2008 Asian - Fixed Voice Market

Publication Overview

This market report looks at the fixed-line market in Asia and provides an overview of some of the main players in that segment of the market within the various economies of Asia.

Researchers: Peter Evans, Lisa Hulme-Jones

Current publication date:- December 2008 (14^th Edition)

Next publication date:- December 2009

Executive Summary

While the fixed-line market is growing at a comparatively slow pace and is overshadowed by frenzied activity in the booming mobile market, fixed infrastructure remains an important component in the overall development of the telecom sector. By March 2008, Asia had a total of more than two billion telephone subscribers; of these, more than 630 million were fixed-line subscribers, the remainder of course being mobile subscribers. 

The standout market in terms of fixed-line subscribers is China with its 365 million subscribers representing more than half the total regional subscriber base. As shown in the table below, China is well ahead of the rest of the market in this respect. It is interesting to note that a number of the highly sophisticated telecom markets in Asia are also highly penetrated fixed-line markets; leaders in this regard are Taiwan (63% teledensity) and Hong Kong (54%). These two are followed by Singapore (42%) and Japan (40%). 

Of the 35 or so countries in Asia, the top 10 that are listed in the table ‘Asia – Major fixed-line markets – subscribers and penetration – 2007 - 2008’ could claim 550 million (87%) of the region’s 630 million fixed-line services coming into 2008. As with other segments of the telecom market in Asia, we note the ever-present gap between the developed and developing economies of the region. In the developing economies, the building of essential fixed-line infrastructure has been largely ignored in favour of rolling out mobile networks as a quick way of providing telephone services to the population. In developing countries where governments have tried to force the pace of fixed-line roll-outs, the success rate has been mixed. In the Philippines and Indonesia these programs have been conspicuously ineffective; however, in a market like Vietnam, significant progress has been made, lifting that country up to become one of the more highly-penetrated fixed-line markets in the region at 34% teledensity. 

Asia - Major fixed-line markets - subscribers and penetration – 2007 - 2008

(Source: BuddeComm based on ITU data)

Note: ¹ estimates

The other characteristic of the fixed line markets in Asia is that growth has flattened out and in some markets gone into serious decline. The table shows the estimated subscriber base for Asia’s major markets at the end of 2008; many of the listed markets are clearly revealing a downward trend. The two exceptions in this group of countries are Indonesia and Vietnam.
Apart from the voice services supported by the fixed-line infrastructure in the markets of Asia, the bonus of a healthy and extensive fixed network has been its ability to support DSL-based broadband access. This has seen DSL become the most popular platform for broadband access in Asia. This aspect of the market is addressed more extensively in the complimentary publication: 2008 Asian – Broadband Market.

