2008 Asia – Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband in Malaysia and Philippines
2008-07-14 06:32:00
DUBLIN, Ireland–(EMWNews)–Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/0d5355/2008_asia_teleco)
has announced the addition of the “2008 Asia – Telecoms, Mobile and
Broadband in Malaysia and Philippines” report to their offering.
This report provides a comprehensive overview of the trends and
developments in the telecommunications and digital media markets in
Malaysia and the Philippines. Subjects covered include:
Key Statistics;
Market and Industry Overviews;
Regulatory Environment;
Major Players (fixed and mobile);
Infrastructure;
Mobile Voice and Data Market;
Internet, including VoIP and IPTV;
Broadband (DSL, cable modem, wireless).
Researcher:- Peter Evans
Executive Summary:
“Malaysia
Malaysia has developed one of the more advanced telecom environments in
the developing world. For a period in the 1990s the country was busily
promoting itself as a regional high technology hub, but in recent times
it has adopted a quieter profile and has set about the task of steadily
building a technologically progressive economy. While still in an
expansion phase the Malaysia’s telecom sector
has undergone a period of consolidation with telecom companies doing
battle in an increasingly competitive and changing market. The last
decade has seen healthy overall growth in the country’s
telecom sector.
Coming into 2008 just over 90% of the 27 million people in Malaysia had
a mobile telephone service. This gave Malaysia the second highest mobile
penetration in South East Asia after Singapore. The 25 million mobile
subscriber milestone is set to be passed in 2008, up from only two
million in 1998. Malaysia’s mobile market had
made a remarkable recovery after suffering a serious setback; having
reached annual growth levels in excess of 50% by the mid-1990s, growth
dropped sharply coming into 1998 as the impact of the Asian economic
crisis was felt. However, the market quickly recovered. Following the
example set by the Philippines, Malaysia’s
mobile users have also been enthusiastic in their adoption of SMS, with
the regulator reporting that Malaysians sent more than 10 billion SMS
during 2006.
By contrast, growth of fixed-line services has been far more modest,
especially in recent times. Having moved rapidly from around 2 million
in 1990 to 4.7 million in 2002 (almost 20% penetration), fixed-line
subscribers dipped to 4.35 million (just under 16% penetration) by the
start of 2008.
Internet take-up in Malaysia has been surprisingly restrained, with
broadband growth in particular being disappointing. However, over the
last few years, the broadband Internet market finally started to
experience a major surge. During 2006-07 there was close to 200%
expansion, lifting penetration to 5%, from only 1% at end-2004. Coming
into 2008 the market, which is dominated by services based on DSL
technology, was expanding at an annual rate of more than 50%, passing
the 1.5 million subscriber mark (or around 16% household penetration).
Malaysia, however, remains well behind the regional leaders where
broadband household penetration is typically running at above 50%.
Malaysia has also been continuing to develop its multi-billion dollar
Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) project. Although the project has become
much lower key than previously, the government says it has been meeting
its MSC targets, with more than 2,000 companies involved by June 2008;
R&D investment to date totalled more RM814 million.
The Philippines
Despite considerable effort over the last decade or so, the Philippine
government, working with the country’s telecom
operators, has not succeeded in its efforts to extend the basic
fixed-line telephone network to reach the wider population. Fixed-line
teledensity stands at less than 5%; only a little more than half of all
Philippine towns and cities have a telephone service. A fixed-line
teledensity of 12% by 2002 was the original target set for the
government as part of its Service Area Scheme (SAS). The plan fell well
short of target and since then fixed-line penetration has remained
relatively static.
The mobile market has been a totally different story. No doubt
contributing to the problems experienced in the fixed-line sector, the
Philippines has witnessed a strong focus on and a rapid take-up of
mobile services. Penetration has grown quickly to reach 60% (55 million
subscribers) by early 2008. The continued growth has confounded the
market; there have been times when the sector looked to have reached a
plateau, but then it found a new ways to grow. Of particular note has
been the remarkably high national usage of SMS. The mobile phone has
captured the imagination of the population; not surprisingly, mobiles
have well and truly overwhelmed fixed-line services. A large proportion
of the recent growth has also been coming from outside the main city of
Manila, with the big operators, Globe and Smart, vigorously competing
for lower income segments of the population by offering a range of cheap
prepaid products.
Further mobile growth will depend on pricing and marketing strategies of
the operators, and, most importantly, the growth level in the overall
economy. Growth is expected to ease over 2008-2010, with mobile
penetration only expected to rise to about 75% (about 15 million new
subscribers) over that period.
The Philippines has been lagging badly in its roll-out of Internet and
broadband services. 2006 saw the start of a significant surge in
broadband uptake, with an estimated 340,000 subscribers by year-end,
rising to almost 1 million in mid-2007, providing a much needed boost to
a market where over half the users are still accessing the Internet at
cyber cafes and other such venues. The jump followed the expansion of
PLDT’s SmartBro service, a wireless broadband
product similar to WiBro in South Korea. Despite the fresh new growth,
overall broadband penetration remains low; there were only 11 broadband
services for every 1,000 people in the country early in 2008.
The Philippine telecoms and IT market continues to exude considerable
optimism despite the ups and downs; the sector has been contributing
more than 10% to the country’s GDP, obviously
being given a massive boost by the mobile segment.
Key highlights:
– Over 90% of Malaysians had a mobile telephone service by early 2008.
– The launch of 3G mobile networks by Telekom Malaysia and Maxis in late
2005 saw a total of almost 1 million subscribers signed up for new
generation services by end-2007.
– While 3G numbers were growing quickly they still only represented 4%
of the total mobile subscriber base, leaving plenty more room for growth.
– After surprisingly little interest in broadband Internet for many
years, broadband penetration in Malaysia has finally started to grow –
up by 50% in 2007;
– Broadband subscribers in Malaysia represented only 5% of the
population at end-2007.
– Growth in fixed-line services has continued to ‘flat-line’
with penetration of only about 16%.
– The MSC project continues to grow, with more than 2,000 companies
signed up by June 2007.
– The mobile market in the Philippines managed to grow another 20% in
2007, on top of 30% in 2006, with subscribers continuing to increase
through 2008 despite expectations that the market was saturating. Mobile
penetration reached almost 60% by early 2008;
– Broadband Internet access finally started to grow in 2006, continuing
into 2007 with a massive surge of almost 200% over the year, but this
was still only 4% of the population.
– The fixed-line market continued to be a problem for the Philippines;
fixed teledensity stands at less than 5% with no sign of increased
expansion in sight.
– The Philippines telecom sector continues to contribute over 10% to the
country’s GDP.
Comparative key indicators: Malaysia and the Philippines –
2007
Indicator Malaysia Philippines
Population 26.7 million 90.0 million
GDP at Current prices1 US$208 billion US$173 billion
GDP per capita1 US$7,600 US$1,900
GDP real growth rate1 5% 6%
Mobile penetration 90% 59%
Broadband penetration 5% 1%
Fixed-line penetration 16% 5%
(Source: BuddeComm)
Note: 1estimates for 2008.
Data in this report is the latest available at the time of preparation
and may not be for the current year.”
For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/0d5355/2008_asia_teleco
Research and Markets 646-607-1907 |
|
Major Newsire & Press Release Distribution with Basic Starting at only $19 and Complete OTCBB / Financial Distribution only $89
Get Unlimited Organic Website Traffic to your Website
TheNFG.com now offers Organic Lead Generation & Traffic Solutions