2006 South East Asian Mobile Communications & Mobile Data Markets

http://www.chinaccm.com 2006-10-19 12:12

Published:         September 2006
Pages:                206
Price (USD):      $595.00 / Single-User PDF Licence

This annual report offers a wealth of information on the Mobile market in Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam. Subjects covered include:

Overview, Regional Characteristics, Growth and Market Structure
Mobile Technologies - GSM, CDMA, PCN/PCS
Mobile Services - Prepaid, fixed-mobile convergence, gaming
Mobile Data - Market Overview, SMS, MMS, PoC, GPRS, WAP
Overview on 3G
Mobile Satellite Services

Report Summary

This Asia market report covers 11 countries in the South East Asia sub-region. It takes an overall look at the mobile communication and mobile data markets in each of the countries. The markets covered include:

Brunei:  as small wealthy nation in South East Asia, made early moves to ensure that it was delivering up to date telecommunications services to its population. The target of 100% digitalization was achieved in 1995.  Telecommunications throughout Brunei are of a high standard and the country ranks well in Asia in terms of penetration and infrastructure.  Brunei's mobile penetration, which stood at a reasonably healthy 32% by end-2001, continued to grow strongly and had hit 90% by early 2006.

With the level of encouragement from the government, it is not surprising then that the citizens of Brunei are strong consumers of telecommunications services. Despite this, if the country is to continue to maintain the pace required to be globally competitive, it must further restructure and generally liberalize the local telecom industry. For the moment things appear to have seriously stalled in this regard. Much more is required in the area of sector reform. The local market continues to be dominated by Jabatan Telekom Brunei (JTB), the incumbent telco that is still a division within the Ministry of Communications.

Cambodia:  flourishing mobile market passed the one million subscriber milestone in late 2005 and was continuing to grow at a healthy annual rate of 25% into 2006. By March 2006, there were 1.24 million mobile customers, as mobiles continued to totally overshadow the fixed-line segment of the market. (Fixed-lines were languishing at around 40,000 subscribers.) Given the booming mobile market, it is maybe surprising to find other sectors of the market in the doldrums.

East Timor:  the tiny fledgling nation of East Timor experienced further political instability and outbreaks of violence in the first half of 2006. To the observer, the country had appeared to have got off to a solid start in rebuilding its entire infrastructure following the turbulence that ensued after the referendum of 1999. However, it remains difficult to assess the long term impact of the events of 2006 on such things as infrastructure building. Following the 1999 crisis, the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) provided overall administrative and financial assistance during the period up until elections were held in April 2002. The United Nations finally completed its role in early 2005. The new government was looking to gain ongoing assistance from the international community in putting strong systems in place. Telecommunications remains an important priority under a newly established Ministry of Transport, Communication & Public Works. In July 2002, the East Timor government selected Portugal Telecom to be the lead partner in a consortium to operate Timor Telecom. The new operator replaced Telstra in March 2003 and set about expanding the countries telecom facilities.

Note: East Timor (also known as Timor Leste) is yet to be listed as a member of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). This makes it difficult to obtain official statistics on the country's telecom sector.

Indonesia:  the mobile market has continued to expand and by early 2006 the mobile sector was growing at close to 60%; the subscriber base had passed 45 million, up from 3.6 million subscribers just five years earlier. Whilst mobile penetration has quickly raced to almost 19%, there is enormous potential remaining for further growth in this market.  With the government having already issued 3G licences to five operators - in what was a somewhat chaotic administrative process spread over some years - there was mounting interest in the direction the mobile market would take.

Laos:  the mobile phone market finally took off in early 2003, the number of subscribers increasing sevenfold over the next two years.  The market was continuing to grow at an annual rate of more than 70% by March 2006 and there were almost 600,000 mobile subscribers (penetration of 10%) in the country.

The Lao telecom sector still has many issues to address.  Despite the recent rapid opening up of the market, the regulatory progress continues to lag behind market development and has the potential to derail the progress already made if reform is not speeded up.

