LTE to keep telcos in developed APAC afloat

Telecom retail revenue from the developed Asia-Pacific (DVAP) region will grow by $10.4 billion between 2013-2018, Analysys Mason projects.

While this figure sounds impressive, it would represent a CAGR of just 0.92% between 2013 and 2018, the research firm said.

The projected growth will be driven by increases in LTE and fibre-based broadband revenues.

Operators in the region were early movers in terms of LTE adoption, particularly in Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and South Korea. As a result, LTE's share of mobile connections reached 28% in 2013, the firm estimates.

LTE's share of connections is on pace to grow to 53% in 2015 - surpassing 3G's total market share - and to 70% by 2018.

The rise of LTE is expected to give the region's mobile operators a much-needed avenue to help slow the rate of decline in average revenue per user (ARPU), the firm said. South Korea, one of the world's most advanced LTE markets, is the only country in DVAP that is reversing the trend of shrinking ARPU.

Partly as a result of rising LTE uptake, Analysys Mason projects that mobile data usage in DVAP will increase sixfold during the next five years.

The research firm projects that total mobile SIM penetration will increase from 117% in 2013 to 130% in 2018. By this time, DVAP will have more than 313 million mobile connections.

Image courtesy of Bytemarks under CC