Telecom Asia October 2012 issue Telecom Asia | October 10, 2012 In the October Issue Cover: Making money from prepaid data One-to-One: Breaking into the LTE game IP Capacity: Growth still strong, but slowing Country Focus: Indonesia Tanner: Apple starts to lose its bite

1. Wholesale consolidation • Apple loses its bite • Regulators dole out penalties
A s i a n Te l e c o m s B u s i n e s s a n d Te c h n o l o g y l w w w. t e l e c o m a s i a . n e t l October 2012
Making Money from
Prepaid Data
Operators prepare to cash in on smartphones in
emerging markets
Published By
Inside:
Robust, but slowing Breaking into the LTE game
capacity growth SmarTone CEO Douglas Li explains why
IP transit price declines accelerate while LTE is about capacity – not speed
internet capacity growth continues to slow

2. 5th Annual Telecom Asia Readers’ Choice Awards
Telecom Asia 2013 Insight Summit
November 29, 2012 Kuala Lumpur
Plans for 2013: Where are the key opportunities and what are the challenges?
To gain insight into the most pressing issues facing telcos as they look to the new year, Telecom Asia is holding
a one-day Insight Summit for senior-level executives from across the region.
The forum will allow telco decision makers to discuss key challenges and opportunities, and to share their
priorities for 2013.
The day will kick off with presentations by two senior analysts/consultants: The first will take a close look at
the highlights of 2012, what were the key successes, what were the trouble spots and where were the missed
opportunities; the second speaker will take a look ahead, forecasting the growth areas, outlining strategies to
slow margin declines and highlighting trends that will have the most disruptive impact on telcos.
In the afternoon two additional panel discussions will be held concurrently. Each panel will bring together five
to six telco executives and a senior analyst from a leading research firm. All attendees will be asked to share
their ideas on ways to revive growth, boost profits and streamline operations. The objective is to brainstorm and
outline the key priorities on how to thrive in 2013 and beyond.
The Summit will be followed by our annual Readers’ Choice Awards, starting with a cocktail reception at 5:30 pm.
AGENDA
9:00 Registration & Welcome Coffee
9:20 Opening Remarks by chairman
Tony Poulos, TM Forum market strategist and Telecom Asia anchor & columnist
9:30 Opening Keynote 1
A look back: 2012 Highlights -- key successes & the missed opportunities
Andrew Hamilton, partner at Value Partners
10:00 Opening Keynote 2
A look foreword: Growth areas for 2013, strategies for success and the key disruptive trends
Amrish Kacker, partner for strategy consulting, Analysys Mason
10:30 Presentation by sponsor
11:00 Coffee break
11:30 Panel Discussion
If you had a clean palette to start with, what would you do differently?
Moderator: Tony Poulos,
Panelists: Farid Yunus, Redtone CEO (formerly chief strategy officer at Celcom)
Wing K. Lee, YTL Communications CEO
Andrew Hamilton, partner at Value Partners
12:15 Networking lunch
2:00 Panel Discussion 1
Business Focus: Key challenges and opportunities for 2013
Moderator: Joseph Waring, Group editor
Panel Discussion 2
Technology Focus: Key challenges and opportunities for 2013
Moderator: John Tanner, Global technology editor
4:00 Coffee break
4:30 Wrap-up & action plan - Tony Poulos
5:30 Telecom Asia Readers’ Choice Awards -- cocktail reception
7:00 Telecom Asia Readers’ Choice Awards – awards ceremony
Stay up to date on this Forum: http://tasummit.questexevents.net/
Sponsorship opportunities: Registration inquiries:
Gigi Chan (Group Publisher) Will Ahmad
Email: gchan@questexasia.com Tel: +852 2589 1338 Email: will@questexasia.com Tel: + 852 2589 1312

3. Contents
Subscribe to Asia’s best daily telecom news service:
Volume 23 Number 8 October 2012
www.telecomasia.net
Cover
12 Making money from prepaid data
Operators prepare to cash in on the growing popularity of
smartphones in prepaid markets
featureS
IP Capacity
16 Growth still strong, but slowing
IP transit price declines accelerate – dropping 50% in NY –
while internet capacity continues to expand, but growth slows
to 40%
One-to-One
18 Breaking into the LTE game
12
SmarTone CEO Douglas Li explains why LTE is about capac-
ity, not speed, and how Hong Kong cellcos have managed to
avoid the dreaded scissors effect
Q&A: Wholesale Outlook
20 Consolidation on the horizon
BICS chief commercial officer Nicholas Nikrouyan explains
why multi-service players will come out as the winners in the
transformation to IPX
Viewpoint
22 Transforming the network for the
digital age
Telcos have an opportunity to transform their networks into
starring roles that today’s customer demands are dictating
18 20 22
Country Focus: Indonesia
24 Collaboration: The path to growth
Operators have to realize that their competitors are not just
their traditional rivals but a whole army of content providers
Post Show: Asian Carriers’ Conference
28 Wholesale players ponder using
bilateral automation
Wholesale players flock to Cebu, discuss automating process-
ing of interconnect deals
7 30 24
2 October 2012 Telecom Asia www.telecomasia.net

4. Parallels Summit presents huge
opportunity in the cloud
At a time of global economic uncertainty, an unparalleled trillion-dollar blue ocean
market awaits savvy movers in the SMB cloud and hosting services sectors.
