Laos - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

The Laos telecoms market finally gains some momentum

The telecom sector in Laos still has numerous issues to address. For a number of years, the rate of regulatory reform has been well behind wider industry development. However, Laos has started to make significant progress in strengthening of its telecommunications infrastructure. As a result, it attracted more foreign investment into the sector.

The Laos economy continues to perform well. In the last decade there certainly has been a noticeable shift in the economic and social outlook for Laos. Most importantly, a significant number of hydro-electric power projects and mining ventures have become a reality, with even more possible projects in the pipeline.

The provision of fixed internet services has been slow, this being a major concern in terms of the overall social and economic development of the country.

Fixed broadband penetration in Laos remains limited in scale and nature and extremely low mainly due to a limited number of fixed lines as well as the dominance of the mobile platform. Over the next five years to 2023 growth is expected to continue but overall market penetration will remain extremely low.

The country’s mobile sector has been going through a difficult period. Whilst subscriber growth had picked up to some extent after the market had gone backwards for a while, the mobile operators are now operating in an environment where the regulator is keeping a tight hold on pricing and open competition is in effect discouraged.

In contrast there has been the rapid expansion of mobile broadband internet services on the back of the large-scale launch of 4G services by the mobile operators. Laos has seen a strong increase in mobile broadband penetration over the past five years, however the mobile broadband market is still at an early stage of development and penetration remains relatively low compared to other Asian nations. Strong growth is predicted over the next five years to 2023.

Key developments:

Fixed broadband penetration in Laos remains limited in scale and nature
After peaking in 2011 mobile subscriber penetration in Laos declined, since then there had been some recovery.
Low to moderate mobile subscriber growth is predicted over the next five years to 2023.
There has been the rapid expansion of mobile broadband internet services on the back of the large-scale launch of 4G services.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Lao Telecom (LTC), Thaicom, ETL, Unitel, Lao Asia Telecom, Star Telecom, Viettel, Beeline, Millicom, Vimpelcom, Planet Online, Sky Telecom, China-APMT.

Table of Contents

Key statistics
Country overview

Economy
WTO accession

Telecommunications market

Market Overview and Analysis
Historical overview
Regional Asian Market Comparison

Regulatory environment

Overview
Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT)
Telecommunications Law No. 2 (2012)
Earlier legislation

Telecommunications Act 2001
National Authority for Post and Telecommunications (NAPT)

SIM Registration
Regulatory issues

Internet laws and decrees
Single gateway policy

Fixed network operators

Overview
Lao Telecom
ETL

Overview
Fixed-line operations

Telecommunications infrastructure

Overview of the national telecom network
Fibre Networks
International infrastructure

Satellite (LaoSat-1 project)
Terrestrial cable links
Other Developments - PoPs

Fixed-line broadband market

Background
Market Overview
Market Statistics and Forecasts
Fixed-line broadband technologies

DSL
WiMAX
Optical fibre
Satellite

Mobile market

Market Analysis
Mobile statistics and Forecasts
Mobile broadband statistics and Forecasts
Mobile infrastructure

Third Generation (3G) mobile services
Long Term Evolution (LTE) / 4G services

Major mobile operators

Operator Statistics
Lao Telecom (LTC)
ETL
Beeline Cambodia
Unitel
Sky Telecom

Digital economy

E-government
E-health

Digital Media

Introduction
Digital TV
VoIP

Related reports

List of Tables

Table 1 – Country Statistics, Major Operators and Telco Authorities – 2018 (e)
Table 2 – Top Level Country Statistics – 2018 (e)
Table 3 – Historical - Fixed-line subscribers – 1995 - 2006
Table 4 – Fixed-line subscribers – 2007 – 2018
Table 5 – Historic - WLL (fixed wireless) subscribers – 2004 - 2015
Table 6 – Historic - Fibre network by installed route length
Table 7 – Historic - Fibre network by operator
Table 8 – Fixed Broadband Subscribers and Penetration (with Forecast) – 2008 - 2023
Table 9 – Historic - Fixed broadband subscribers – 2003 - 2009
Table 10 – Internet users and Penetration – 1998 - 2017
Table 11 – Internet bandwidth capacity – 2002 - 2018
Table 12 – Lit/Equipped International Bandwidth Capacity – 2015 – 2018
Table 13 – Historic - DSL subscribers – 2007 - 2015
Table 14 – Mobile Subscribers and Penetration (with Forecast) – 2007 – 2023
Table 15 – Historic - mobile subscribers, annual change and penetration – 1995 - 2006
Table 16 – Mobile Broadband Subscribers and Penetration (with Forecast) – 2011 - 2023
Table 17 – Percentage of Population Covered by Type of Mobile Network
Table 18 – Mobile operators and Systems
Table 19 – Mobile subscribers and market share by operator – 2018
Table 20 – ETL’s mobile subscribers – 2003 - 2018
Table 21 – Beeline’s mobile subscribers – 2005 - 2018
Table 22 – Historic - Beeline’s mobile ARPU – 2011 - 2016
Table 23 – Unitel’s mobile subscribers – 2005 - 2018
Table 24 – Historic - Key broadcasting statistics - 2016

List of Charts

Chart 1 – Mobile, Mobile Broadband & Fixed Broadband Penetration – 2018; 2023
Chart 4 – Telecoms Maturity Index – South East Asia
Chart 5 – Fixed-line subscribers – 2007 – 2018
Chart 6 – Fixed Broadband Subscribers and Penetration (with Forecast) – 2008 - 2023
Chart 7 – Mobile Subscribers and Penetration (with Forecast) – 2008 - 2023
Chart 8 – Mobile Broadband Subscribers and Penetration (with Forecast) – 2011 - 2023

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 2 – South East Asia - Key Characteristics of Telecoms Markets by Country

Related Reports

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Technologies

Broadband Fixed
Broadcasting
Internet
Mobile Communications (voice and infrastructure)
Regulations & Government Policies
Strategies & Analyses (Industry & Markets)
Telecoms Infrastructure

Number of pages 77

Status Current

Last updated 13 Mar 2019
Update History

Analyst: Phil Harpur

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