regional and inter-regional networks. This sector of the market has been characterised by fluctuating supply and demand, which in turn has seen somewhat erratic investment strategies. Over-supply of capacity has been a phenomenon in the market. More recently it has been recognised that investments need to be more focused on growth and less speculative. Starting in 2007 and continuing on into 2009, a series of new submarine cable projects were being proposed and installed throughout the region, mainly trans-Pacific networks aimed at a particular predicted shortfall in capacity between Asia and the US as Asia's broadband usage started to rapidly increase. However, it was not certain that all these projects would come to fruition, as their respective business cases underwent close scrutiny. The impact of the 2008/09 global financial crisis also needed to be assessed by prospective investors.
 
As the demand for wholesale services has continued to rise in Asia, still driven in the short term by voice services, but in the longer term by data services, there has been a boom in IP-based services, with the volume of international Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) traffic into and out of Asia increasing at a rapid rate at the expense of the traditional International Direct Dial (IDD) traffic. In the short term this has distorted the demand for bandwidth. However, in the longer term, this will inevitably lead to demand for more optical fibre networks to support the necessary increased bandwidth.
 
Asia-key developments in infrastructure-2008-2009
*  Asia had networks and infrastructure supporting a total of more than 2.4 billion telephone subscribers by June 2009; of these, an estimated 570 million were fixed-line subscribers and just under 1.9 billion were mobile subscribers;
*  Asia's developed markets were starting to move quickly into building their NGNs, with IP shaping as the primary delivery platform for telecom services across the region;
*  After annual growth of close to 30% in the region's mobile market in 2008, by mid-2009 growth was still up around 20%, despite the general economic uncertainty prevailing in the region;
*  Most significantly, there was considerable pressure on operators to expand infrastructure to support their growing subscriber bases and usage levels;
*  The roll-out of 3G networks in particular saw 3G commercial networks operating in 17 countries across the region by June 2009 for around 170 million 3G subscribers by that stage.
*  It is estimated that Asia needs to invest at least US$1 trillion in new infrastructure over the next ten years to meet projected demand;
*  Asia's submarine cable market has witnessed a new round of investor interest as the previous over-supply problem seems to have dissipated; increasing demand for bandwidth is putting new pressure on capacity;
*  With a number of serious system outages fresh in the minds of operators, redundancy also become a critical issue for submarine cable systems in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond; this has provided an additional incentive for investment in this form of infrastructure;
*  The region continued to see new satellite launches in 2008/09 and more launches were scheduled in 2009/10; this market segment appeared to have adopted a more balanced approach to growth.
 
Data in this report is the latest available at the time of preparation and may not be for the current year.

Table of Contents

1. Afghanistan
1.1 Overview
1.2 Infrastructure projects
1.2.1 Globecomm contracts
1.2.2 AWCC's microwave ring
2. Armenia
2.1 Local and national infrastructure
2.2 International infrastructure
3. Azerbaijan
3.1 National telecom network
3.2 International infrastructure
3.2.1 Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) cable network
4. Bangladesh
4.1 National telecom network
4.1.1 Fibre optic networks
4.1.2 Public payphones
