Asia-Pacific telcos face broadband challenge

Telecoms service providers in parts of Asia-Pacific are seeking new ways to boost revenue as subscriber growth tails off.

"Growth is slowing in the more mature markets of Australia and Singapore, while Korea and to a lesser extent Taiwan are approaching saturation," said Nathan Burley, an analyst with telecoms consultancy Ovum. 

Asia is home to some 40 per cent of the world's broadband internet users, according to data from researchers at Australian consultancy Paul Budde Communication. 

Revenues earned from each broadband user for the region's incumbent telcos declined by an average of eight per cent from 2005 to 2006, Ovum found.

Asia's traditional internet providers have been slow to expand the average income generated per subscriber by offering attractive value-added services.

"Operators are changing their broadband strategies to counter this saturation," explained Burley.

"They are attempting to up-sell users to higher value plans, introducing more value-added services such as IPTV, video-on-demand and innovative pricing plans. "

However, basic access charges, rather than services, still account for most broadband revenue growth in the region, according to Ovum's research.

See also:

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Singapore outlines gigabit broadband plans

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100Mbps optical internet taking over from ADSL  19 Jun 2006

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New subscribers from China and India to triple market size  10 May 2006

Asia moves beyond broadband

100Mbps connections becoming the norm in some areas  23 Mar 2006

Asia VoIP set for rapid growth

Internet telephony revenues to reach $10bn by 2009, despite government resistance  23 Nov 2005

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