Laos Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Publication Date: December 2024

Report Pages: 112

Analyst: Henry Lancaster

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Summary
Table Of Contents

Laos making progress on its digital transformation strategy

When Laos joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2013 one of the conditions of admittance was to establish an independent regulator for its telecom sector within two years. The has yet to be achieved, with the result that the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) retains the primary role in regulating the country’s telecom market. With the government also having a financial stake (in part or in whole) in every one of the major fixed-line and mobile operators, the MPT’s position and decision-making is far from being independent.

This has created the situation whereby development of the telecom market has largely been stifled. The regulatory regime appears at times to be openly hostile to free market competition, and has cracked down on attempts to increase the value of services through more competitive pricing offers. Indeed, pricing controls effectively limit the ability of telcos to offer promotions or special price packages. In turn, this has led to an environment which offers few incentives for providers to invest in new infrastructure or improve service quality. Sufficient returns on investment cannot be guaranteed with such strict pricing controls, and there is the constant potential for political interference.

As a result of these limitations, fixed-line and mobile penetration rates have remained much lower than in neighbouring South East Asian markets. Nevertheless, there are signs of growth in the mobile broadband segment as LTE network coverage slowly widens. In January 2024, the country’s first 5G service was launched by Lao telecom, though restricted to a few locations around Vientiane, including tourist areas, shopping malls, universities, and the international airport.

The government has several strategies aimed at improving the digital transformation of the economy, based on a digital government, digital society, and digital economy. It is aimed at growing the digital economy from 3% of GDP (in 2022 terms) to 10% by 2040.

Key developments:

LTC re-launches a commercial 5G service in Vientiane.
Laos makes progress with its digital transformation plan through to 2040.
Report includes the regulator’s latest annual report on the ICT sector, ITU market data updates, updated Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Lao Telecom (LTC), ETL, Unitel, Beeline, Planet Online, Huayuan Electronics.

Key statistics
Regional Asia market comparison

Market characteristics
Market Leaders
Market Challengers
Market Emergents
TMI vs GDP
Mobile and mobile broadband penetration
Fixed versus mobile broadband penetration

Country overview
Telecommunications market

Digital transformation
Lao Digital Economy Development Vision, Strategy and Plan 2021-2040
Telecommunication Development and Digital Transformation Fund

Regulatory environment

Regulatory authorities

Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT)
Ministry of Technology and Communications (MTC)

Fixed-line developments

Telecommunications Act 2001
Telecommunication Law (Amended) No.09/NA (2011)
Telecommunications Law No. 2 (2012)
Telecommunications Law 2021
Internet laws and decrees

Mobile network developments

SIM registration

Mobile market

Mobile statistics
Mobile infrastructure

5G
4G/LTE
3G
Mobile broadband

Major mobile operators

Lao Telecom (LTC)
ETL
TPlus
Unitel
MVNOs

Mobile content and applications

m-banking/m-money
e-commerce

Fixed broadband market

Market analysis
Fixed-line broadband technologies

DSL
WiMAX
Fibre
Satellite

Fixed network market

Major network operators

Lao Telecom (LTC)
ETL
Unitel

Telecommunications infrastructure

National telecom network
International infrastructure

Satellite systems
Terrestrial cable links
Other Developments - PoPs
Internet exchange