Cloud computing has been empowering SMBs in the West with The Next Killer App
feature-rich applications and other resources previously only available to Dwindling profits from email and website
large enterprises. While SMBs in Asia Pacific have been slower to catch development are spurring the hunt for the
onto this trend, cloud adoption rates in the region is expected to grow “next big thing” to open up new high-
significantly in the coming years. Parallels, a hosting and cloud services margin revenue streams in the hosted- and
enablement leader, estimates the APAC cloud services market to grow cloud-services sector. In a panel discussion,
to $19.8 billion in 2015, presenting a huge opportunity for the SMB cloud four key executives from Infratel, LuxCloud,
and hosting services sectors in the region. Quest Software and Symantec discussed
Leveraging opportunity through an evolving partner ecosystem was the nature of a game-changing new “killer
a key theme at the opening sessions at Parallels Summit 2012 APAC. app” to revitalize bottom lines. According
IDC’s Asia Pacific Group Vice President Sandra Ng kicked off the event to the panelists, the next killer-app for the
by presenting how not all users and businesses are adopting cloud cloud has yet to manifest itself, but would
services in the same fashion or pace. This presents rich opportunities for definitely be one that significantly enhances
service providers, hosters and IT channels, to capitalise on the upcoming communication and customer satisfaction,
differentiation trends imminent in the marketplace. CRM, and the intelligent bundling of the right
To this end, Parallels CEO Birger Steen outlined his vision of how mix of services to the right customer in the
the hosting and cloud industry here can tap into the Parallels partner most flexible manner – all at low cost and high
ecosystem to meet the growing demand for cloud services. Steen returns on investment.
provided an update of how Parallels’ strategy, together with its preview
of next-generation solutions such as the Parallels Cloud Server, can help Updates Business and Tech Tracks
partners tap the trillion-dollar blue ocean market and reach the 148 million What do SMBs want from communication
plugged-in SMBs worldwide. Parallels Chief Architect and Executive and collaboration services, web hosting,
Chairman Serguei Beloussov shared how hosting, cloud and IT would be virtual telephony services or other cloud-
the norm a decade ahead, emphasising the need for businesses to be hosted services? Which services are the
innovative, resilient and flexible if they are to thrive in the next 10 years. most popular? Vital clues were provided at
the business track of the Summit, where
Developed or Developing World? participants learned more about reducing
In line with the event’s central theme of “Profit from the Cloud, a” server and labour costs while increasing
very fundamental growth impediment involving creativity and innovation efficiency. The technical track of the Summit
was addressed via keynote speaker Fredrik Härén, a Singapore-based featured deep insights into the new Parallels
creativity expert and lauded author. Automation and Plesk Panel 11 suites; hosted
Härén pointed out that the polarization of the world into “developed” PBX; Microsoft Lync, and the Intel Open
and “developing” nations has unwittingly imposed limits and biases on Cloud Vision & Strategy.
innovation and creativity. This has wrought spectacular effects in the With economic woes clouding the fate of
midst of the Internet era, where giant corporate household names have the western blocs, the annual Parallels Summit
gone bust or lost their gloss; and the fates of entire blocs of “developed” is helping IT businesses to identify APAC as
nations hang in the balance. Fredrik propounds a mindset change as the region where the great opportunity is
simple as wiping the idea of being “developed” off our vocabulary. located. Of the trillion-dollar SMB revenue
This will break down cultural isolation and complacence and propel us spent worldwide annually, APAC details the
from being mere consumers of knowledge to being idea foundries. We most profitable opportunities for delivering
will then be well placed to serve as global catalysts of out-of-the-box cloud services to SMBs – it’s a region which
mindsets that will radically reinvent the world. simply cannot be ignored.