4.1.3 Grameen Telecom's Village Project
4.1.4 Next Generation Networks (NGNs)
4.1.5 Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
4.2 International infrastructure
4.2.1 International Gateways
4.2.2 Satellite networks
4.2.3 Submarine cable networks
4.2.4 Other fibre links
5. Bhutan
5.1 National telecom network
5.1.1 Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSATs)
5.1.2 E-Shabtog
5.2 International infrastructure
6. Brunei Darussalam
6.1 National telecom network
6.1.1 Telecommunications development project
6.1.2 Public payphones
6.1.3 GSM payphones
6.1.4 Brunei Information Infrastructure
6.2 International infrastructure
6.2.1 Trans-Borneo Optical Cable Network
6.2.2 Submarine cable networks
6.2.3 Satellite networks
6.3 Infrastructure developments
6.3.1 VoIP
6.3.2 Next Generation Networks (NGN)
7. Cambodia
7.1 National telecom network
7.2 International infrastructure
7.2.1 Greater Mekong Subregion Telecommunications Cooperation Group
8. China
8.1 Overview of infrastructure developments in China
8.2 National telecom networks
8.2.1 Backbone Internet networks
8.2.2 ChinaNet Next Carrying Network (CN2)/IPv6
8.3 International infrastructure
8.3.1 Submarine cable infrastructure
8.3.2 Satellite infrastructure
8.4 IP networks
8.4.1 IP-Virtual Private Network (IP-VPN)
8.4.2 Peer-to-Peer (P2P) streaming
8.5 Next Generation Networks (NGNs)
8.6 China's world first eco city
8.7 Environmental focus for smart grids
8.7.1 Overview
8.7.2 Policy
8.7.3 Call for a modern grid
8.7.4 Smart grid in Anhui Province
8.8 China builds its own Silicon Delta
8.9 Snow storms damage operator infrastructure
8.10 Earthquake response
9. Georgia
9.1 National telecom network
9.1.1 Wireless Local Loop (WLL)
9.2 International infrastructure
10. Hong Kong
10.1 Overview
10.2 Mainland connection
10.3 Full liberalisation of FTNS market
10.3.1 Local and STD calls
10.3.2 International calls
10.4 Submarine cable networks
10.4.1 Pacnet Global (formerly Asia Netcom / Asia Global Crossing)
10.4.2 Hutchison Global Telecommunications (Hong Kong)
10.4.3 C2C Pte Ltd / Pacnet Cable
10.4.4 Telstra/PCCW
10.4.5 Tricom Asia Ltd
10.5 Satellite networks
10.5.1 AsiaSat
10.5.2 APStar
10.5.3 Asia Broadcast Satellite
11. India
11.1 National infrastructure
11.1.1 Overview
11.1.2 Network development
11.1.3 National network
11.1.4 Infrastructure sharing
11.1.5 Rural and regional networks
11.1.6 Fibre optic cable projects
11.1.7 Wireless Local Loop (WLL)
11.2 International infrastructure
11.2.1 Overview
11.2.2 India-Pakistan
11.2.3 Submarine cable networks
11.2.4 Satellite communications
11.3 Infrastructure developments
11.3.1 VoIP(VoIP)
11.3.2 IP networks
11.3.3 Next Generation Networks (NGNs)
12. Indonesia
12.1 National infrastructure
12.1.1 Overview
12.1.2 Infrastructure developments
12.1.3 KSO ventures-five-zone plan
12.1.4 Rural telephony
12.1.5 Wireless Local Loop (WLL)
12.2 International infrastructure
12.2.1 International gateway exchanges
12.2.2 Submarine cable networks
12.2.3 Satellite networks
13. Japan
13.1 Overview of infrastructure developments in Japan
13.2 The push to develop NGN standards
13.3 Opening up the last mile
13.4 Regulatory issues
13.4.1 Policy on national information superhighway
13.4.2 IT Basic Strategy
13.4.3 Government plan for ubiquitous networks
13.5 Broadband networks
13.6 International submarine cable infrastructure
13.7 Data centres
13.8 Satellite infrastructure
13.8.1 Overview of major satellite operators
13.8.2 JSAT
13.8.3 Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation of Tokyo (BSAT)
13.8.4 Space Communications Corporation (SCC)
13.8.5 PanAmSat
14. Kazakhstan
14.1 National infrastructure
14.1.1 NGN development
14.1.2 Wireless Local Loop (WLL)
14.2 International infrastructure
14.2.1 Trans Asia-Europe (TAE)
14.2.2 Satellite networks
15. Kyrgyzstan
15.1 National telecom network
15.2 International infrastructure
16. Laos
16.1 National telecom network
