TA Index extends growth by 2.1%

Telecom Asia, August, 2005

The TA Index moved higher for the second consecutive month, gaining 2.1% as Asian markets finished mostly higher on the back of better-than-expected US economic data and easing world oil prices.

Top mover Dacom of South Korea climbed 19.7% while incumbent KT Corp and mobile giant SK Telecom ended flat. Dacom's gain came after the regulator allowed Powercomm, a unit of Dacom, to sell broadband services directly to individual customers starting in September.

NTT surged 9.2%, amid reports that the company added 330,000 new customers to its fiber-optic network in the April-to-June quarter, up 40% from the previous quarter. Meanwhile, its mobile unit NTT DoCoMo advanced 1.2%, rival KDDI edged up 3.4% and Vodafone closed 2.6% higher.

In Hong Kong, gains in Hutchison Whampoa, China Mobile and property stocks pushed the benchmark Hang Seng Index to its highest level ill over four years.

In Taiwan, the top mover was FarEasTone, which started offering its 3G service in July, with a 5.9% gain. Chunghwa Telecom and Taiwan Cellular posted gains for the second consecutive month.

Elsewhere, Telecom Corp of New Zealand extended its climb with a 4% increase, following a 2% rise the previous month. Telekom Malaysia gained 1.9%, partly on the back of the IPO of its Sri Lankan mobile unit and hopes of a higher dividend.

The Australian market closed mixed as SingTel Optus rose 2.9% and incumbent Telstra slipped 4.5%. Markets in Thailand and the Philippines closed lower. Shin Sat fell 10.5% after a 3% of loss the previous month. Samart Telecom and AIS also finished lower. In Manila, Globe Telecom and PLDT declined amid political uncertainty surrounding President Gloria Arroyo.

Company                Country        % change

1 Dacom                KR               19.7
2 NTT                  JP                9.3
3 Hutchison            HK                7.7
4 Far EasTone          TW                5.9
5 China Telecom        HK                5.7
6 Telkom Indonesia     ID                5.6
7 SingTel              SG                5.4
8 PCCW                 HK                5.3
9 Telecom NZ           NZ                  4
10 Taiwan Cellular     TW                3.9
11 China Mobile        HK                3.8
12 KDDI                JP                3.4
13 Chunghwa Telecom    TW                  3
14 SingTel Optus       AU                2.9
15 Vodafone            JP                2.6
16 Telekom Malaysia    MY                1.9
17 NTT DoCoMo          JP                1.2
18 Indosat             ID                0.9
19 China Unicom        HK                0.8
20 Korea Telecom       KR                  0
21 SK Telecom          KR                  0
22 SmarTone            HK               -0.6
23 Samart Telecom      TH               -0.9
24 AIS                 TH                 -1
25 Globe Telecom       PH               -1.2
26 PLDT                PH               -1.3
27 Telstra             AU               -3.3
28 APT Sat             HK               -4.5
29 Pacific Internet    US               -8.2
30 Shinawatra Sat      TH              -10.5