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 Fixed network operators in Afghanistan
    • 1.1.1 Afghan Wireless Communications Co (AWCC)
    • 1.1.2 Afghan Telecom
    • 1.1.3 Wasel Telecom
    • 1.1.4 Other licences
• 2. Armenia
  • 2.1 Fixed network operators in Armenia
    • 2.1.1 Armenia Telephone Company (ArmenTel)
• 3. Azerbaijan
  • 3.1 Fixed network operators in Azerbaijan
    • 3.1.1 Aztelekom
    • 3.1.2 AzEuroTel
    • 3.1.3 Terracom Inc (Fire Telecom) – EurAsiaCom
• 4. Bangladesh
  • 4.1 Fixed network operators in Bangladesh
    • 4.1.1 Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB)
    • 4.1.2 Bangladesh Rural Telecommunications Authority (BRTA)
    • 4.1.3 Sheba Telecom
    • 4.1.4 WorldTel
    • 4.1.5 Basundhara Communications Network Limited (BCNL)
    • 4.1.6 Dhaka Phone
    • 4.1.7 Other licensees
• 5. Bhutan
  • 5.1 Fixed network operator in Bhutan
    • 5.1.1 Bhutan Telecom
• 6. Brunei Darussalam
  • 6.1 Fixed network operators in Brunei Darussalam
    • 6.1.1 Jabatan Telekom Brunei (JTB)
    • 6.1.2 DST Group
• 7. Cambodia
  • 7.1 Overview
• 8. China
  • 8.1 Major Operators in China
    • 8.1.1 Overview of major players
    • 8.1.2 China Mobile Ltd
    • 8.1.3 China Netcom
    • 8.1.4 China Satcom
    • 8.1.5 China Telecom
    • 8.1.6 China Tietong
    • 8.1.7 China Unicom
• 9. Georgia
  • 9.1 Fixed network operators in Georgia
    • 9.1.1 Akhali Kselebi Ltd (NewNet Telecommunications)
    • 9.1.2 Egrisi
    • 9.1.3 Sakartvelos Elektrokavshiri (United Telecom of Georgia)
    • 9.1.4 Sakartvelos Telekomi (Telecom Georgia)
• 10. Hong Kong
  • 10.1 Major fixed network operators in Hong Kong
    • 10.1.1 Pacific Century CyberWorks
    • 10.1.2 City Telecom (HK) Ltd
    • 10.1.3 Hutchison Whampoa Ltd
    • 10.1.4 Wharf T&T Hong Kong
    • 10.1.5 New World Telecommunications Ltd (formerly New World Telephone)
    • 10.1.6 Pacific Internet Hong Kong
• 11. India
  • 11.1 Fixed Network Operators in India
    • 11.1.1 Overview of operators
    • 11.1.2 International operators
    • 11.1.3 Other operators
• 12. Indonesia
  • 12.1 Major fixed network operators in Indonesia
    • 12.1.1 PT Telkom Indonesia
    • 12.1.2 PT Indonesian Satellite Corporation (Indosat)
    • 12.1.3 PT Satelit Palapa Indonesia (SATELINDO)
    • 12.1.4 PT Bakrie Telecom
• 13. Japan
  • 13.1 Fixed Network Market
    • 13.1.1 Market overview
    • 13.1.2 Domestic services
  • 13.2 Major Operators
    • 13.2.1 Operating environment
    • 13.2.2 Overview of major operators
• 14. Kazakhstan
  • 14.1 Fixed network operators in Kazakhstan
    • 14.1.1 Astel
    • 14.1.2 Ducat (formerly Kazintel)
    • 14.1.3 Kazakhtelecom
    • 14.1.4 KazInformTelecom (KIT)
• 15. Kyrgyzstan
  • 15.1 Fixed network operators in Kyrgyzstan
    • 15.1.1 Kyrgyztelecom
    • 15.1.2 Others
• 16. Laos
  • 16.1 Fixed network operators in Laos
    • 16.1.1 Lao Telecom
    • 16.1.2 Enterprise of Telecommunications Lao (ETL)
    • 16.1.3 Lao Asia Telecom (LAT)
• 17. Macau
  • 17.1 Major telecom operator in Macau
    • 17.1.1 Compahnia de Telecomunicações de Macau (CTM)
• 18. Malaysia
  • 18.1 Fixed network operators in Malaysia
    • 18.1.1 Overview of operators
    • 18.1.2 Telekom Malaysia
