Communications: Government and Business Practices in the Asia Pacific Region
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION UNION The Future of Voice Document: FoV/09 22 February 2007 New Initiatives Programme COMMUNICATIONS: GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS PRACTICES IN THE ASIA PACIFIC REGION BACKGROUND MATERIAL © ITU 15-16 January 2007 Acknowledgements This background paper was prepared by Khelia Johnson ([email protected]) with contributions by Oluwaseun Oyeyipo ([email protected]) and will be presented for comments at the ITU New Initiatives Program workshop on “The Future of Voice” to be held on 15-16 January 2007 at the ITU Headquarters, Geneva. The opinions expressed in this study are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the International Telecommunication Union, its membership, or the Governments. This paper, together with the others relevant for the debate on the future of voice and prepared under ITU New Initiatives Program can be found under http://www.itu.int/spu/voice. The Future of Voice project is managed by Jaroslaw Ponder <[email protected]>, under the direction of Dr. Tim Kelly <[email protected]>. The authors would like to thank Tomoo Nemoto and Sang-Hun Lee for their comments on and additions to Japan and South Korea respectively. Notes This paper was created based on the information available through November 30, 2006. II TABLE OF CONTENTS page 1 Introduction................................................................................................................................... 5 2 Country Case Studies .................................................................................................................... 6 2.1 Hong Kong .............................................................................................................. 6 2.2 South Korea ........................................................................................................... 16 2.3 Japan ...................................................................................................................... 25 2.4 Australia................................................................................................................. 34 2.5 China...................................................................................................................... 45 3 Analysis....................................................................................................................................... 60 4 Conclusion................................................................................................................................... 71 TABLES Table 2.1: Hong Kong - Economic Snapshot, 2000 to 2005................................................................... 7 Table 2.2: Hong Kong - Mobile Telephone Market in Early 2005 ....................................................... 11 Table 2.3: Hong Kong - Mobile Telephone Market in Early 2006 ....................................................... 12 Table 2.4: Hong Kong - Internet Penetration Rate, 2000 to 2005........................................................ 12 Table 2.5: South Korea - Economic Snapshot, 2000 to 2005................................................................ 17 Table 2.6: South Korea - Internet Penetration Rate, 2000 to 2005....................................................... 21 Table 2.7: Japan - Economic Snapshot, 2000 to 2005........................................................................... 26 Table 2.8: Japan - Internet Penetration Rate, 2000 to 2005.................................................................. 30 Table 2.9: Australia - Economic Snapshot, 2000 to 2005 ..................................................................... 35 Table 2.10: Australia - Mobile Telecommunications Industry Revenue, 2000-2001 to 2005-2006 ..... 38 Table 2.11: Australia - Internet Penetration Rate 2000 to 2005 ............................................................ 42 Table 2.12: China - Economic Snapshot, 2000 to 2005 ........................................................................ 46 Table 2.13: China – Total Telecommunications Investment, 1980 to 2005.......................................... 47 Table 2.14: China - Commitment under its WTO Service Schedule .................................................... 48 Table 2.15: China - The Telecommunications Market after Restructuring........................................... 49 Table 2.16: China - Internet Penetration Rate, 2000 to 2005 ................................................................ 55 Table 3.1: Analysis - Comparison of Voice Communications.............................................................. 60 Table 3.2: Analysis - Comparison of Data Communications................................................................ 61 Table 3.3: Analysis - Total Telecommunications Investment in US$ (bill) , 1980 to 2005.................. 63 Table 3.4: Analysis - Telecommunications Indicators 2005 ................................................................. 64 Table 3.5: Analysis - Comparison of Attitudes towards Convergence in the Asia Pacific Region....... 70 FIGURES Figure 2.1: Hong Kong - ARPU in the Mobile Telephony Market, 2002 to 2004................................ 10 Figure 2.2: Hong Kong - The Number of SMS in December, 2002 to 2005 ........................................ 11 Figure 2.3: Hong Kong - Ratio of Dial-up Customers versus Broadband Customers, 2003 to 2005.... 13 Figure 2.4: South Korea - ICT and the South Korean Population, 2001 to 2005.................................. 18 Figure 2.5: South Korea - Subscriber Base of ICTs , Sept. 2006 to Oct. 2006 ..................................... 19 Figure 2.6: South Korea - Current Market Share of Operators (%) ...................................................... 20 3 Figure 2.7: South Korea - Fixed Broadband Internet Subscriptions, 2001 to 2006 (1st Quarter).......... 22 Figure 2.8: South Korea - WiBro Subscription and Sales Forecast, 2006 to 2010 ............................... 23 Figure 2.9: Japan - Transition of Subscribers from Fixed to Mobile Communication, 1999 to 2005... 28 Figure 2.10: Japan - Sales Ratio between Fixed and Mobile Communication, 2000 to 2005............... 29 Figure 2.11: Japan - Transition in Call Time per Day per Subscription, 2000 to 2004......................... 29 Figure 2.12: Japan - Wireline Subscriber by Line Type, 2004 to 2006................................................ 31 Figure 2.13: Japan - IP Phone Penetration, 2000 to 2005 ..................................................................... 32 Figure 2.14: Japan - VoIP Users, 2004 and 2005..................................................................................32 Figure 2.15: Australia - Percentage Change in the Price of Mobile Telephony, 1999 to 2004............. 39 Figure 2.16: Australia - SMS Messages Sent from 2000-2001 to 2003-2004....................................... 40 Figure 2.17: China - Total Telecommunications Investment as a Percentage of GDP, 1980 to 2005 .. 47 Figure 2.18: China - Total Telephone Subscribers, 1998 to 2004......................................................... 50 Figure 2.19: China - Telephone Subscribers per 100 People, 1998 to 2004 ......................................... 50 Figure 2.20: China Mobile - Average Minutes per User, 1997 to 2005................................................ 52 Figure 2.21: China Mobile - Average Revenue Per User, 1997 to 2005............................................... 52 Figure 2.22: China Mobile - Revenues from New Services 2002 to 2006............................................ 53 Figure 2.23: China Mobile - New Services Revenue and Its Percentage Contribution to Total Revenue, 2002 to 2005.......................................................................................................................................... 54 Figure 2.24: China - Internet Subscribers, 2000 to 2005....................................................................... 56 Figure 2.25: China - Internet Users versus Total Population, 2000 to 2005 ......................................... 56 Figure 3.1: Analysis - Telecommunications Investment as a Percentage of GDP, 1980 to 2004 ......... 63 Figure 3.2: Analysis - Top Countries in Broadband Penetration, 2005................................................. 65 Figure 3.3: Analysis - IPTV Subscribers in the Asia-Pacific Region, 2005 to 2011 (Projected).......... 67 4 1 INTRODUCTION Although users are generating more traffic, recent trends in the telecommunication industry have shown evidence of falling average revenue per user (ARPU). Much of the traffic generated utilizes IP and as a result is difficult to trace. This paper investigates this phenomenon in the Asia Pacific Region, and in particular, focuses on five countries: Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, Australia, and China. These countries were chosen because they represent the diversity of the region in basic telecommunications demographics, such as size, population, infrastructure, etc. Each country is examined individually, in a case study and evaluated as to whether it is experiencing the decline in ARPU and how operators and the government are dealing with the situation. Also, any new technologies or business strategies which may affect revenues or usage are highlighted. Specifically, these are case study evaluations of voice services, falling ARPU, convergence, and how operators/governments are reacting. The goal of these studies is to evaluate whether the actions of the governments are effective. The countries are ordered from most