Countries covered: Singapore
BMI has made significant changes to its broadband forecast, after including both wireline and wirelesssubscriber figures. Based on IDA data, which reported 5.126mn subscribers as of June 2009, householdpenetration rates reached 118.5%. This was up significantly from 85.6% reported in June 2008. BMI nowanticipates a total of 6.3mn broadband subscribers at the end of 2009, with the number rising to 14.2mnby the end of our forecast period in 2013.
Growth in the broadband market is being driven by wireless broadband, up by 31.3% y-o-y to reach atotal of 4.076mn subscribers as of Q209, accounting for 79.5% of the total. This has in part beenencouraged by the efforts of mobile operators SingTel, StarHub and M1, who have all invested inHSPA. More recently, in July 2009 StarHub upgraded its network to HSPA+, capable of offeringdownload speeds of 21Mbps.
Other improvements to the broadband market have arrived from M1’s acquisition of local internet serviceprovider (ISP) Qala Singapore in early September 2009 at a cost of SGD14.9mn (US$10.3mn). In early2009, M1 had launched its fixed-line broadband service, and its purchase of Qala will see it enter thecorporate fixed-line broadband market, helping it to make rapid gains in both presence and experience.
Adding to this, Qala remains the only commercial WiMAX provider in Singapore, and is also one of threeoperators providing free Wi-Fi services.
Efforts in the broadband market, and on a much larger scale, continue to be driven by the country’sSGD1bn Next Broadband Network project. Contracts were awarded to Chinese telecoms equipmentvendor Huawei Technologies in late September 2009 for the deployment of an end-to-end network withan IP MPLS core and a GPON active ethernet access network. The vendor’s contract accounted for 70%of the total value. The remaining 30% went to Alcatel-Lucent Technologies, which will supply itsOSS/BSS systems and act as systems integrator. The contract will include service assurance, customercare and billing, and is scheduled for completion by July 2010.
Meanwhile, the maturing telecoms market in Singapore impacted the country’s Business EnvironmentRating in terms of potential returns; however, a rising regulatory independence score, up to 90, was ableto offset falls in the country risk and country structure categories. This led to Singapore retaining itssecond-ranked spot over the quarter, with a total score of 71, still some way behind first-placed Japan’s75.3.
Related Reports:
4Q09 South Asia Mobile Operator Forecast, 2009 - 2013
4Q09 Europe and Central Asia Mobile Operator Forecast, 2009 - 2013
4Q09 East Asia and Pacific Mobile Operator Forecast, 2009 - 2013
4Q09 Latin America Mobile Operator Forecast, 2009 - 2013
4Q09 Sub-Saharan Africa Mobile Operator Forecast, 2009 - 2013
4Q09 Global Mobile Operator Forecast, 2009 - 2013
4Q09 Middle East and North Africa Mobile Operator Forecast, 2009 - 2013
4Q09 North America Mobile Operator Forecast, 2009 - 2013
4Q09 Colombia Mobile Operator Forecast, 2009 - 2013: Colombia will have 48.8 million mobile subscribers in 2013 with market share of Tigo Colombia increasing to 11.3%
4Q09 Mexico Mobile Operator Forecast, 2009 - 2013: The Mexican wireless market will have 107.8 million subscribers in 2013 with market share of Telcel declining to 71.1%
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