Malaysia:  mobile penetration passed the 80% mark in early 2006, with subscriber numbers at the same time passing 20 million.  This was up from only 2 million subscribers in 1998.  Malaysia has the second highest mobile penetration in South East Asia after Singapore.  The country's mobile users have also been enthusiastic in their adoption of Short Message Service (SMS), with the regulator reporting that Malaysians sent more than nine billion SMS during 2005.

Myanmar:  the country's telecommunications is characterized by what can only be described as stunted development.  The telecom sector is indicative of the overall state of the national economy. Myanmar's official economic data is not considered reliable, making actual growth rates difficult to ascertain.  However, it is reasonably evident that fixed telephone line penetration remains a lowly 1%, mobile services are prohibitively expensive and limited (mobile penetration of 2% is reported).

Philippines:  there has been a rapid take-up of mobile services and, following on from that, a remarkably high national usage of the SMS has occurred throughout the country. Mobile penetration has grown quickly to have reached 40% (35 million subscribers) by early 2006, up from only 2.7 million mobile subscribers in the country in 1999. For the moment it looks to have reached a plateau at the 40% penetration level. Not surprisingly, mobile services have well and truly overwhelmed fixed-line services. Much of the recent growth in mobiles was coming from outside the main city of Manila, with the big operators, Globe and Smart, vying for lower income segments of the population by offering a range of cheap prepaid products. Further growth in the market will depend on the pricing and marketing strategies of the operators, as well as the growth in the country's economy.

There appears to be considerable ongoing optimism in the Philippine telecom market as the sector has been contributing over 10% to the country's GDP, boosted considerably by its mobile segment.

Singapore:  the mobile market in Singapore is characterized by its energy and innovation. Even as the growth has slowed somewhat annual growth of 12% in early 2006, penetration at 106% - considerable effort continues to go into value-added products and services. At the same time, the market is approaching the future cautiously. The planning for 3G has been a case in point. The major operators and, to some extent, the government have been circumspect about the next generation of mobile telephony and the benefits it will bring. Despite this caution, all three mobile operators had launched 3G services by early 2005.

Thailand:  telecom sector has been exhibiting a lot of energy, despite some economic uncertainty and questions about the government's progress on a range of national projects. Over the last four or five years, the country's mobile telephone market in particular recorded particularly strong annual growth rates. By early 2006, mobile penetration was approaching 50%, but the annual subscriber growth rate had slowed to less than 10%. Subscriber levels reached represented an eight-fold increase since 2000. The country has certainly been seeing the benefits of a liberalized market

Vietnam:  the country's mobile market has been especially dynamic, growing at an annual rate of more than 50%. The strong growth was likely to continue, building on the 11.2 million mobile subscribers (penetration 12%) in the country by March 2006. As with most other Asian mobile markets, growth in Vietnam was substantially boosted by the introduction of prepaid mobile services.

Report Outline

1.        OVERVIEW OF MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS AND MOBILE DATA MARKETS

1.1      Overview
1.1.1   Regional characteristics
1.1.2   Growth drivers
1.1.3   Market structure

1.2      Mobile technologies
1.2.1   Overview
1.2.2   GSM
1.2.3   CDMA
1.2.4   Personal Communication Services (PCN/PCS)

1.3      Mobile services
1.3.1   Prepaid services
1.3.2   In-building coverage
1.3.3   Fixed-mobile convergence
1.3.4   Mobile gaming

1.4      Mobile satellite services

1.5      Mobile data services
1.5.1   Market overview
1.5.2   Short Messaging Service (SMS)
1.5.3   Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)
1.5.4   WAP v. i-Mode
1.5.5   General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)
1.5.6   Push-to talk over Cellular (PoC)

1.6      Mobile applications
1.6.1   M-Commerce
1.6.2   Asia Mobile Electronic Services Alliance

1.7       Third Generation (3G) mobile
1.7.1   Overview
1.7.2   Third Generation standards
1.7.3   Third Generation licensing
1.7.4   Third Generation roll-out