    • 18.1.3 TRI Celcom
    • 18.1.4 Time dotCom
    • 18.1.5 Maxis Communications
    • 18.1.6 DiGi Telecommunications
• 19. Maldives
  • 19.1 Fixed network operator in Maldives
• 20. Mongolia
  • 20.1 Fixed network operators in Mongolia
    • 20.1.1 Mongolia Telecom
    • 20.1.2 Mongolian Railways Communications (RailCom)
• 21. Myanmar
• 22. Nepal
  • 22.1 Basic telephone service providers in Nepal
    • 22.1.1 Nepal Doorsanchar Co Ltd/Nepal Telecom
    • 22.1.2 United Telecom Ltd (UTL)
• 23. North Korea
  • 23.1 Fixed network operators
    • 23.1.1 Lancelot Holdings
    • 23.1.2 Loxley Pacific (Loxpac)
    • 23.1.3 KT Corporation
    • 23.1.4 Shin Satellite Corp
• 24. Pakistan
  • 24.1 Fixed network operators in Pakistan
    • 24.1.1 Major fixed-line players
  • 24.2 Fixed network voice services
    • 24.2.1 International voice traffic
    • 24.2.2 International prepaid calling card services
    • 24.2.3 Value-added voice services
• 25. Philippines
  • 25.1 Fixed network operators in the Philippines
    • 25.1.1 BayanTel
    • 25.1.2 Bell Telecom
    • 25.1.3 Digital Telecommunications Philippines (Digitel)
    • 25.1.4 Eastern Telecommunications Philippines Inc (ETPI)
    • 25.1.5 Globe Telecom
    • 25.1.6 PhilCom
    • 25.1.7 PLDT
    • 25.1.8 Philippine Telephone and Telegraph Co (PT&T)
    • 25.1.9 Smart Communications Inc
• 26. Singapore
  • 26.1 Fixed network operators in Singapore
    • 26.1.1 Singapore Telecom (SingTel)
    • 26.1.2 StarHub Pte Ltd
    • 26.1.3 Other players
• 27. South Korea
  • 27.1 Major fixed-line network players
    • 27.1.1 Overview
    • 27.1.2 KT Corp
    • 27.1.3 Dacom Corporation
    • 27.1.4 Hanaro Telecom
    • 27.1.5 Onse Telecom
• 28. Sri Lanka
  • 28.1 Fixed network operators in Sri Lanka
    • 28.1.1 Overview of operators
    • 28.1.2 SLT (formerly Sri Lanka Telecom)
    • 28.1.3 Suntel
    • 28.1.4 Lanka Bell
    • 28.1.5 Lanka Internet & Tritel services
    • 28.1.6 Dialog Broadband Networks
• 29. Taiwan
  • 29.1 Fixed Network Operators in Taiwan
    • 29.1.1 Fixed network voice services
    • 29.1.2 Overview of operators
• 30. Tajikistan
  • 30.1 Fixed network operators in Tajikistan
    • 30.1.1 Tajiktelecom
• 31. Thailand
  • 31.1 Fixed network voice services
    • 31.1.1 Market overview
    • 31.1.2 National networks
    • 31.1.3 International networks
    • 31.1.4 Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
  • 31.2 Fixed network operators in Thailand
    • 31.2.1 Major telecom operators by market segment
    • 31.2.2 TOT Corp
    • 31.2.3 CAT Telecom
    • 31.2.4 Proposed CAT/TOT merger
    • 31.2.5 TelecomAsia/True Corp
    • 31.2.6 Thai Telephone &Telecommunications (TT&T)
• 32. Timor Leste
  • 32.1 Fixed network operators in Timor Leste
    • 32.1.1 Telstra
    • 32.1.2 Timor Telecom
• 33. Turkmenistan
  • 33.1 Overview
• 34. Uzbekistan
  • 34.1 Fixed network operators in Uzbekistan
    • 34.1.1 Uzbektelecom
    • 34.1.2 Buzton
    • 34.1.3 East Telecom
• 35. Vietnam
  • 35.1 Fixed network operators in Vietnam
    • 35.1.1 Vietnam Post & Telecommunications (VNPT)
    • 35.1.2 Saigon Postel
    • 35.1.3 Viettel
    • 35.1.4 Other operators
• 36. Glossary of Abbreviations

