North Asia leads in mobile users, revenues, innovation; 1bn subscribers in 2009!

SINGAPORE: North Asia is light years ahead of the other Asian sub-regions in terms of mobile service innovation and revenues, thanks to countries like Japan, which is expected to launch LTE in 2010 -- likely to be the first in the world -- and along with South Korea, are two nations with the highest ARPU levels in Asia-Pacific (Japan at $53.20 per month in 2008 and South Korea at $38.04).

Despite such heavyweights and market saturation in Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea, juggernaut China ensures that mobile subscriber growth will most certainly continue.

The North Asian region is expected to be home to just over one billion mobile users by the end of 2009, representing a year-on-year subscriber growth of 15.3 percent; China alone will house 80 percent of that billion.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, 2009 North Asia Wireless Outlook, finds that the mobile subscriber base in the region -- covering five North Asian nations including Japan -- grew 10.1 percent year-on-year to reach 878.1 million users in 2008, accounting for nearly half of the total mobile subscribers in Asia-Pacific (18 countries) last year.

Forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 7.7 percent (2008-2014), North Asia's mobile subscribers are expected to surpass 1.37 billion users by end-2014.

Mobile services in North Asia are expected to gross an estimated $183 billion in revenues this year, and are forecasted to reach billings of $229.8 billion by end-2014, at a CAGR of 5.2 percent (2008-2014).

"The bulk of this growth, both in terms of subscribers and revenues, will naturally be driven by China," says Frost & Sullivan senior industry analyst Jeff Teh. "With a mobile penetration rate of just 51.6 percent in 2008, China remains the largest and one of the fastest-growing mobile services market in the world."

Hong Kong's mobile penetration rate stood at 133.2 percent in 2008, Japan at 86.5 percent, South Korea at 94 percent, and Taiwan at 110.9 percent.

In Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, Teh believes that growth, however marginal, will be driven less by subscriber addition and more by data usage prompted mainly by mobile broadband and 3G service uptake.

Even so, just barely, "We expect intense price competition in these markets with the vast majority of mobile data subscribers using flat-rate plans," he explains. "The primary challenge for operators here would be to differentiate their services to maintain average subscriber revenue and manage churn," Teh adds.

Given the high degree of competition, Teh expects operator revenues in these markets (ex-China) to grow at a low CAGR of under one percent from now till 2014.

Mobile operators in China however are expected to bill close to $85.7 billion by the end of 2009, and close the year 2014 at revenues of $132.6 billion -- for a CAGR of 13 percent (2008-2014) -- and 1.15 billion subscribers.

In 2008, China had 687.2 million subscribers, accounting for 78.2 percent of North Asia's mobile users; Japan -- 110.4 million (12.6 percent); South Korea -- 45.6 million (5.2 percent); Taiwan -- 25.6 million (2.9 percent); and Hong Kong -- 9.3 million (1.1 percent).

NTT selects Alcatel-Lucent for Japan's first IPv6-compatible MPLS IP-VPN service

PARIS, FRANCE: Alcatel-Lucent announced that NTT Communications Corp. (NTT Com) has deployed Alcatel-Lucent's service router solution as the base for its IP-VPN service, which now supports both IPv4 and next generation IPv6 protocols (IPv4/IPv6 dual stack) for enterprise users.

IPv4/IPv6 dual stack provides both IPv4 and IPv6 connectivity using only one subscriber line seamlessly integrated with physically independent networks.

Offered as an option for its Arcstar IP-VPN service, this is the country's first commercial IPv6 compatible IP-VPN service based on Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS).

The Alcatel-Lucent 7750 Service Router (SR) was first deployed in 2007 to support NTT Com's IP-VPN IPv4-based service, where its reliability and flexibility were put to the test by the high demands of NTT Com's enterprise customers.

Now, with IPv4 addresses approaching exhaustion, NTT Com again chose Alcatel-Lucent to upgrade its network to allow both IPv4 and IPv6 traffic to be used on a single network, offering a smooth, relatively low-cost IPv6 migration for its enterprise customers.

"This represents a key milestone in the Japanese market with NTT Com launching its IPv4/IPv6 dual stack service," said Martin Jordy, president of Alcatel-Lucent's Japan activities. "With our market-leading service router solution, we will continue to help NTT Com and its enterprise customers take advantage of the efficient and reliable advanced network services offered with this next generation Internet protocol."

Over 270 service providers in more than 100 countries around the world have selected the Alcatel-Lucent IP/MPLS portfolio as key elements of their IP transformation. According to Ovum RHK, Alcatel-Lucent holds the #2 position in the IP/MPLS Edge market segment.

Intel Capital invests $43 million in UQ Communications

SANTA CLARA, USA: Intel Capital, Intel Corp.'s global investment organization, has invested $43 million (JP ¥4.15 billion) in Japan-based UQ Communications, a provider of WiMAX mobile services.

UQ Communications will utilize the funding to continue the nationwide expansion of UQ WiMAX service in Japan, with the commitment to provide WiMAX coverage to 90 percent of the country by 2012.

"Intel Capital's investment in UQ Communications is one of our most significant commitments in developing the WiMAX ecosystem around the globe," said Arvind Sodhani, president of Intel Capital and Intel executive vice president. "UQ's WiMAX deployment in Japan is a spectacular example of technology innovation being put to work."

"UQ Communications values Intel Capital's investment to help expand our WiMAX service in Japan," said Takashi Tanaka, CEO of UQ Communications. "We look forward to further collaboration with Intel and Intel Capital."

Intel has played a large role in the proliferation of the WiMAX global standard. The company has worked closely with computing and communications manufacturers to embed WiMAX-enabled chipsets in devices, and has made significant capital investments worldwide to help service providers build and deploy networks as well as address spectrum and regulatory needs. To date, nearly 460 WiMAX networks have been deployed in 135 countries.

UQ Communications recently launched trial service of its UQ WiMAX in Tokyo's 23 wards, Yokohama and Kawasaki, and the Haneda Airport (Tokyo International Airport). UQ Communications will formally launch UQ WiMAX service on July 1.