Event highlight brought to you by Parallels

5. Contents Volume 23 Number 8 October 2012
Managing Director Jonathan Bigelow jbigelow@questexasia.com
Columns
Group Editor Joseph Waring jwaring@questexasia.com
Global Technology Editor John C. Tanner jtanner@questexasia.com
Tanner Online Editor Fiona Chau fchau@questexasia.com
7 Apple starts to lose its bite Art Director Dick Wong dwong@questexaisa.com
Production & Web Manager Pauline Wong pwong@questexasia.com
If the company wants to be in the services business at all, it deserves to get
hammered for replacing Google Maps with a substandard service Group Publisher Gigi Chan gchan@questexasia.com
HR & Admin Manager Janis Lam janislam@questexasia.comww
Accounting Manager Nancy Chung nchung@questexasia.com
Accountant Ivy Chu ichu@questexasia.com
INDUSTRY ANALYSIS Accounting Assistant Cannis Wong cwong@questexasia.com
Accounts Clerk Mavis Chan mchan@questexasia.com
8 SingTel, Dtac fined for service disruptions
Circulation & Distribution Director John Lam jlam@questexasia.com
Assistant Circulation Manager Allie Mok amok@questexasia.com
9 Singapore’s LTE market becomes three-horse race Senior Circulation Assistant Shipman Kwok skwok@questexasia.com
Contributors Canberra: Dylan Bushell-Embling
London: Michael Carroll
Tokyo: Mike Galbraith
Bangkok: Don Sambandaraksa
News map
10 Asian telecoms this month Editorial and publishing office
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26 Telecom Career
27 Events Calendar
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7. www.telecomasia.net Highlights Follow us on:
ONLINE SECTIONS
Daily News
Special Coverage: Our broad coverage of Asian and
global telecom news
iPhone 5 www.telecomasia.net/news
The latest news and views on
Apple’s iPhone 5, from technical Commentary
reviews to operator strategies to In-depth analysis from Telecom Asia’s
the impact their networks. senior editors and leading telecom
research firms, including Ovum,
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www.telecomasia.net/content/special-coverage-iphone-5
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Keep updated on the latest news, analysis and www.telecomasia.net/blog
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business magazine
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4G Mobile White Papers
Vendors hold forth on latest
Follow the latest news, analysis, commentary and developments on technology concepts
LTE, TD-LTE, Wimax, and everything in between. www.telecomasia.net/whitepapers
www.telecomasia.net/4g
Events
This year’s trade shows and
conferences
www.telecomasia.net/events
Videos Telecom Asia China edition
In-depth news analysis, opinion,
In-depth interviews with top telcos insiders white papers and case studies for
and expert commentary on latest business telecom professionals and executives
and technology trends. in China
http://cn.telecomasia.net
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IndustryView
The inside view from industry execs
www.telecomasia.net/industryview
6 October 2012 Telecom Asia www.telecomasia.net

8. John C. Tanner l tANNER
Apple loses its bite
Y
ou don’t need me to tell you that we’re not just talking about any old app here.
Apple’s decision to drop support We’re talking about a mapping app that har-
for Google Maps in favor of its own nesses one of the key attributes of mobile –
Maps application has been the big- location – and has already become central to
gest PR disaster for the company since the many users’ lives.
AntennaGate hoo-ha with the iPhone 4. That’s not to say Apple necessarily made a
At press time, reports continue to flood mistake by dropping Google Maps. According
in about the app’s various inaccuracies, par- to All Things D, Apple really had no choice.