2.        BRUNEI DARUSSALAM

2.1      Overview of Brunei Darussalam's mobile market
2.1.1   DSTCom
2.1.2   Satellite mobile

3.        CAMBODIA

3.1      Overview of Cambodia's mobile market
3.1.1   Mobile statistics

3.2      Regulatory issues

3.3      Major mobile operators
3.3.1   MobiTel
3.3.2   CamShin
3.3.3   Casacom

3.4      Mobile services
3.4.1   Wireless Local Loop (WLL)

4.       EAST TIMOR

4.1     Overview of Timor Leste's mobile market

5.        INDONESIA

5.1     Overview of Indonesia's mobile market

5.2      Mobile technologies
5.2.1   Analogue services (AMPS and NMT)
5.2.2   GSM
5.2.3   Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
5.2.4   General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)
5.2.5   Third Generation (3G) mobile

5.3      Major mobile operators
5.3.1   PT Telkomsel
5.3.2   PT Indosat
5.3.3   PT Excelcomindo
5.3.4   Mandara (Mobisel)
5.3.5   Mobile-8
5.3.6   Natrindo Telepon Selular (NTS)
5.3.7   PT Hutchison CP Telecommunications (formerly Cyber Access Communications)

5.4      Mobile voice services
5.4.1   Prepaid
5.4.2   Mobile data services
5.4.3   Satellite mobile

6.         LAOS

6.1      Overview of Laos's mobile market
6.1.1   Major mobile operators

7.         MALAYSIA

7.1      Overview of Malaysia's mobile market
7.1.1   Mobile market statistics and forecasts
7.1.2   Mobile infrastructure
7.1.3   Mobile technologies
7.1.4   Third Generation (3G) mobile
7.1.5   Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs)
7.1.6   Handset Market

7.2      Major mobile operators
7.2.1   Telekom Malaysia
7.2.2   Celcom
7.2.3   Telekom Malaysia/Celcom merger
7.2.4   Digi Communications
7.2.5   Maxis Communications
7.2.6   Time dotCom
7.2.7   Maxis/Time merger

7.3      Mobile voice services
7.3.1   Prepaid cards
7.3.2   Mobile roaming

7.4      Mobile data services
7.4.1   Short Message Services (SMS)
7.4.2   Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)
7.4.3   Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)
7.4.4   General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)
7.4.5   InterReach Unison
7.4.6   Content

7.5      Mobile applications
7.5.1   M-commerce

8.         MYANMAR

8.1      Overview of Myanmar's mobile market
8.1.1   Major mobile operators

8.2      Mobile services
8.2.1   Satellite mobile

9.        PHILIPPINES

9.1      Overview of the Philippines mobile market
9.1.1   Mobile licences

9.2      Mobile technologies
9.2.1   Personal Communication Services
9.2.2   Third Generation (3G) mobile

9.3      Major mobile operators
9.3.1   Overview
9.3.2   Globe Telecom
9.3.3   Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT)
9.3.4   Extelcom
9.3.5   Digitel/Sun Cellular

9.4      Mobile voice services
9.4.1   Prepaid cards
9.4.2   Mobile tracking

9.5      Mobile data services
9.5.1   Short Message Service (SMS)
9.5.2   Multimedia Message Service (MMS)
9.5.3   Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)
9.5.4   General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)
9.5.5   Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE)
9.5.6   Hand-held devices / Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs)

9.6      Mobile applications
9.6.1   M-commerce

10.        SINGAPORE

10.1      Overview of Singapores mobile market
10.1.1   Market statistics

10.2      Regulatory issues
10.2.1   Additional spectrum auction
10.2.2   Tariffs
10.2.3   Mobile billing systems
10.2.4   Mobile Number Portability (MNP)
10.2.5   Registration of prepaid services

10.3      Mobile technologies
10.3.1   GSM
10.3.2   CDMA
10.3.3   Wired with Wireless Program
10.3.4   Third Generation (3G) mobile

