ID :
17762
Tue, 09/02/2008 - 16:28
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/17762
The shortlink copeid
ASIA PACIFIC HAS TWO BLN TELEPHONE SUBSCRIBERS
By D. Arul Rajoo
BANGKOK, Sept 2 (Bernama) -- Asia-Pacific is a region of superlatives when it comes to information and communications technology (ICT) with the total number of telephone subscribers at more than two billion, acording to the Asia-Pacific Telecommunication/ICT Indicators 2008 Report.
With China and India, the world's two fastest-growing countries
leading the pack, the region is home to almost half the world's fixed
telephone subscribers
and has 42 percent of the world's Internet users.
"With 1.4 billion mobile cellular subscribers, it also has the largest
mobile phone market share," the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) said
in the report released to coincide with the launching of Telecom ASIA 2008 here.
By mid-2008, China and India alone had over 600 million and 280 million
mobile cellular subscribers respectively, representing close to a quarter of
the world's total.
The report said average annual mobile growth over the last five years was
close to 30 percent, and with mobile penetration approaching 40 percent,
almost two out of five inhabitants in the region enjoy the benefits of mobile
telephony today.
It also said that non-voice applications via mobile phones are increasing
rapidly and now account for more than one quarter of the region's main
operators' mobile revenues.
Text messaging, or SMS, is the predominant non-voice, mobile application,
the report said, citing Filipinos who sent a staggering 650 text messages per
subscriber per month, the highest in the world.
SMS has emerged as a significant alternative to computer-based e-mail in
the region's low and lower middle-income economies while other mobile data
applications, such as cash transfers and online purchases, are creating new
business opportunities in poor countries.
The area in which the region really stands out is the uptake of advanced
Internet technologies, especially broadband Internet access, as Asia-Pacific is
the world's largest broadband market with a 39 percent share of the world's
total at the end of 2007.
In terms of broadband access, Asia-Pacific has made remarkable progress in
the past few years, with subscriber numbers growing almost five-fold in five
years -- from 27 million at the beginning of 2003 to 133 million at the start of
2008.
South Korea leads the world in terms of the percentage of households with
fixed broadband access, and no less than five economies in the top 10 are from
Asia-Pacific.
But the gap in available broadband speeds between rich and poor countries
is as wide as broadband penetration, ITU said, citing Japan, South Korea and
Hong Kong where the minimum advertised broadband speed is faster than the
maximum broadband speed in Cambodia, Tonga, Laos and Bangladesh.
The ITU report said that broadband uptake enables a range of socially
desirable and valuable online services in areas such as government, education
and health, which can help overcome many of the basic development challenges
faced by poor countries.
BANGKOK, Sept 2 (Bernama) -- Asia-Pacific is a region of superlatives when it comes to information and communications technology (ICT) with the total number of telephone subscribers at more than two billion, acording to the Asia-Pacific Telecommunication/ICT Indicators 2008 Report.
With China and India, the world's two fastest-growing countries
leading the pack, the region is home to almost half the world's fixed
telephone subscribers
and has 42 percent of the world's Internet users.
"With 1.4 billion mobile cellular subscribers, it also has the largest
mobile phone market share," the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) said
in the report released to coincide with the launching of Telecom ASIA 2008 here.
By mid-2008, China and India alone had over 600 million and 280 million
mobile cellular subscribers respectively, representing close to a quarter of
the world's total.
The report said average annual mobile growth over the last five years was
close to 30 percent, and with mobile penetration approaching 40 percent,
almost two out of five inhabitants in the region enjoy the benefits of mobile
telephony today.
It also said that non-voice applications via mobile phones are increasing
rapidly and now account for more than one quarter of the region's main
operators' mobile revenues.
Text messaging, or SMS, is the predominant non-voice, mobile application,
the report said, citing Filipinos who sent a staggering 650 text messages per
subscriber per month, the highest in the world.
SMS has emerged as a significant alternative to computer-based e-mail in
the region's low and lower middle-income economies while other mobile data
applications, such as cash transfers and online purchases, are creating new
business opportunities in poor countries.
The area in which the region really stands out is the uptake of advanced
Internet technologies, especially broadband Internet access, as Asia-Pacific is
the world's largest broadband market with a 39 percent share of the world's
total at the end of 2007.
In terms of broadband access, Asia-Pacific has made remarkable progress in
the past few years, with subscriber numbers growing almost five-fold in five
years -- from 27 million at the beginning of 2003 to 133 million at the start of
2008.
South Korea leads the world in terms of the percentage of households with
fixed broadband access, and no less than five economies in the top 10 are from
Asia-Pacific.
But the gap in available broadband speeds between rich and poor countries
is as wide as broadband penetration, ITU said, citing Japan, South Korea and
Hong Kong where the minimum advertised broadband speed is faster than the
maximum broadband speed in Cambodia, Tonga, Laos and Bangladesh.
The ITU report said that broadband uptake enables a range of socially
desirable and valuable online services in areas such as government, education
and health, which can help overcome many of the basic development challenges
faced by poor countries.