ticularly outside the US. In Japan, for exam- Its existing relationship with Google did not
ple, Maps is so riddled with erroneous info include support for voice-guided driving di-
that local map service Mapion saw a three- rections, which is supported on Google Maps
fold increase in downloads for its iPhone app for Android, and Google wasn’t keen to hand
(launched just a few months ago) in the first that differentiating feature over to a competi- John C. Tanner is global
week of the iPhone 5’s release, according to tor unless Apple offered certain concessions, technology editor –
the New York Times. which Apple found unacceptable. jtanner@questexasia.com
Interestingly, this is not the case in China. Fair enough. But it doesn’t change the fact
According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple that Apple still replaced Google Maps with a
developed a separate version of Maps spe- decidedly substandard service. And if Apple
cifically for China in partnership with local
mapping services provider AutoNavi. And
wants to be in the services business at all (see:
iTunes, FaceTime, iMessage, iCloud, etc), it
Apple replaced
by most accounts, it’s more accurate than in- deserves to get hammered for that, even if it Google Maps with
ternational versions of Maps (as long as you does ultimately see services and content as
only use it in China, anyway – Chinese users means to the end of selling hardware. a substandard
looking for maps outside of China will find The irony, of course, is that the iPhone 5
some data missing like landmarks and public may still be another record-setting winner, in service, and if
transportation stops). which case Apple has little incentive to take
Moreover, according to China-based services as seriously as it takes devices. Apple wants to
technology blogger Anthony Drendel, Ap-
ple’s Maps is a vast improvement over Google Second best be in the services
Maps in China, especially outside of the big The thing is, Apple can only get by on so business at all, it
urban cities and tourist centers. (The Chinese much goodwill these days because the iPhone
government’s tight regulation of mapping is no longer the king of the smartphone hill. deserves to get
services, and its strained relationship with Samsung overtook Apple in global smart-
Google, may or may not be a factor.) phone market share in Q4 last year and has hammered for
Either way, the fact that Apple had to do a been widening that gap ever since. And while
separate version of Maps for China illustrates it’s true that Apple’s product strategy is de- that
just how hard it is to build a reliable and us- signed to be a high-end niche that isn’t con-
able mapping app – and Maps’ problems cerned with market share, that strategy only
elsewhere demonstrates further just how far really works if you maintain the standards
ahead Google is in the maps game (remember that people expect from the high end.
Google Maps has been around since 2005) Apple failed to do that with Maps, and
and how far behind Apple is. it failed in the face of a competitor that had
And that matters far more than things something more seasoned and, for the most
like whether, say, the iPhone 5 supports mi- part, just better. Apple has enough problems
cro-USB. Having to pony up for an adapter is trying to convince everyone that the compa-
one thing. Being forced to give up an app that ny’s mojo didn’t pass away with Steve Jobs. It
works well in favor of a proprietary app that can’t afford more glaring failures like Maps.TA
doesn’t is something else entirely, because
www.telecomasia.net Telecom Asia October 2012 7

9. INDUSTRY ANALYSIS
Singapore LTE market S TATS N A P
heats up Average smartphone depreciates 34%
S
The average smartphone depreciates in value by 34% during a
ingapore’s 4G scheduled to be completed by 24-month retail lifespan, but wide disparities exist between price
market became 2013. brackets and brands.
a three-horse To complement the LTE Research from Strategy Analytics attempts to shine a light
race in Septem- launch, StarHub is upgrading on depreciation rates for the fast-moving smartphone segment,
ber, with both its 3G network to DC-HSPA+, figures which are traditionally hard to quantify.
StarHub and M1 launching doubling its 3G downlink The data, compiled from pricing points across 105 channels
commercial LTE services. speeds to up to 42 Mbps. in 37 countries, highlight the impact of a smartphone maker’s ap-
M1 launched its dual- SingTel, M1 and StarHub proach to its brand image on handset retail values.
For example, iPhones depreciate at a substantially slower rate
band 1800/2600-MHz LTE have all adopted 4G pricing
over their first 18 months on the market than their rivals, due to
service covering 95% of the strategies that abandon “big
Apple’s focus on a premium brand image. Instead, iPhones slide in
city state. This gave it a wider bucket” plans in exchange value by 25% once they reach between 22 and 28 months of age.
reach than SingTel, despite for tiered pricing options. All According to Stuart Robinson, director for Strategy Analytics’
the latter’s nearly 10-month three have settled on similar PriceTRAX services, “iPhones have upheld a clear price differential
headstart. prices for the lowest 2GB data compared to their counterparts.”
SingTel’s 4G network is plans – around S$40 ($32.50) As one of the first high-spec iPhone competitors, Samsung’s
not scheduled to reach 95% and the largest 12G plans – Galaxy S1 also held its price over the early parts of its life-cycle
coverage until early next around S$200. This 12GB due to having fewer competitors to contend with.
year. The operator launched allocation is a significant HTC’s low-priced Wildfire S had an extraordinarily low depre-
dongle-only LTE services in reduction on the previous ciation rate, suggesting that entry-level smartphones are more
resistant to price declines than their higher-end peers.