10.4      Major mobile operators
10.4.1   SingTel Mobile
10.4.2   MobileOne
10.4.3   StarHub
10.4.4   Virgin Mobile
10.4.5   DNA Communications
10.4.6   PLDT / MobileOne

10.5      Mobile voice services
10.5.1   Prepaid
10.5.2   Satellite mobile

10.6      Mobile data services
10.6.1   Short Messaging Service (SMS)
10.6.2   Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)
10.6.3   Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)
10.6.4   General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)
10.6.5   Location-based services
10.6.6   i-Mode
10.6.7   Other developments
10.6.8   Mobile content

11.         THAILAND

11.1      Overview of Thailand's mobile market
11.1.1   Market statistics
11.1.2   Competition

11.2      Mobile technologies
11.2.1   PCN services
11.2.2   General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)
11.2.3   Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution (EDGE)
11.2.4   Third Generation (3G) mobile
11.2.5   Mobile handsets

11.3      Major mobile operators
11.3.1   Market overview
11.3.2   Advanced Info Service (AIS)
11.3.3   DTAC
11.3.4   TA Orange / True Move
11.3.5   Digital Phone Company
11.3.6   Hutchison Multimedia
11.3.7   Thai Mobile

11.4      Mobile services
11.4.1   Prepaid
11.4.2   Mobile data
11.4.3   Short Message Service (SMS)
11.4.4   Multimedia Message Service (MMS)
11.4.5   Smart phones
11.4.6   Push-to-talk over Cellular (PoC)
11.4.7   Global Positioning System (GPS) service
11.4.8   Content services

12.        VIETNAM

12.1      Overview of Vietnam's mobile market

12.2      Major mobile operators
12.2.1   Mobifone
12.2.2   Vinaphone
12.2.3   CityPhone
12.2.4   S-Fone (SLD Telecom)
12.2.5   Viettel
12.2.6   New operators
12.2.7   Mobile technologies

12.3      Mobile voice services
12.3.1   Prepaid cards

12.4      Mobile data services
12.4.1   Short Message Service (SMS)
12.4.2   Multimedia Message Service (MMS)
12.4.3   Instant messaging (IM)
12.4.4   Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)
12.4.5   General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)
12.4.6   Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution (EDGE)
12.4.7   Mobile applications
12.4.8   Handset market

13. GLOSSARY OF ABBREVIATIONS

Exhibit 1   Mobile technologies (2G) in use in selected countries 2006
Exhibit 2   CDMA operators in the Asia region cellular services 2006
Exhibit 3   Asia region 2.75G and 3G mobile roll-out 2006
Exhibit 4   Overview of MPT's CDMA service
Exhibit 5   Third Generation licensees

