2013-02-28 15:13:14 - New Fixed Networks market report from Business Monitor International: "South Korea Telecommunications Report Q1 2013"

BMI View: South Korea is one of the world's most developed telecoms markets, with LTE launched by all three main operators by the end of 2011. Early data on LTE growth suggest subscribers have enthusiastically upgraded their services, which bodes well for operators that have suffered from regulatory intervention over pricing and their hold on the market. Operators benefit from subscribers preferring postpaid platforms, encouraging strong revenues and relatively stable ARPUs.

Key Data

* Q312 marked the first quarter of negative growth in the fixed broadband market and we have revised forecasts downwards as a result. We expect the market will expand by just 0.5% in 2012, with a penetration of 36.9%. We expect the market will begin to decline from

2013 and that fixed broadband penetration will sink to 34% by 2017.
* The fixed-line market is still expanding, but at a slower pace than expected by BMI. Our downwards revisions to forecasts envisage fixed-line penetration of 56.2% by YE12, falling to a still healthy 55.5% at YE17.
* LTE subscriptions reached 8.7mn in July 2012, impacting the market's 3G outlook as early adopters of 3G services upgrade to LTE.
* LG Uplus continued to boost its ARPU and was the strongest driver of subscriber takeup of the three mobile operators in Q312.


Full Report Details at
- www.fastmr.com/prod/536494_south_korea_telecommunications_report ..


Key Developments

SK Telecom is now the country's only 2G operator after KT shut its network in Q312. Although the operator is seeing 2G subscriber numbers decline, 2G still accounts for nearly 20% of its customer base with over 5mn subscribers, and we expect it will be some time before it is able to close the service.

In November 2012, SK Telecom said it had successfully demonstrated Uplink Cooperative Multi-Point (Uplink CoMP) technology in partnership with Ericsson. The two companies began developing the technology in July 2011 and claim it can significantly improve LTE data upload speeds in base station boundary areas. The technology is expected to be commercially available in mid-2013.

In November 2012, Alcatel-Lucent upgraded LG Uplus' network with its IP/Multiprotocol Label Switching (IP/MPLS) technology. The development will help LG Uplus significantly increase broadband speeds and capacity to meet rising demand for high-bandwidth services.

Report Table of Contents:

SWOT Analysis
- South Korea Mobile SWOT
- South Korea Wireline SWOT
- South Korea Political SWOT
- South Korea Economic SWOT
- South Korea Business Environment SWOT
Risk/Reward Ratings
- Asia Pacific
- Table: Asia Pacific Telecoms Risk/Reward Ratings Q113
- South Korea
Industry Forecast Scenario
- Mobile
- Table: South Korea Telecoms Sector - Mobile - Historical Data & Forecasts
- ARPU
- Table: South Korea Telecoms Sector - ARPU - Historical Data & Forecasts
- Fixed Line
- Industry Trends - Fixed-Line Sector
- Internet
- Table: South Korea Telecoms Sector - Internet - Historical Data & Forecasts
Market Overview
- Mobile
- Regional Perspective
- Table: South Korea Mobile Market Regional Comparisons, 2011
- Key Developments
- Mobile Growth
- Table: Mobile Subscriptions By Technology
- Market Shares
- Table: South Korea Mobileg Market, Q312
- Usage
- MVNOs
- Networks
- Mobile Content
- Mobile Operator Data
- Table: Mobile Market Overview
- Table: SK Telecom
- Table: KT
- Table: LG Telecom
- Regional Mobile Content
- Table: Selected NFC Developments, 2011
- Fixed Line
- Table: Fixed-Line Subscriptions By Operator And Technology ('000), 2010-2012
- Broadband
- Table : Broadband Subscriptions 2010-2012
- Table: Broadband Subscribers by Technology and Operator ('000), August 2012
- IPTV
- WiBro
Industry Trends And Developments
Regulatory Environment
- Table: Division Of Regulatory Responsibility In South Korea
- Legislation
- Regulatory Developments
Competitive Landscape
- Competitor Analysis
- Table: Key Players - South Korea Telecoms Sector
- Table: Selected Operators Financial Indicators, 2003-2011 (US$mn)
Operator Profiles
- KT Corporation
- SK Telecom
- SK Broadband (Formerly Hanaro Telecom)
- LG Uplus
Regional Overview
- Vendor Profile
- Altobridge Commercial Deployments, July 2012
- Table: South Korea's Population By Age Group, 1990-2020 ('000)
- Table: South Korea's Population By Age Group, 1990-2020 (% of total)
- Table: South Korea's Key Population Ratios, 1990-2020
- Table: South Korea's Rural And Urban Population, 1990-2020
Glossary Of Terms
- Table: Glossary Of Terms
BMI Methodology
- How We Generate Our Industry Forecasts
- Table: Key Indicators For Telecommunications Industry Forecasts
- Telecoms Business Environment Ratings
- Risk/Reward Ratings Methodology
- Table: Ratings Indicators
- Weighting
- Table: Weighting Of Indicators
- Sources

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