Abstract
Malaysia' s operators are increasingly focused on data-led strategies as a
means of combating the fall in ARPU
rates they are experiencing.
Third-ranked DiGi is building momentum by investing greater energy into
offering
a service-oriented strategy. The operator is looking to
personalise customers' experiences as a means of getting
customers to
spend more on its network, while launching a number of content-heavy
applications in the
process. This marks part of its preparation towards
developing its 3G network, which is to receive over
MYR300mn in 2009.
Despite 3G licenses having been awarded in 2005, the Malaysian 3G market has
yet to truly see commercial
success. However, market leader Maxis
Communications and second-ranked Celcom have also announced
investments
aimed at 3G over this and subsequent years, and with DiGi now expected to
join, we believe that
competition in the sector will intensify.
While
our newly introduced section on mobile content illustrates that SMS continues
to be the most popularly
accessed form of non-voice service, with Malaysia
third-ranked in the region in terms of SMS volumes, behind
the Philippines
and Indonesia, growth in mobile ringtones and gaming have yet to truly take
off. Ringback
tones continue to be the most accessed form of mobile
ringtones, while mobile gaming content is flooding the
market via Chinese
developers. Further to this, mobile broadband is one the rise, with Celcom
claiming to be
the country' s No1 service provider and announcing a 43%
market share in the quarter with regard to its mobile
broadband subscriber
base to total of 179,000, and up from 125,000.
In light of the inclusion
of new sections to this report, we have left our fixed-line and internet
market data
analysis sections stagnant and will provide a full update in
the following quarter.
We have made upward changes to our mobile forecast
for 2008, with the market showing robust growth,
despite the maturity of
the market. There were 26.162mn mobile subscribers in September 2008,
revealing
1.1mn net additions in the quarter, recovering from the 167,000
net loss experienced in Q208. With the market
resuming its traditionally
strong growth, BMI expects 27.361mn subscribers, a penetration rate of a
little over
101%. The market will continue to expand, but at a slower
rate, over the next five years to end 2013 with a
penetration of
124.7%.
Meanwhile, Malaysia retains its sixth place position in our
Business Environment ratings despite reporting that
it had a lower overall
telecoms score. This was a result of the continued rising maturity of the
telecoms market,
led by its mobile sector, while broadband subscriptions
also rose steadily, offsetting the declines being
experienced in the
fixed-line market. However, the country' s openness to external risk factors,
largely through
its heavy export-based economy, has meant we have also
revised down our 2010 growth forecast from 4.6% to
3.2%.
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