16.1.1 Rural Telecom Project
16.2 International infrastructure
16.2.1 Terrestrial cable links
16.2.2 Asian Development Bank Backbone Telecommunications Network
16.2.3 Proposed satellite system
17. Macau
17.1 Domestic and international infrastructure
18. Malaysia
18.1 Overview
18.2 National telecom network development
18.2.1 Customer Access Network (CAN)
18.2.2 Fixed-line networks
18.2.3 Wireless Local Loop (WLL)
18.2.4 Fibre optic backbones
18.2.5 National numbering plan
18.2.6 Corporate Information Superhighway (COINS)
18.2.7 Infrastructure audit
18.2.8 Universal Service Provision (USP)
18.2.9 Next Generation Networks (NGNs)
18.2.10 Internet Protocol TV (IPTV)
18.2.11 National broadband network
18.3 International infrastructure
18.3.1 International gateways
18.3.2 Submarine cable networks
18.3.3 Terrestrial cable networks
18.3.4 Satellite networks
18.4 VoIP
19. Maldives
19.1 National telecom network
19.2 International infrastructure
19.2.1 Satellite networks
19.2.2 Submarine cable networks
20. Mongolia
20.1 National telecom network
20.1.1 Rural services
20.2 International infrastructure
20.3 Telecoms & IT
20.3.1 Chronological data of ICT developments in Mongolia
21. Myanmar
21.1 National infrastructure
21.1.1 Wireless Local Loop (WLL)
21.2 International infrastructure
21.2.1 Satellite networks
22. Nepal
22.1 National telecom network
22.1.1 Nepal East West SDH project
22.2 International infrastructure
23. North Korea
23.1 National telecom network
23.1.1 Telecommunications modernisation plans
23.2 International infrastructure
23.2.1 Satellite networks
23.2.2 International calls
24. Pakistan
24.1 National telecom network
24.1.1 Fibre optic networks
24.1.2 Broadband networks
24.1.3 Payphones and PCOs
24.1.4 Wireless Local Loop (WLL)
24.1.5 Next Generation Networks (NGNs)
24.2 International infrastructure
24.2.1 Submarine cable networks
24.2.2 Satellite networks and systems
24.2.3 VSAT networks
24.2.4 Paksat Project
24.3 Infrastructure developments
24.3.1 VoIP
24.3.2 IP networks
25. Philippines
25.1 Overview
25.2 National telecom network
25.2.1 Service Area Scheme (SAS)
25.2.2 Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity
25.2.3 National long-distance
25.2.4 Payphones
25.3 International infrastructure
25.3.1 International gateways
25.3.2 Submarine cable networks
25.3.3 Satellite systems
25.3.4 Carriers' Carriers
25.3.5 Common carriers
25.4 Infrastructure developments
25.4.1 Wireless Local Loop (WLL)
25.4.2 VoIP
25.4.3 VSAT services
25.4.4 Next Generation Networks (NGNs)
26. Singapore
26.1 National telecom network
26.1.1 Overview
26.1.2 Introduction of 8-digit fixed-line numbering format
26.1.3 StarHub's network
26.1.4 The MobileOne Network
26.1.5 Fixed-mobile convergence (FMC)
26.1.6 Triple play services
26.1.7 Next Generation National Infocomm Infrastructure (Next Gen NII)
26.2 International infrastructure
26.2.1 Submarine cable networks
26.2.2 Terrestrial cable networks
26.2.3 Satellite networks
26.3 Infrastructure developments
26.3.1 International services
26.3.2 VoIP
26.3.3 IP networks
26.3.4 IP-Virtual Private Networks (IP-VPN)
27. South Korea
27.1 Overview
27.2 Overview of infrastructure developments in South Korea
27.2.1 Infrastructure investment overview
27.2.2 Korean Information Infrastructure (KII
27.2.6 Master plans for an information society
27.3 National telecom network
27.3.1 Major national infrastructure players
27.3.2 National submarine cable infrastructure
27.4 International infrastructure
27.4.1 International submarine cable infrastructure
27.4.2 Satellite infrastructure
28. Sri Lanka
28.1 Overview
28.2 National telecom network
28.2.1 Wireless Local Loop (WLL)
28.2.2 Fibre optic network
28.2.3 Payphones
28.2.4 Numbering plan
28.2.5 Internet Protocol (IP) networks
28.2.6 Rural communications
28.3 International infrastructure
28.4 Telecom City Project
29. Taiwan
29.1 Overview
29.2 Submarine cable networks