December 2011, introduced data bundles for operators’
Second-generation smartphones including the Samsung S2,
its first smartphone plans in premium 3G plans.
Nokia N8, LG Optimus and BlackBerry Curve 3 8520 have mean-
June and its first tablet plans But there is some jostling while all depreciated at a similar level, as competition kept pressure
in August. for position in the middle, on prices.
M1 selected Ericsson with both M1 and StarHub Strategy Analytics said a future study will address the impact
to upgrade its backhaul attempting to undercut of a smartphone maker’s portfolio refresh rate on retail prices of
infrastructure to support the SingTel with their respective their older-generation products.
LTE network. Ericsson will mid-range plans.
become M1’s primary mobile According to Tolaga Smartphone depreciation:
backhaul provider over the Research’s Dianne Northfield,
next several years. Under the “the outcomes of Singapore’s Down by one-third
deal, Ericsson will be provid- experiment with tiered data
ing microwave and optical pricing plans are of interest
systems as well as network both in terms of their impact
management solutions from on the overall uptake of LTE
its product portfolio. Deploy- services, and specifically as
ment has already commenced, a direct strategy by mobile
the vendor said. operators to [convince] exist-
Not to be outdone, ing 3G customers to migrate
StarHub commenced its LTE to 4G.
service on the 1800-MHz “In the case of Singapore
band. The LTE network the decision for consum-
initially covers Singapore’s ers will likely come down to
central business district, as whether advertised and actual
well as Changi Airport and 4G speeds, along with the
Singapore Expo, and will – yet to be proven – reliabil-
be expanded to reach more ity of the new 4G networks,
than half of the island by the provide compelling triggers to
fourth quarter. Nationwide switch plans or indeed opera-
LTE network coverage is tors.” TA Source: Strategy Analytics
8 October 2012 Telecom Asia www.telecomasia.net

10. Regulators dole out INSIGHT ONE MONTH’S TELECOM RESEARCH
penalties for outages >> Regulators risk stifling the internet
F
Proposals to impose regulations on the global internet would harm growth and
ines imposed on SingTel and Thailand’s Dtac innovation worldwide, with flexible governance required to maximize the economic
in September underline the potential financial advantages of the technology. Analysys Mason warns in a report that proposed
impact that even brief service outages can have. International Telecommunications Regulations (ITRs), which are being readied for the
ITU’s World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) could impede
IDA Singapore fined SingTel S$300,000 investment in the infrastructure required to support the growing internet population,
($244,000) for a disruption of the operator’s which is projected to reach 3.5 billion by 2020. The internet as it stands has evolved
“lio Voice” service last year, due to teething problems at based on commercial considerations not regulatory dictates, and investments are
service launch. best achieved without internationally sanctioned regulatory intervention, the report
The disruption affected SingTel’s then new mio argues. Another problem with imposing regulations on the internet is the issue of
sovereignty. An estimated 98% of internet content can be stored in servers, and is
Voice digital fixed-line telephone service in parts of often spread across multiple countries for caching purposes.
Tampines, Changi and Pasir Ris for varying periods over
Internet global growth: Lessons for the future
October 28 and 29, and in parts of Bukit Panjang, Bukit www.analysysmason.com
Timah and Woodlands on November 4.
The regulator’s investigation narrowed the fault >> VoLTE may help cellcos fight OTT players
down to a hardware capacity limitation of the optical Mobile operators are banking on VoLTE to make up for declining traditional voice
line terminals (OLT) at the Tampines exchange and the minutes. Average MoU fell more sharply in APAC in Q2 than in any other region
Bukit Panjang exchange. worldwide, with a decline of 7.36%, ABI Research estimates. In this context, SK
Explaining the decision to impose the fine, IDA said Telecom, LG U+ and MetroPCS have introduced the world’s first VoLTE services, in
a bid to counter the competition from OTT services such as Skype, Viber, Whatsapp
that as the cause of the service disruptions was a hard- and FaceTime. The ability of VoLTE to overlay rich media content over voice, and the
ware limitation in SingTel’s equipment, the regulator cost savings of sending voice over packets, could help operators stay competitive
was not satisfied that SingTel had taken adequate steps against OTT VoIP providers. In contrast to declining voice minutes, mobile data traffic
to ensure sufficient hardware capacity was provided. is surging worldwide. Overall 4G traffic is expected to swell at a CAGR of 147%
But the fine follows a S$400,000 penalty imposed through to 2017, compared to a CAGR of just 70% for 3G data traffic. Messages
sent stayed relatively stable in Q2, increasing 0.16% in APAC.
