Trends & Forecasts

China is warmly embracing 3G, which is putting pressure on locally-based manufacturers to produce equipment to the highest standards. One such company is Andrew Corporation which is enlarging its Suzhou manufacturing plant to meet growing demands...

The long-running dispute between France Telecom and Orascom over ownership of Egypt's main mobile operator Mobinil has resulted in Orascom being forced to sell its holding to FT-Orange. But some analysts now think this may benefit Orascom in the long run...

Pay-TV is set for continuing fast growth, according to a new report by Pyramid Research. IPTV will be overshadowed by other methods of bringing TV services to the region, primarily because of regulatory hurdles and the telcos' need to look to other methods of bringing IPTV to Latin America in the light of ever-increasing and immediate customer demand...

Research firms Maravedis and Tonse Telecom have released the third edition of their India Wireless Broadband and WiMAX Market Analysis and Forecasts, 2009-2013 report. They predict reasonable growth in the WiMAX sector by 2013...

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of the Kingdom of Bahrain, in cooperation with the Minister responsible for her Telecommunications Sector, HE Sheik Ahmed bin Attiyatalla Al Khalifa, has issued an invitation to consultancy firms to submit proposals to assist the Minster and TRA in adopting the most appropriate policy for Telecommunications Universal Services & Access...

Vince Lesch reviews successes in enhancing SMS in Brazil and Argentina, as well as in Latin America as a whole...

Arab Advisors Group has analysed the cellular tariffs for 19 Arab countries - and 46 operators. The research shows that Egypt and Yemen are the winners in terms of low-cost cell rates...

Russia has been registering some of the fastest growth in telecoms penetration and modernisation anywhere in the world. According to analyst Frost & Sullivan, the transmission market is growing by 50% per year. One key beneficiary is Israel's ECI Telecom...

On Monday March 2, the Indian government finally gave the go-ahead for Mobile Virtual Network Operators to enter the market. This follows a recommendation back in August 2008 from India's regulator, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. The government is expected to release detailed guidelines for MVNO entrants soon. We believe this approval will benefit both existing MNOs and new entrants...

Mobile operator Zain is present in 22 countries. It has just released its 2008 results, and is reporting great strides in key performance indicators. For example, its active customer total is up to 63.5 million, 50% over 2007, its consolidated revenues are up 26% to US$7.44 billion and EBITDA is up 15% to US$2.78 billion...

Fast-growing mobile markets in Eastern Europe such as Russia are rapidly shifting the make-up of Europe's mobile operator market, according to new research by Wireless Intelligence. The new data reveals that major operator groups in the region - most notably the Russian-based operators MTS, VimpelCom and MegaFon - are now accumulating customer bases that rank among the largest in Europe...

New York-based Access Markets International has been predicting where small and medium businesses will be  spending the most money. The company identifies China, Korea, and India as the top three markets...

Asia-Pacific is already the world's most dynamic market for mobile telecommunications services and providers need a way to manage the rapidly increasing cross-operator traffic they handle but also to enable and support voice and data roaming services. Veraz Networks' IP Packet eXchange (IPX) offers an architecture for interconnecting GSM and CDMA mobile operators, fixed networks and application service providers...

Despite the anticipated cautious spending on Information and Communications Technology in the Philippines, IDC predicts that specific pockets of opportunities will exist...

With the advent of new operators and increased competition in 2008, cellular subscribers in 19 Arab countries reached 194.533 million. AlJawal and MobiNil sustained their top rankings inthe region with 17.8 million and 16.3 million subscribers respectively. Vodafone ended the period with 15.2 million subscribers, settling as the third largest mobile operator in the region...

Whatever the current economic crisis, IDC is still predicting pockets of opportunity within Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) next year. Developing Telecoms summarises a thought-provoking and insightful set of forecasts.

In the light of recession, IDC has revised its forecast for IT growth in the EMEA region from 4.5% to 3%. Even after this revision EMEA compares favourably with the 1.2% growth IDC forecasts for Western Europe. There may also be “silver linings” to help growth...