29.3 Satellite networks
30. Tajikistan
30.1 National and international infrastructure
30.2 Infrastructure developments
30.2.1 Next Generation Networks (NGNs)
31. Thailand
31.1 National telecom network
31.1.1 Overview
31.1.2 Fixed-line network
31.1.3 Next Generation Network (NGN)
31.1.4 Public payphones
31.1.5 Fibre-to-the-Home (FttH)
31.2 International infrastructure
31.2.1 Submarine cable networks
31.2.2 Submarine cable outages
31.2.3 Terrestrial cable networks
31.2.4 Satellite networks
32. Timor Leste
32.1 National infrastructure
32.2 International infrastructure
32.2.1 Satellite networks
33. Turkmenistan
33.1 National and international infrastructure
33.1.1 Fibre optic networks
34. Uzbekistan
34.1 National telecom network
34.1.1 Fibre optic cables
34.2 Satellite communications
35. Vietnam
35.1 National telecom network
35.1.1 Background to development
35.1.2 Payphones
35.1.3 Coordination of infrastructure development
35.1.4 Next Generation Networks (NGNs)
35.1.5 Wireless Local Loop (WLL)
35.2 National infrastructure projects
35.2.1 SK Telecom
35.3 International infrastructure
35.3.1 Submarine cable networks
35.3.2 Satellite networks
Table 1-Fixed-line subscribers and teledensity in Afghanistan-1994; 2000-2009
Table 2-Fixed lines installed in Afghanistan-2002-2006
Table 3-Fixed lines in service and teledensity in Armenia-1991-2009
Table 4-Fixed lines in service and teledensity in Azerbaijan-1995-2008
Table 5-Fixed lines in service and teledensity in Bangladesh-1995-2009
Table 6-Fixed lines in service and teledensity in Bhutan-1995-2009
Table 7-Fixed lines in service in Brunei Darussalam-1990-2009
Table 8-Fixed lines in service in Cambodia-1995-2008
Table 9-Network distribution of bandwidth in China-2004-2008
Table 10-Fixed lines in service and teledensity in Georgia-1995-2008
Table 11-Fixed-line operators-subscribers and market share in Georgia-May 2008
Table 12-Fixed-lines in service and teledensity in Hong Kong-1994-2010; 2015; 2020
Table 13-External telephone traffic volume in minutes in Hong Kong-1997-2008
Table 14-External telecommunications facilities capacity of Hong Kong-2000-2009
Table 15-AsiaSat financial data-2005-2008
Table 16-AsiaSat satellite utilisation-2005-2009
Table 17-AsiaSat sources of revenue by business segment-2007-2008
Table 18-APT Sat revenue and profit-2001-2008
Table 19-APT Sat satellite utilisation-2003-2008
Table 20-APT sources of revenue by business segment-2007-2008
Table 21-Fixed-line subscribers and teledensity in India-2005-2009
Table 22-Fixed-line subscribers and teledensity (historic) in India-1995-2005
Table 23-Growth of VPT scheme in India-2001-2008
Table 24-PCOs in operation and market share by operator in India-2008
Table 25-Fixed WLL subscribers in India (historical)-2004-2006
Table 26-International undersea cable capacity in India-1997-2008
Table 27-National network statistics for Indonesia-2005-2008
Table 28-Fixed-line subscribers and teledensity in Indonesia-1995-2009
Table 29-Fixed-line subscribers and annual change by operator in Indonesia-2008
Table 30-Five-year USO deployment of lines plan for villages in Indonesia-2006-2010
Table 31-Fixed wireless (WLL) subscribers by operator in Indonesia-2008
Table 32-PT Telkom fixed wireless subscribers-2008
Table 33-Fixed-line subscribers and teledensity in Japan-1993-2008
Table 34-Fixed lines in service and teledensity in Kazakhstan-1995-2009
Table 35-Fixed lines in service and teledensity in Kyrgyzstan-1991-2008
Table 36-Fixed lines in service in Laos-1995-2008
Table 37-Fixed-lines and teledensity in Macau-1991-2008
Table 38-Fixed lines in service and teledensity in Malaysia-1995-2009
Table 39-Fixed-line household penetration rate in Malaysia-2000-2009
Table 40-Fixed lines in service and teledensity in the Maldives-1995-2009
Table 41-Fixed-line subscribers by region in the Maldives-March 2009
Table 42-Fixed lines in service and teledensity in Mongolia-1994-2008
