Wednesday, 23rd April 2008

INFO BOX

The World's Broadband
Info IQ, 18th Apr 2008

Four European Union (EU) nations have the best broadband deployment rates in the world. The Single Telecoms Market Progress Report has shown that Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden saw penetration rates in excess of 30 per cent at the end of last year. Along with the UK, Belgium, Luxembourg and France, these countries saw higher rates than the US in 2007, with some 19 million EU broadband lines added last year. Below are Asian regions extracted from the report:

Japan: Japan has an average broadband speed of 93Mbps according to the OECD, but this falls to 10.6Mbps according to speedtest.net, which could be indicative of the fact that fiber is concentrated in the towns and cities. Cable broadband is quite strong in Japan but the biggest market is in fiber to the home. This has proved so popular with consumers that DSL is actually in decline. Companies are so advanced with fiber delivery that they are beginning to find DSL surplus to requirements. The speeds fiber provides means applications such as sharing video files are standard. Fiber also dramatically improves upload speeds, making it much more suitable for web 2.0 communication, with individuals contributing back to the internet with pictures and videos.

South Korea: South Korea's average broadband speed is 43Mbps. In South Korea there has also been a very strong fiber rollout, which has been enabled, at least in part, by state contributions. Often regarded as something of a gold standard when it comes to super-fast broadband, an amazing 90% of homes have a broadband connection of between 50 and 100Mbps. They also pay the lowest rates in the world. There are pilot services offering connections starting at 1,000Mbps. The big driver for fast broadband here is gaming and 43% of the population has a personal profile in the virtual world Cyworld, which recorded $10m worth of trade per month last year.

China: ITU data puts China's broadband speed at 1Mbps. China is fast becoming the world's largest broadband economy. It is laying quite a lot of fiber which is a less disruptive option in China because of the amount of new building work being done. It already has 14 million fiber lines, compared to 9.6 million in Japan, 1.7m in the US and just a few thousand in the UK but it doesn't generate the same speeds as in other Asian countries because the fiber tends to feed into blocks of flats rather than individual dwellings.


SPORT SHORTS

* A Chinese research firm said China has surpassed the United States as the world's largest Internet market based on number of users. BDA, a firm based in Beijing, said data from the China Internet Network Information Center indicated China had an Internet population of 210 million at the end of last year, compared to 216 million in the United States. Based on these sources and the assumption that these markets have continued to grow in 2008 to date at the same rates that they grew in 2007, we can conclude that China has by now comfortably surpassed the United States as the world's largest Internet population, Bin Liu, BDA's chief media analyst, said in a statement. BDA estimated revenues from China's online games sector totaled $1.88 billion last year. Moldova.org, 22nd Apr 2008

* Intel Corp will invest $500 million in Taiwan over the next five years, targeted at the island's WiMax sector. Intel Corp said there are still technical challenges that need to be solved for the new super-high-speed wireless standard, but that the firm has been encouraged by the development of WiMax in the last two years. Late last year, Taiwan's government said it planned to spend $664 million in the next few years on the WiMax technology -- seen as the more advanced standard to WiFi, which only works near a transmitter. WiMax allows anyone with a WiMax enabled laptop or media device to download songs, movies and business presentations over distances of up to 30 miles. "Japan will probably launch the first (WiMax standard in Asia), since they have already invested lots of money and Taiwan and India could follow suit," said Lil Mohan, managing director of Intel's WiMax program. Ciol.com, 22nd Apr 2008

* The Asian Football Confederation has stood firm on its insistence that the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) adopts new statutes that would reduce the number of members eligible to vote in the organisation's forthcoming elections. The AFC rejected the PSSI's request to maintain the current system, which would allow 627 members to vote for their new president, who would then have the right to appoint the members of its executive committee. Under the new statutes, those executive committee members would also be elected during the organisation's congress. A PSSI delegation met with AFC president Mohamed Bin Hammam but their appeal was rejected with the AFC emphasising the importance of bringing its statutes in line with FIFA's standard statutes. Football Insider, 22nd Apr 2008

* French football clubs have agreed a new revenue split following the recent broadcast rights deals with Canal Plus and Orange. The Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) struck deals with the two entities across several platforms worth a combined total of €668 million back in February, and the clubs in Ligue 1 Orange and Ligue 2 Orange have now agreed how the revenues will be split. Clubs in the top tier will receive €566.2 million over the four years, while Ligue 2 teams will be given €101.8 million. In Ligue 1, 50% of the revenues will be split evenly between the 20 competing clubs, while 30% will be paid out on the basis of the teams' final positions in the league table. The remaining 20% will be split according to how many times the teams' games are aired on Canal Plus and Orange, with Olympique de Marseille, Olympique Lyonnais and Paris Saint-Germain set to benefit the most. Sports Media, 21st Apr 2008

* Google has topped a list of the world's most powerful brands, with new research estimating its value to be $86 billion. WPP-owned research company Millward Brown puts Google at number one in its annual top 100 global brand power list for the second year in a row with a 30 per cent year-on-year increase in its value. Google beat General Electric to the top spot, with the NBC Universal owner's brand value estimated at $71.4 billion. The next most valuable brands are Microsoft at $70.89 billion, Coca-Cola at $58.2 billion and China Mobile at $57.2 billion, according to Millward Brown. ATV, 23rd Apr 2008


MORE NEWS

China/New Media: AsiaInfo Signs Contract to Upgrade China Mobile's WLAN Systems

AsiaInfo Holdings, Inc., a leading provider of telecom software solutions and IT security products and services in China, today announced that it has signed a contract with China Mobile to upgrade its Wireless Local Area Network ("WLAN") authentication and billing system to satisfy increased subscriber demand expected during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

China Mobile's WLAN business has gradually gained customer acceptance since 2002, and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games are expected to increase demand for WLAN services. As partner of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, China Mobile will provide a communications network and related services for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Journalists, athletes and tourists are expected to be the primary users of the service during the Olympic Games. The upgraded system will have the capacity to support 5 million users and can support both static and dynamic password authentication technology.