The Minister of Posts and Telecommunications for the Democratic Republic of Congo has announced her country's intention to implement market liberalisation and regulatory reforms so as to enable more effective delivery of mission-critical satellite, wireless, and fibre-based telecommunication solutions to citizens throughout the nation...

Whether you measure in US$ or local currency, increases of 32% and 20.5% respectively ensured that Bulgaria's IT spending soared last year. IDC believes that the rise is due to a number of favourable economic criteria. And there will be more over the next five years...

Millicom International Cellular has been successful in the tender for the third national mobile licence in Rwanda against three other bidders. Millicom will hold 87.5% of the equity in a newly created joint venture company in partnership with Marathon Corporation, an established local company with numerous business interests in Rwanda...

Liberalisation in MENA will create opportunities and will entice new entrants into this market, according to Analysys Mason in a new report looking five years into the future. The award of a third 2G licence in Morocco typifies the region's good news...

The ITU's recent high-level meeting on ICT trends aimed to strengthen cybersecurity and mitigate climate change. Present were the Presidents of Burkina Faso and Rwanda...

Mobile subscriptions in the Middle East saw an increase of no less than 47% for the last year-on-year figures available. Informa Telecoms & Media will shine a spotlight on the region at a forthcoming event in Dubai...

Vodafone's African shopping trip shows no sign of abating in the face of the global financial crisis, according to Jeremy Green, Mobile Practice Leader at Ovum. Last week, the company announced that it had achieved its long-held ambition to take a controlling stake in Vodacom, the South African mobile operator in which it held a 50% share...

In a further move towards the consolidation of wireless network operators into fewer, globally recognised players, Vodafone announced today it has agreed to acquire an additional 15% stake in Vodacom from Telkom South Africa. The deal is costing Vodafone around US$2.25bn in cash and increases Vodafone's shareholding in Vodacom from 50% to 65%...

Albania's IT market continued to grow solidly in 2007, fueled by increased spending in the government, finance, and telecom sectors, by falling equipment prices and by favourable economic development. This is according to a recent IDC study, which concludes that Albania's IT market reached US$89.34 million in 2007, representing 28.3% year-on-year growth. In local currency, the market expanded 16.3% year on year...

The Romanian PC market continued to grow at a fast pace in 2Q08 in terms of both shipments and value, albeit not as rapidly as in previous quarters. According to the latest data from IDC, shipments grew 29.3% year on year, while the value of the market expanded year on year by 23.3%...

The Serbian IT market increased 30% year on year in US Dollars in 2007, fueled by a growing economy, structural reforms, privatisation, tax cuts, and the inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI). According to a recent IDC study, total spending on hardware, software, and IT services in Serbia reached almost US$751 million in 2007...

A few weeks ago Developing Telecoms publisher Alec Barton analysed the Latin American telecoms market. In this article editor Michael Schwartz extends the debate, looking at the countries that have been winning the contracts and asking whether Latin American markets are losing out in these momentous times for new markets. In this first section we look at some of the largest markets, Brazil, Mexico, Chile and Argentina...

Continuing our analysis of the Latin American telecoms market, editor Michael Schwartz looks at some more of the countries that have been winning the contracts and asks if these countries are sharing in the growth. In the second section we look at some of the medium and smaller countries including Costa Rica, Guatemala, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela and Bolivia...

Top level representatives from the Vietnamese Ministry of Information and Communications and Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group will present the future roadmap of Vietnam ICT market development at the forthcoming Vietnam Telecomp conference, due to take place in Ho Chi Minh City in November...

Research and Markets has announced the addition of its 2008 Asian - Broadband Market report to its range of publications. The report provides a comprehensive overview of the broadband Internet segment of the market across the various economies of Asia...

The IT services market in Croatia slowed in 2007 compared to the two previous years. According to a new study from IDC, the market grew 15.2% year on year to US$365 million, down from nearly 40% annual growth in 2006. In local currency, IT services market growth was 10.2% in 2007, compared to 5.9% in 2006...