Table 1     Mobile subscriber growth 1990 - 2006
Table 2     Fixed-line and mobile phone subscribers and penetration (selected Asian countries) March 2006
Table 3     Top 10 Asia mobile markets and annual change (ranked by subscribers) March 2006
Table 4     Top 10 Asia mobile markets (ranked by penetration) 2005/2006
Table 5     Top 10 Asia mobile operators (by subscribers) March 2005
Table 6     Top 10 Asia mobile operators (by subscribers) March 2006
Table 7     Asia's mobile markets: under 10% penetration March 2006
Table 8     Asia's mobile markets: penetration between 10% and 20% March 2006
Table 9     GSM subscriber growth 1997 - 2006
Table 10   CDMA subscriber growth 1997 - 2006
Table 11   Prepaid mobile subscriber growth in Asia 1999 - 2006
Table 12   Prepaid subscribers selected operators December 2005
Table 13   SMS traffic (selected markets) December 2005
Table 14   MMS user growth (selected markets) - 2005
Table 15   Wireless Internet subscribers February 2006
Table 16  3G WCDMA subscriber growth in Asia 2004 - 2006
Table 17   WCDMA, 1xRTT, and 1xEVDO subscribers March 2006
Table 18   Mobile subscriber growth 1995 - 2006
Table 19   Mobile subscribers and annual change by operator 2005
Table 20   Prepaid mobile subscribers 1999 - 2005
Table 21   Mobile statistics overview Brunei 2005
Table 22   Mobile statistics overview Cambodia 2005
Table 23   Mobile subscribers and growth by operator 2005
Table 24   Mobile subscribers 1993 - 2005
Table 25   MobiTel subscribers 1998 2005
Table 26   CamShin subscribers 1998 - 2005
Table 27   Casacom subscribers 1998 - 2005
Table 28   Mobile subscribers 1999 - 2006
Table 29   Mobile statistics overview East Timor March 2006
Table 30   Mobile subscribers 1995 - 2006
Table 31   Mobile statistics overview Indonesia March 2006
Table 32   Mobile subscribers by operator and yearly growth March 2006
Table 33   Mobile market subscribers and market share by operator March 2006
Table 34   Telkomsel subscribers postpaid, prepaid and market share 1999 - 2006
Table 35   Telkomsel postpaid, prepaid subscribers and annual change March 2006
Table 36   Telkomsel postpaid and prepaid subscriber growth 2001 - 2006
Table 37   Prepaid subscribers selected operators December 2005
Table 38   Telkomsel SMS services and annual growth September 2005
Table 39   Mobile subscribers and annual growth by operator 2005
Table 40   Mobile subscribers 1995 - 2005
Table 41   Mobile operator market share 2005
Table 42   Mobile statistics overview Laos 2005
Table 43   Lao Telecom's mobile subscribers and annual growth 1995 - 2005
Table 44   Mobile statistics overview Malaysia March 2006
Table 45   Mobile subscriber growth and penetration 1994 - 2006
Table 46   Mobile services revenues 1993 - 2005
Table 47   Mobile subscribers by operator and annual change March 2006
Table 48   Mobile subscribers and market share by operator March 2006
Table 49   Prepaid mobile subscriber growth and penetration 2002 - 2005
Table 50   Mobile subscriber growth 1995 - 2005
Table 51   Mobile statistics overview Myanmar 2005
Table 52   Mobile subscriber growth and penetration 1992; 1994; 1996 - 2006
Table 53   Mobile services revenue 1993 - 2005
Table 54   Mobile statistics overview Philippines March 2006
Table 55   Mobile subscribers and annual change by operator March 2006
Table 56   Mobile market share March 2006
Table 57   Globe Telecom subscribers 2001 - 2006
Table 58   Fixed-line versus mobile subscriptions and teledensity March 2006
Table 59   Mobile statistics overview Singapore March 2006
Table 60   Mobile market statistics March 2006
Table 61   Mobile subscriber growth 1996 - 2006
Table 62   Mobile services revenue 1993 - 2005
Table 63   3G mobile subscribers by operator 2005
Table 64   Mobile subscribers by operator / system and annual growth 2005
Table 65   Mobile operator by market share 2005
Table 66   SingTel mobile subscribers 1998 - 2005
Table 67   MobileOne subscribers 1998 - 2005
Table 68   StarHub mobile subscribers 2000 - 2005
Table 69   Prepaid subscribers 1999 - 2006
Table 70   Mobile statistics overview Thailand 2005
Table 71   Mobile subscriber growth 1998 - 2005
Table 72   Mobile services revenue 1998 - 2005
Table 73   Mobile subscribers and annual growth by operator 2005
Table 74   Mobile market share 2005
Table 75   Prepaid subscribers and percentage of subscriber base by operator 2005
Table 76   Mobile subscribers and annual growth by operator 2005
Table 77   Mobile subscriber growth 1995 - 2006
Table 78   Mobile services revenue 1993 - 2006
Table 79   Mobile statistics overview Vietnam 2006
Table 80   Mobifone subscriber growth 1998 - 2006
Table 81   Vinaphone subscriber growth 1998 - 2006
Table 82   S-Fone subscriber growth 2003 - 2005
Table 83   Viettel subscriber growth 2004 - 2006