|
|
Home > Communications > Telecommunications > General Telecom
South Korea Telecommunications Report Q3 2008
|
|
Difficult times lie ahead for South Korea’s mobile operators. A clear reflection of this was highlighted with the release of their Q108 financial results. Market leader SK Telecom announced a decline in net profits on account of a 16% y-o-y fall in operating profits, while KTF witnessed a significantly higher fall in net profits over the same period at 73.4%. Further to this, both operators together with LG Telecom, confirmed they would reduce their tariffs by up to 50% in an effort to provide affordable price plans for low income households as inflation in the country continues to soar. This will likely create an even stronger dent in net profits.
In the quarter ended March 2008, there were 768,000 net additions, bringing the total to 44.266mn subscribers. This revealed a penetration rate of 91.7%, and BMI estimates that a continued slowdown in growth is expected over our five-year forecast, with 2012 achieving a penetration rate of 104%. Greater emphasis is therefore being placed on the 3G market, which accounted for less than 50% of the total mobile market. KTF has been busy with regard to its 3G development. In April 2008, the operator stated it had 5mn 3G subscribers, just 14 months after launch. Part of the reason for the strong interest in its 3G service has been due to its ‘Show’ tariff, which reported 609,185 net additions in the month of March 2008; its highest ever net addition performance. By the end of this year, the operator aims to achieve 7.7mn 3G subscribers. In order to achieve this, it is looking to introduce new value added services, in addition to the deployment of new handsets.
In late May 2008, KTF announced it would jointly procure a 3G handset model with Japan’s NTT DoCoMo from LG Electronics. As part of the operators’ Business & Technology Co-operation Committee, by partnering on the procurement of a handset, this will help make cost savings. South Korea’s handset providers are also facing a difficult time, with new entrants looking to enter the market.
Nokia announced it was considering re-entering the market to offer smartphones, with SK Telecom and KTF both said to be interested. The world’s largest handset manufacturer exited the South Korean market in 2003 following poor sales growth. Further, SK Telecom contracted Taiwan’s HTC and pioneering smartphone handset provider to supply its Touch Dual handset, a rival to Apple’s iPhone (yet to be released in South Korea at the time of writing). The latter could reach an agreement with KTF once its 3G version is released. Mobile operators remain intent on providing the latest available handset in order to attract subscribers and encourage greater data usage to help boost revenues.
|
Similar Products
• 2008 Europe - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband in Italy and Malta
Published Dec 2008 by Paul Budde Communication Pty Ltd
• Minfo Private Vendor Watchlist Profile
Published Dec 2008 by IDC
• Meeting With James O'Neill, CEO of Siemens Enterprise Communications
Published Dec 2008 by IDC
• XO Holdings, Inc.
Published Dec 2008 by SGA Lists
• Windstream Corporation
Published Dec 2008 by SGA Lists
• Verizon Communications Inc.
Published Dec 2008 by SGA Lists
• Telecom Italia S.p.A.
Published Dec 2008 by SGA Lists
• Telephone & Data Systems, Inc.
Published Dec 2008 by SGA Lists
• AT&T Inc.
Published Dec 2008 by SGA Lists
• SAVVIS, Inc.
Published Dec 2008 by SGA Lists
|
|
|
|
0 items