Glossary of abbreviations
Related reports

List of Tables

Table 1 – Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities – Laos – 2024 (e)
Table 2 – Change in government investment in telecom sector projects (million Kip) – 2017 – 2021
Table 3 – Change in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 4 – Development of mobile voice traffic – 2013 – 2024
Table 5 – Change in mobile and fixed broadband data traffic (GB) – 2016 – 2021
Table 6 – Change in the number of base stations in service by technology – 2015 – 2021
Table 7 – Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 8 – Increase in the number of registered internet users and penetration – 2014 – 2021
Table 9 – Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 10 – Change in the number of fixed broadband subscribers by access speed – 2011 – 2021
Table 11 – Change in the number of DSL subscribers – 2011 – 2021
Table 12 – Increase in the number of fibre broadband subscribers – 2010 – 2021
Table 13 – Change in the number of fixed-line subscribers by type – 2014 – 2021
Table 14 – Change in the number of fixed-lines in service and teledensity – 2012 – 2027
Table 15 – Change in fixed voice traffic by type (thousand minutes) – 2014 – 2021
Table 16 – Increase in fibre network by installed route length – 2010 – 2021
Table 17 – Increase in international internet bandwidth – 2012 – 2021
Table 18 – Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration – 1996 – 2011
Table 19 – Historic - Mobile operators and systems - 2009
Table 20 – Historic - Beeline mobile subscribers – 2005 – 2018
Table 21 – Historic - Beeline’s mobile ARPU – 2011 – 2016
Table 22 – Historic - Fixed broadband subscribers – 2003 – 2011
Table 23 – Historic - Internet users and Penetration – 2002 – 2017
Table 24 – Historic - Internet bandwidth capacity – 2002 – 2011
Table 25 – Historic - Lit/Equipped International Bandwidth Capacity – 2015 – 2017
Table 26 – Historic - Fibre network route length by operator – 2012; 2014
Table 27 – Historic - WLL (fixed wireless) subscribers – 2004 – 2014
Table 28 – Historic - Fixed-lines in service and teledensity – 1996 – 2011
Table 29 – Historic - Decline in Beeline’s revenue and EBITDA (US$ million) – 2012 – 2017
Table 30 – Historic - Growth in the number of DSL subscribers – 2007 – 2010

List of Charts

Chart 1 – Asia Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Leaders
Chart 2 – Asia Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Challengers
Chart 3 – Asia Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Emergents
Chart 4 – Asia – Telecoms Maturity Index vs GDP per capita
Chart 5 – Asia – Mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 6 – South East Asia – Mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 7 – South East Asia – Fixed and mobile broadband penetration
Chart 8 – Change in government investment in telecom sector projects – 2017 – 2021
Chart 9 – Change in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 10 – Development of mobile voice traffic – 2013 – 2024
Chart 11 – Change in mobile and fixed broadband data traffic – 2016 – 2021
Chart 12 – Change in the number of base stations in service by technology – 2015 – 2021
Chart 13 – Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 14 – Increase in the number of registered internet users and penetration – 2014 – 2021
Chart 15 – Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 16 – Change in the number of fixed broadband subscribers by access speed – 2011 – 2021
Chart 17 – Change in the number of DSL subscribers – 2011 – 2021
Chart 18 – Increase in the number of fibre broadband subscribers – 2010 – 2021
Chart 19 – Change in the number of fixed-line subscribers by type – 2014 – 2021
Chart 20 – Change in the number of fixed-lines in service and teledensity – 2012 – 2027
Chart 21 – Change in fixed voice traffic by type (thousand minutes) – 2014 – 2021
Chart 22 – Increase in fibre network by installed route length – 2010 – 2021
Chart 23 – Increase in international internet bandwidth – 2012 – 2021

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 1 – Map of Telecom Maturity Index global ranking among countries in Asia
Exhibit 2 – Generalised Market Characteristics by Market Segment
Exhibit 3 – Asia – Market Leaders and market developments
Exhibit 4 – Asia – Market Challengers and market developments
Exhibit 5 – Asia – Market Emergents and market developments

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Laos Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Purchase this Report

Laos making progress on its digital transformation strategy

Key developments:

Companies mentioned in this report:

Key statistics

Regional Asia market comparison

Country overview

Telecommunications market

Regulatory environment

Mobile market

Fixed broadband market

Fixed network market

Telecommunications infrastructure

Glossary of abbreviations

Related reports

Purchase this Report

Share this Report

TMT Intelligence

A platform to scale your intelligence tasks

Research Methodology

Hot Topics

News & Views