Publication Overview
The report has gathered together a selection of information about each of these many operators. The range of information presented in the text, and where appropriate in tables, includes:
· brief history of the company;
· corporate and business structure;
· subscriber growth;
· financial performance;
· market position.
It is noted that the information provided varies from market to market and operator to operator, depending very much on the availability of statistics and corporate reports.
In some markets we also provide an overall review of the market in which we find these operators; this overview includes such statistical information as market share and APRU if available. Within the background information we have also reported on the mergers and acquisition that have been part of a transformational market.
Researchers:- Peter Evans and Lisa Hulme-Jones
Current publication date:- September 2008 (5th Edition)
Next publication date:- October 2009
Executive Summary
This market report provides a wide-ranging review of telecom operators across the Asian region. The overview includes around 170 operators ranging from the giant China Mobile which is expected to have more than 440 million subscribers by late 2008 to a number of small operators with only a few thousand subscribers. The list of operators gathered by BuddeComm does not claim to be exhaustive but it certainly is indicative of the breadth and variety of operator to be found in the region.
The focus of this report is on the operators within the individual national markets. Of course, in addition to these individual operators there are those companies such as SingTel, Vodafone, Hutchison and Telekom Malaysia that have built a substantial presence around the region through their shareholdings in operators in multiple markets. This aspect of these corporations is not discussed in any detail but is mentioned in passing in the country-by-country review.
Top 15 mobile operators in Asia by number of subscribers – 2007 - 2008
|
Ranking
|
Operator
|
Country
|
2007
|
Mar 2008
|
|
2008
|
2007
|
Subscribers (million)
|
|
1
|
1
|
China Mobile
|
China
|
369.4
|
392.1
|
|
2
|
2
|
China Unicom Ltd
|
China
|
161.6
|
167.0
|
|
3
|
3
|
Bharti
|
India
|
55.2
|
61.9
|
|
4
|
4
|
NTT DoCoMo
|
Japan
|
53.2
|
53.4
|
|
5
|
5
|
Telkomsel
|
Indonesia
|
43.1
|
46.7
|
|
6
|
6
|
Vodafone Essar*
|
India
|
39.9
|
44.1
|
|
7
|
7
|
Reliance
|
India
|
35.9
|
40.0
|
|
8
|
8
|
BSNL
|
India
|
32.7
|
36.2
|
|
9
|
9
|
PMCL
|
Pakistan
|
30.6
|
31.8
|
|
10
|
10
|
Smart Communications
|
Philippines
|
30.0
|
31.5
|
|
11
|
11
|
KDDI
|
Japan
|
29.6
|
30.3
|
|
12
|
12
|
AIS
|
Thailand
|
24.0
|
25.0
|
|
13
|
15
|
Idea Cellular
|
India
|
21.1
|
24.0
|
|
14
|
14
|
PT Indosat
|
Indonesia
|
21.5
|
23.8
|
|
15
|
13
|
SK Telecom
|
South Korea
|
22.0
|
22.3
|
(Source: BuddeComm based on Global Mobile data)
Note: *Formerly Hutchison.
With the progressive opening up of markets to more competition, we have seen the licensing of more and more operators in the various countries of the region. Only a handful of these countries are still clinging to a single state-owned incumbent structure today. Typically markets are characterised by a number of operators in each segment competing on price, service quality, service offering and other market areas to win market share, build customer bases and healthy businesses.
We have seen markets like India where some rather complex licensing systems saw dozens of operators enter the market; this was followed by a period of market rationalisation, which ultimately produced a highly effective commercial environment. Similar processes have taken place right across the region.
Data in this report is the latest available at the time of preparation and may not be for the current year.