• Table 1 – Telephone network statistics in Afghanistan – 2007
• Table 2 – Telephone network statistics in Armenia – 2007
• Table 3 – Telephone network statistics in Azerbaijan – 2007
• Table 4 – Telephone network statistics in Bangladesh – 2007
• Table 5 – Fixed telephone line targets and teledensity in Bangladesh – 2010; 2025
• Table 6 – Telephone network statistics in Bhutan – 2007
• Table 7 – Telephone network statistics in Brunei Darussalam – 2007
• Table 8 – Telephone network statistics in Cambodia – 2007
• Table 9 – Telephone network statistics in China – February 2008
• Table 10 – China Mobile subscribers, annual change, ARPU, prepaid & market share – 1997 - 2007
• Table 11 – China Mobile prepaid/postpaid subscribers, MoU and ARPU – 1999 - 2007
• Table 12 – China Mobile revenue, EBITDA, CAPEX, net profit – 2000 - 2007
• Table 13 – China Netcom subscribers by service and ARPU – 2003 - 2007
• Table 14 – China Netcom revenue, EBITDA, CAPEX, net profit – 2003 - 2007
• Table 15 – China Telecom key operating statistics – 2004 - 2007
• Table 16 – China Telecom revenue, EBITDA, CAPEX, net profit – 2001 - 2007
• Table 17 – China Unicom GSM and CDMA mobile subscribers – 2002 - 2007
• Table 18 – China Unicom outgoing international and long-distance calls – 2000 - 2007
• Table 19 – China Unicom revenue, EBITDA, CAPEX, net profit and EPS – 2001 - 2006
• Table 20 – Telephone network statistics in Georgia – 2007
• Table 21 – Telephone network statistics in Hong Kong – 2007
• Table 22 – PCCW revenue and profit – 2001 - 2007
• Table 23 – City Telecom revenue and profit – 2001 - 2007
• Table 24 – HTIL revenue and profit – 2002 - 2006
• Table 25 – Wharf T&T revenue and profit – 2001 - 2006
• Table 26 – Wharf T&T fixed line and IDD volume – 2001 - 2006
• Table 27 – Telephone network statistics in India – 2007
• Table 28 – Fixed-line basic services1 by operator in India – September 2007
• Table 29 – Telephone network statistics in Indonesia – 2007
• Table 30 – PT Indosat fixed wireless subscribers – 2006 - 2007
• Table 31 – Telephone network statistics in Japan – September 2007
• Table 32 – Number of telecommunications carriers in Japan – November 2007
• Table 33 – MYLINE subscribers by category – January 2008
• Table 34 – Internet, broadband, IP telephony and telecoms statistics for Japan – 2004 - 2007
• Table 35 – NTT revenue, net profit, CAPEX and EBITDA – 2000 - 2008
• Table 36 – NTT revenue by segment – 2004 - 2007
• Table 37 – NTT subscribers and annual change – September 2007
• Table 38 – NTT Com operating revenue – 2000 - 2007
• Table 39 – NTT DoCoMo subscribers – January 2008
• Table 40 – NTT DoCoMo operating revenue and annual change – 1996 - 2007
• Table 41 – NTT DoCoMo ARPU, MOU, Churn – 2004 - 2007
• Table 42 – NTT DoCoMo Investment in International Operators – March 2008
• Table 43 – NTT Data revenue and annual change – 1995 - 2008
• Table 44 – KDDI revenue and net income – 1996 - 2008
• Table 45 – KDDI proportion of revenue by segment – 2001 - 2007
• Table 46 – ADSL and FttH subscribers – 2005 - 2008
• Table 47 – Softbank revenue and operating profit – 1995 - 2007
• Table 48 – Softbank proportion of revenue by segment – 2007
• Table 49 – Softbank revenue, EBITDA, CAPEX – 2005 - 2007
• Table 50 – Softbank operational data: millions of subscribers – 2005 - 2007
• Table 51 – Softbank ARPU, MOU and Churn – 2001 - 2007
• Table 52 – Telephone network statistics in Kazakhstan – 2007
• Table 53 – Kazakhtelecom urban and rural fixed-line subscribers – August 2006
• Table 54 – Telephone network statistics in Kyrgyzstan – 2007
• Table 55 – Telephone network statistics in Laos – 2007
• Table 56 – Fixed-line operators’ subscribers and market share in Laos – 2007
• Table 57 – Telephone network statistics in Macau – January 2008
• Table 58 – Telephone network statistics in Malaysia – 2007
• Table 59 – Telephone network statistics in Maldives – October 2007
• Table 60 – Fixed-line subscribers in Maldives – October 2007
• Table 61 – Telephone network statistics in Mongolia – 2007
• Table 62 – Telephone network statistics in Myanmar – 2007
• Table 63 – Telephone network statistics in Nepal – 2007
• Table 64 – Telephone network statistics in Korea – 2005
• Table 65 – Telephone network statistics in Pakistan – March 2007
• Table 66 – ‘Fixed-Line’ licences issued by PTA - 2006
• Table 67 – Fixed-line subscribers by operator in Pakistan - September 2007
• Table 68 – Growth in Public Call Offices (PCOs) in Pakistan – 1999 - 2006
• Table 69 – Fixed-line operators, lines, subscribers and market share in the Philippines – 20062
• Table 70 – Telephone network statistics in the Philippines – 2007
• Table 71 – PLDT mobile service ARPU1 – postpaid & prepaid – 2005 - 2007
• Table 72 – Telephone network statistics in Singapore – February 2008
• Table 73 – Telephone network statistics in South Korea – 2007
• Table 74 – KT Corp broadband subscribers and market share – 2005 - 2007
• Table 75 – Hanaro broadband subscribers by access type – September 2006
• Table 76 – Telephone network statistics in Sri Lanka – December 2007
• Table 77 – SLT fixed-line subscribers and market share – 1999 - 2007
• Table 78 – SLT fixed-line subscribers – Wireline versus WLL – 2005 - 2007
• Table 79 – Suntel subscribers - 1999 - 2007
• Table 80 – Lanka Bell subscribers – 1999 - 2007
• Table 81 – Telephone network statistics in Taiwan – 2007
• Table 82 – Fixed network operators – market share by revenue in Taiwan – 2007
• Table 83 – Chunghwa Telecom fixed subscribers and market share – 2004 - 2007
• Table 84 – Chunghwa Telecom subscriber base – February 2008
• Table 85 – Chunghwa Telecom revenue, CAPEX, net profit and employees – 2000 - 2007
• Table 86 – Chunghwa Telecom fixed-line & mobile subscribers and market share – 2000 - 2007
• Table 87 – Telephone network statistics in Tajikistan – 2007
• Table 88 – Telephone network statistics in Thailand – 2007
• Table 89 – Telephone network statistics in Timor Leste – 2007
• Table 90 – Telephone network statistics in Turkmenistan – 2007
• Table 91 – Telephone network statistics in Uzbekistan – 2007
• Table 92 – Telephone network statistics in Vietnam – 2007