by IDA on SingTel in May for a service disruption in
Mobile data traffic & usage
September 2011 – despite the problems lasting less than www.abiresearch.com
a day and no actual outage occurring. SingTel custom-
ers did report difficulty making and receiving calls, and
>> SDP better suited to B2B than consumer market
accessing SMS, MMS and mobile data services during Operators will spend a projected $24 billion on service delivery platform (SDP)
the day in question. software and services between 2012 and 2016. According to Infonetics, operator
Dtac, meanwhile, accepted a 10-million baht interest in SDP is increasing across both emerging and developed markets. Operators
($320,000) fine from regulator NBTC for a 65-minute in developing markets remain focused on enabling consumer application ecosystems
via app stores and API exposure strategies, while in developed markets, telcos are
partial network outage on August 28.
investing in SDP to address the enterprise and SMB segments. B2B offerings such as
Dtac CEO Jon Eddy Abdullah accepted the fine enterprise app stores have greater promise for ROI than consumer-facing offerings
without challenging it. However, he noted that only an and – perhaps more importantly – operators still have an advantage over consumer
estimated 1.6 million users were affected out of the total app giants such as Apple and Google in this segment. Oracle lead the market for SDP
customer base of 24 million. software and services in 2011, but had a mere one point of market share on second-
placed Huawei, while Huawei itself was just one point ahead of Ericsson.
The operator had already authorised the allocation
of free airtime or data worth 100 million baht in com- SDP software and services
www.infonetics.com
pensation for its disrupted users.
In Dtac’s case, the NBTC decided to impose the fine
in part because this was the operator’s fifth network out-
>> Tablet display shipments to jump 56%
Booming tablet shipments will drive a 56% surge in tablet display shipments this
age in less than a year. year to 126.6 million units, IHS iSuppli predicts. Tablets are increasingly becoming
But Abdullah has stressed that the outages do not the biggest growth market for small and medium displays. While the 9-inch segment
form a pattern, with prior outages caused by the cutting dominated by the iPad will continue to account for the majority of tablet display
of two cables and hiccups during the migration to an shipments this year - with an expected 74.3 million units due to be shipped - the
fastest-growing market segment will be the 7.x-inch screens used in products like
all-IP network.
the Samsung Galaxy Tab, Amazon’s Kindle Fire and other Android-based tablets. The
But both fines will add fuel to the debate over 7.x-inch segment will increase its share of the total market to 32% this year, up from
whether APAC regulators should take a heavy-handed 27% in 2011. Just 9% of shipments will be for 8.x-inch screens, and less than 1% will
or a light-touch approach to overseeing their respective be for 5.x-inch screens.
telecom markets. TA IHS iSuppli small and medium displays service
– Fiona Chau and Don Sambandaraksa www.isuppli.com
www.telecomasia.net Telecom Asia October 2012 9

11. asian telecoms this month
Beijing
China Mobile signs off on a plan to procure over 200,000 TD-LTE BT sets up a new joint research lab in Beijing with China’s Tsinghua
terminals – mostly smartphones – for 2013. University. The pair are considering a number of research projects, in
areas including business applications for the cloud.
Hong Kong
SmarTone reports a 36% increase in profit to $131m for the year ending
in June, attributing strong demand for mobile data services.
PCCW spinoff HKT picks up $13m worth of communications ser-
vices contracts from Hong Kong’s Transport Department.
Australia’s Telstra appoints former Telstra Global executive
director Phil Mottram to lead up Hong Kong mobile
subsidiary CSL.
Bangkok
The board of state-owned
operator TOT resigns suddenly
amid controversy over a rogue
exchange and political interfer-
ence in its 3G expansion project.
Dtac is fined $320k by regula-
tors, after suffering the latest in a series of
mobile service disruptions.
Ericsson Thailand warns the nation’s opera-
tors to ready their networks for an explosion in
smartphone sales, and the attendant mobile data
demands.
AIS launches 50,000 free Wi-Fi access points, to support the
government’s Smart Thailand free public Wi-Fi initiative.
