Recently released market study: Pakistan Telecommunications Report Q4 2010

Oct. 6, 2010 - PRLog -- This quarter's report includes latest figures for all three sectors of fixed-line, mobile and broadband, as provided by operators and the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA). It has led to the revision in our forecasts, while we have updated our Business Environment Ratings for the quarter.

There were a total of 99.186mn mobile subscribers in Pakistan as of June 2010. This represented a net loss of 443,000 in the second quarter of the year, while in the first quarter, the market gained 2.050mn subscribers. The decline in the second quarter was a result of Warid Telecom and Zong announcing net losses of 2.415mn and 516,000 respectively. This related to the deactivation of inactive subscribers from the operators' customer bases, which was in line with an earlier government policy introduced in 2008, and saw Mobilink also do the same. That said, Telenor, Ufone and Instaphone have yet to follow suit.

We also believe that the decline in customer numbers relates to a weak economy, which has seen demand for mobile services impacted. While much of the economic damage was carried out in 2009 following the global recession, BMI's Country Risk team does not foresee a return to strong growth in 2010. This could once again impact growth patterns negatively, while the cost of investing in network expansion is high for operators, which are reliant on a prepaid subscriber base generating low ARPUs.

To this end, PTA signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the five mobile operators in August 2010 with the aim of increasing the rate of sharing for mobile infrastructure. The regulator has targeted a tenancy ratio of 1.5, whereby 50% of the towers would be shared by operators, within three years, an increase from the current ratio 1.02. BMI believes that the pooling of towers would allow substantial capital expenditure reduction while assisting the operators in expanding their coverage into rural areas and reinvesting the savings into better equipment and mobile services.

There were a total of 900,648 broadband subscribers in June 2010, which represented 256,756 net additions in the first half of the year. This is impressive, given that during 2009, there were 376,892 net additions, while in 2008, there were 140,000 net additions. We would therefore expect that the total number of net additions in 2010 to surpass the previous years, leading us to predict a figure of 1.5mn broadband subscribers, with a penetration rate of 0.9%.

Adding to that future growth in broadband could be wireless forms, with Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL) reporting that it has extended its nascent wireless broadband service to 100 major cities and towns nationwide, delivering affordable basic telephony and broadband services to urban and rural subscribers not already targeted by alternative fixed network and mobile cellular operators. The network is based on CDMA EV-DO Rev. B technology, often used to provide 3G mobile telephony services, despite the fact that formal 3G operating licences have yet to be issued in Pakistan.

For more information or to purchase this report, go to:
-  http://www.fastmr.com/prod/87264_pakistan_telecommunicati...

Partial Table of Contents:

Executive Summary
- SWOT Analysis
- Pakistan Wireline SWOT Analysis
- Pakistan Mobile SWOT Analysis
- Pakistan Political SWOT
- Pakistan Economic SWOT
- Pakistan Business Environment SWOT
Business Environment Ratings
- Asia
- Pakistan
Industry Forecast Scenario
- Mobile
- Table: Telecoms Sector - Mobile - Historical Data And Forecasts
- ARPU
- Table: Pakistan Telecoms Sector - Mobile ARPU - Historical Data And Forecasts (US$)
- Fixed-Line
- Table: Telecoms Sector - Fixed Line - Historical Data And Forecasts
- Internet
- Table: Telecoms Sector - Internet - Historical Data And Forecasts
Market Data Analysis
- Mobile
- Table: Pakistan Mobile Market, June 2010
- Table: Mobile Base Stations By Operator
- Subscriber Mix And ARPU
- 3G
- Mobile Contract Wins
- Table: Mobile Contract Wins
- Mobile Content
- Regional Outlook
- Table: Asia Mobile VAS Market By Service, 2009 (US$bn)
- Country Outlook
- Value-Added Services Timeline
- Table: Selected VAS Services (2008-2009)
- Mobile Operator Data
- Table: Pakistan Mobile Market Overview
- Table: Mobilink
- Table: Ufone
- Table: Warid Telecom
- Table: Zong
- Table: Instaphone
- Fixed Line
- Table: Pakistan Fixed-Line Market, June 2010
- Wireless Local Loop (WLL)
- Table: Pakistan Wireless Local Loop Market, June 2010
- Table: WLL Total Traffic 2007-2008 (mn minutes)
- Broadband
- Broadband Platforms
- Wireline Developments
- Table: Wireline (Fixed-Line and Broadband) Developments
- Regulatory Environment And Industry Developments
- Pakistan: Regulatory Bodies And Their Responsibilities
- Regulatory Developments
- Industry Developments
Competitive Landscape
- Competitor Analysis
- Table: Key Companies - Pakistan Telecommunications Sector
Company Monitor
- Cisco Systems
- Table: Cisco Systems: Overall Financial Performance (US$bn)
- Table: Cisco Systems: Major Contracts Awarded In Asia (2010)
Operator Profiles
- Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL)
- TeleCard
- Mobilink
- Telenor Pakistan
- Warid Telecom
Key Players
- Fixed Line
- Table: Regional Fixed-Line Penetration Overview
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Full Table of Contents is available at:
-- http://www.fastmr.com/catalog/product.aspx?productid=8726...

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Fast Market Research is an online aggregator and distributor of market research and business information. We represent the world's top research publishers and analysts and provide quick and easy access to the best competitive intelligence available.