Asia leads in telco race - SK Telecom, NTT DoCoMo - Brief Article - Industry Overview - Statistical Data Included

Business Asia, July, 2001

FORGET WESTERN Europe -- Asia is at the forefront when it comes to the wireless telecoms future, with the region both leading the way technologically and in terms of sheer growth opportunities.

Japan and Korea lead the world in the latest mobile phone services and applications, with both unveiling high speed services months clear of their nearest Western counterparts. And when it comes to new wireless network deployments and future potential for growth, Asia is once again in front, with China on the verge of becoming a bigger mobile phone market than the United States.

Japan, and in particular mobile phone company NTT DoCoMo, is widely recognised as being the pace setter for global mobile development. While carriers around the world have struggled to increase the popularity of data services such as wireless e-mail, news alerts and mobile banking, NTT DoCoMo's i-mode service has attracted almost 25 million users since its introduction in February 1999.

So successful has DoCoMo's i-mode and other services offered by competitors J-Phone and KDDI been that the mobile phone has now overtaken the computer as the most popular way to access the internet.

DoCoMo is also looking to spread its wings into all of Asia. Yoshinori Uda, Head of the company's global business division, said the company "intends to invest about the same amount as we have invested in Europe and the US".

Analysts say the company will probably spend up to US$6 billion ($11.5 billion) in buying shares of other regional operators.

While not getting the same level of international attention as the Japanese, South Korea has been just as active. The country's No 1 mobile operator, SK Telecom, last October launched what the CDMA Development Group have dubbed "the world's first commercial 3G service". SK Telecom's upgrade of its CDMA network to CDMA2000 allows mobile phone users data download speeds of up to 144kbs (or almost three times faster than conventional PC connections).

SK Telecom senior researcher, access network development team, Chang Moon Han said the system and the new suite of user services it allowed had been well received by customers.

"The main service is through wireless access protocol (WAP)," said Han. "Through WAP, we have a downloading service, such as downloading icons and karaoke. We also provide location services, such as finding your friends and the nearest shops. Right now there are several hundred services on offer."

While not leading the way in new technology, China's massive market and untapped potential makes it one of the fastest developing mobile markets in the world.

China has 116 million mobile users now. If it keeps growing at its previous pace of adding rive million users per month, the nation should overtake the USA as the world's biggest market. And all the signs point to its growth accelerating, with the Chinese Ministry of Information Industry estimating China will have 200 million users by the end of 2002.

"Growth in China is still buoyant," Angela Dean, an analyst at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and Co in London said. "It is the place to be."