The Olympic WLAN network is a high speed wireless data transmission network constructed by China Mobile for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The network will provide high-speed wireless Internet access for end users in Olympic gymnasiums, stadiums and surrounding areas in Olympic cities including Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai. Yahoo! Biz, 22nd Apr 2008

Philippine/New Media: Mobile Users to Hit 73m

Mobile service users in the Philippines are expected to grow at an annual growth rate of 15% to reach 73 million by 2010, a report from UK-based online firm Report Buyer said. Like Indonesia, mobile communications, SMS text messaging in particular, is growing faster than fixed-line telephony because of the country's geographical features, the report said. ReportBuyer said the rapid expansion of the mobile market will be possible as the two leaders in the market, Smart Communications and Globe Telecom, are improving the service quality to win the competition, and mobile broadband market is projected to expand rapidly due to the slow spread of fixed-line telephony.

In addition, more and more people want to use contents in English via the mobile internet as most Filipinos are familiar with using English. The report shows that as of now, 55 million, or 60% of the population, have subscribed to mobile services. There is a cut-throat competition between the two dominant service providers, PLDT's Smart Communications and Globe Telecom of Ayala Group. The combined market share of these two companies occupies as much as 80% of the entire mobile market.

The report also noted that another unique characteristic of the Philippines mobile market is that there are many services available for overseas Filipino workers as the country's economy relies heavily on their remittance. As the key customer base, they are continuously contributing to the improvement in the communications revenue. Furthermore, enhanced roaming and remittance services for the overseas Filipino workers will be introduced. telecomasia.net, 23rd Apr 2008

Global/New Media: 60 Million IPTV Subscribers by 2010

There will be nearly 60 million Internet Protocol television (IPTV) subscribers worldwide by the end of 2010, according to the latest report from Telecommunications Management Group (TMG). IPTV has been doubling each year since its commercial introduction in 2002, said the report titled IPTV: The Killer Broadband Application. There were 9.9 million IPTV subscribers around the world at the end of 2007, more than double the previous year, and TMG projects more than a 500 per cent increase over the next three years. According to TMG senior market analyst and lead author of the report Michael Minges, "IPTV is revolutionising the television market by introducing greater competition and providing consumers with a plethora of customizable content, viewable any time."

Other points of interest in the report include the finding that IPTV has succeeded in countries with relatively low pay television, but high broadband penetration. This is characteristic of some countries in Europe, which has the largest number of IPTV subscribers and where there are few regulatory obstacles, nationwide telecommunications operators and widely available broadband networks.

Europe had 5.3 million IPTV subscribers in 2007 while Asia had 3.3 million and Americas have 1.3 million subscribers. France Telecom is the largest IPTV operator in the world with 1.1 million subscribers at the end of 2007, followed by Verizon's Fios television service in the US. With over 50 per cent of its broadband subscribers using its "now" broadband TV service, Hong Kong's PCCW has the most successful overall uptake.

IPTV is not limited to high-income economies. China and India have launched IPTV, as have several countries in Africa. TMG forecasts that China and the US will be the world's largest IPTV markets by 2010. Indiantelevision.com, 22nd Apr 2007

Global/General: Social Media Challenging Traditional Media

Social media – and blogs in particular – are becoming a more important part of global media consumption for Internet users than some traditional media channels, according to the findings of a recent survey by media agency Universal McCann. Globally 73 per cent of Internet users are reading blogs with 48 per cent including these consumer-generated content in their weekly media diet. TV too is facing similar competition for eyeballs with 83 per cent of Internet users having watched a video clip and 59 per cent viewing at least one clip every week.

According to Universal McCann, the latest survey – the third it has carried out - shows no signs of a pause in the explosive growth of social media. Video clips, blogs, podcasts, social networks and RSS are all essential components of the online media diet. While not all markets are as developed, in each of the 29 countries surveyed social media is becoming a key constituent of global media consumption.

Key findings from Wave 3 include: 83 per cent watch video clips, up from 62 per cent in the last study in June 2007; 78 per cent read blogs, up from 66 per cent; 57 per cent of Internet users are now members of a social network; RSS consumption is growing rapidly up from 15 per cent to 39 per cent; Podcasts are now mainstream digital content, listened to by 48 per cent.

"Social media is a mass medium for many Internet users. Brands and marketers need to adjust rapidly to this revolution in way consumers are creating and digesting content. With every wave of research, our Social Media Tracker is noting greater and greater growth for channels such as blogging, video clips and social networks," reported Tom Smith, EMEA research manager at Universal McCann. ATV, 23rd Apr 2008