Table 43-Wireless local loop (WLL) lines in service in Mongolia-2003-2008
Table 44-Fixed lines in service in Myanmar-1990, 1995-2009
Table 45-Fixed-lines in service and teledensity in Nepal-1995-2009
Table 46-Fixed WLL subscribers in Nepal-2006; 2008; 2009
Table 47-Fixed lines in service and teledensity in North Korea-1990-2005
Table 48-Fixed lines in service and teledensity in Pakistan-1991-2009
Table 49-WLL subscribers in Pakistan-2005-2009
Table 50-WLL subscribers by operator and market share in Pakistan-July 2009
Table 51-Fixed subscriber growth in Pakistan-wireline and wireless (WLL)-2004-2008
Table 52-Fixed lines in service and teledensity in the Philippines-1994-2007
Table 53-Total SAS lines installed by operators at target date in the Philippines-end-2002
Table 54-Fixed lines installed vs lines in operation and penetration rate in the Philippines-1995-2007
Table 55-Fixed lines in service and penetration rate in Singapore-1998-2008
Table 56-Fixed lines in service and teledensity in South Korea-1991-2008
Table 57-Fixed-line subscribers and market share by operator in South Korea-2008
Table 58-KT Corp fixed-line subscribers and market share-2003-2009
Table 59-Number portability of fixed-line services in South Korea-2003-2007
Table 60-Local telephony lines by operator in South Korea-2005-2008
Table 61-Local telephony market share by operator in South Korea-2005-2008
Table 62-Fixed lines in service and teledensity in Sri Lanka-1995-2009
Table 63-WLL subscribers in Sri Lanka-1996-2009
Table 64-Fixed lines in service & penetration in Taiwan-1995-2008
Table 65-Call volumes for fixed networks in Taiwan-1999-2007
Table 66-International outgoing calls overview for Taiwan-1980; 1985; 1990; 1995; 2000-2007
Table 67-Fixed lines in service and teledensity in Tajikistan-1995-2009
Table 68-Fixed lines and teledensity in Thailand-1995-2009
Table 69-Fixed-line subscribers by operator in Thailand-2008
Table 70-Public payphones in service in Thailand-2004-2009
Table 71-Public payphones by provider in Thailand-2008
Table 72-Fixed lines in service in Timor Leste-1995; 1998-2000; 2003-2009
Table 73-Fixed lines in service and teledensity in Turkmenistan-1991-2009
Table 74-Fixed lines in service and teledensity in Uzbekistan-1991-2009
Table 75-Fixed lines in service and teledensity in Vietnam-1990-2008
Exhibit 1-Major submarine cables with landing points in Brunei Darussalam-2007
Exhibit 2-Regional/international fibre optic cable networks in China
Exhibit 3-Selected Chinese satellite service providers and satellites
Exhibit 4-China Satcom satellite fleet
Exhibit 5-Fixed Telecommunications Network Services licensees in Hong Kong-October 2008
Exhibit 6-Major submarine cables with landing points in Hong Kong-2008
Exhibit 7-External FTNS licensees in Hong Kong-October 2009
Exhibit 8-Satellite-based external FTNS licensees in Hong Kong-October 2009
Exhibit 9-ISRO satellite network-May 2009
Exhibit 10-Original consortia, and KSO operating in each geographical zone in Indonesia
Exhibit 11-Indonesian satellites-2008
Exhibit 12-Major global/regional submarine cables with landing points in Japan-2008
Exhibit 13-Construction of the National Information Highway (NIH) backbone in Kazakhstan
Exhibit 14-Chronological events of ICT developments in Mongolia
Exhibit 15-Major submarine cables with landing points in the Philippines-2008
Exhibit 16-International submarine cable systems with landing points in Singapore-2009
Exhibit 17-Informatization policies and paradigms in South Korea-1998-2012
Exhibit 18-Informatization Promotion in South Korea: Execution body
Exhibit 19-Overview of national submarine fibre optic cables in South Korea
Exhibit 20-International submarine fibre optic cables overview in South Korea
Exhibit 21-External Gateway Operator (EGO) licences in Sri Lanka
Exhibit 22-Major global/regional submarine cables with landing point in Taiwan-2008