• Exhibit 1 – Overview of telecom service and operators in Cambodia – 2007
• Exhibit 2 – China – Restructuring Scenario 1
• Exhibit 3 – China – Restructuring Scenario 2
• Exhibit 4 – China – Restructuring Scenario 3
• Exhibit 5 – China’s telephone subscribers – 1998 - 2007
• Exhibit 6 – China Mobile Limited at a glance – 2007
• Exhibit 7 – China Network Communications Group Corporation at a glance – 2007
• Exhibit 8 – China Telecom Corporation Ltd* at a glance – 2007
• Exhibit 9 – China Unicom Ltd at a glance – 2007
• Exhibit 10 – Sakartvelos Elektrokavshiri’s Tbilisi network infrastructure
• Exhibit 11 – The ‘original’ PCCW deal
• Exhibit 12 – Major members of MYLINE Carriers Association – January 2008
• Exhibit 13 – Significant telecoms operators in Japan
• Exhibit 14 – NTT Group structure – January 2008
• Exhibit 15 – Softbank operations
• Exhibit 16 – Kazakhtelecom’s modernisation program for telecommunications – 2004 - 2007
• Exhibit 17 – Telekom Malaysia’s major shareholders – December 2006
• Exhibit 18 – PTCL subsidiary companies
• Exhibit 19 – Joint ventures and affiliated companies
• Exhibit 20 – SingTel regional subsidiaries: shareholdings - 2007
• Exhibit 21 – Overview of KT subsidiaries
• Exhibit 22 – Telecommunications system operator licensees in Sri Lanka
• Exhibit 23 – Major operators by market segment in Thailand