Colombo
Sri Lanka Telecom’s Mobitel contracts Huawei and ZTE to
expand and upgrade its mobile network, as it prepares for
the introduction of LTE services.
Delhi Manila
The Department of Telecom Norway’s Telenor is cleared to The Philippines’ Smart
presses on with plans to abolish lo- find a new partner in India, over extends its LTE network to
cal roaming fees within India some the objections of Unitech, its es- the 1800-MHz frequency
time in 2013, despite warnings tranged partner in the Uninor JV. band, to accompany the
from operators that they will have 2100-MHz services which
to raise rates to compensate. Vodafone hints it may be willing launched in August.
to pay the initial $1.47b tax bill the
The government issues orders to government demanded from the
operators including Bharti, Voda- 2007 acquisition of its Indian unit
fone and Idea to call off their 3G – if the government forgoes the
roaming pacts, under which they larger interest and penalty bill.
have been offering services in
areas where they lack 3G licenses.
10 October 2012 Telecom Asia www.telecomasia.net

12. movements
Seoul z Apple’s new maps service provokes a wave of criticism over errors,
SK Telecom reaches the 5m SK Telecom unveils two-way distorted satellite maps and a lack of detail, prompting CEO Tim Cook
subscriber milestone for its LTE handover technology it has devel- to issue a public apology – and suggest alternative services to use.
network, which launched in oped that supports both FDD and
September 2011. TD-LTE in a single device. z Google overtakes Microsoft by market valuation to become the second
most valuable technology company behind Apple.
Tokyo z Microsoft wins a German patent lawsuit against Motorola Mobility,
Softbank announces it will pay around $2.3b to buy smaller rival eAc- covering alleged infringement of a method of interfacing with an app.
cess, in a deal set to move it up to second by mobile market share and The disputed functionality is built into Android.
provide substantial assets for its LTE network.
z Samsung wins a court order overturning a US sales ban of the Galaxy
Tab 10.1, awarded to Apple in its patent lawsuit against the company. But
Apple also files an appeal seeking a permanent US ban of the 10.1 and
eight Samsung smartphones.
Sydney
NBN Co introduces a range of tailored packages for wholesale custom- z Qualcomm lends its weight behind TD-LTE, introducing a China-
ers of Australia’s NBN fiber network to resell to businesses. specific version of its Snapdragon S4 processor supporting the standard,
as well as UMTS, TD-SCDMA and CDMA.
z Texas Instruments announces it will start pulling back from the
wireless business, concentrating on embedded processors for cars and
Singapore consumer electronics.
StarHub and M1 both launch LTE OpenNet reveals it has doubled the
networks, around a year after number of homes connected to z A report into international cybersecurity finds that APAC governments
rival SingTel first went live with the NG-NBN fiber network in the are not collaborating effectively enough with their counterparts in other
– at the time dongle-only – LTE last eight months. nations on security policies.
services.
Regulator IDA fines SingTel z Nokia unveils its first Windows Phone 8 smartphones, the Lumia 920
M1 contracts Ericsson to upgrade $245k for a brief disruption to its and 820. The former is set to support wireless charging technology and
the backhaul infrastructure to sup- fixed digital voice service last year come in pentaband LTE and HSPA+ variants.
port its new LTE network. – the second fine it has imposed
on the operator this year. z Huawei and Intel sign an MoU to strengthen their engineering efforts
to jointly develop new cloud and IT solutions.
z AMD reaches a deal with software company Bluestacks to enable
Windows 8 laptops and PCs powered by its chips to run Android apps
through AMD’s AppZone player.
Jakarta z Two major telecom standards groups team up, with the Open Mobile
A former supplier for PT Telkomsel Alliance (OMA) joining the oneM2M Partnership.
succeeds in having the company declared
bankrupt, due to an Indonesian law z China Unicom expands into Canada, with the aim of providing a
stipulating this for companies that have backbone between the nations, as well as services to Canadian compa-
not paid their debts. Telkomsel, which nies with a Chinese presence and vice versa.
hasn’t paid the debt due to a contract
dispute with the supplier, is appealing. z Samsung reveals plans to debut the Galaxy S4, the latest in its flagship
line of smartphones, in February.
PT Indosat hands Ericsson a three-year
contract to upgrade its radio and core net- z Telstra Global opens a new data center in Singapore, its sixth in the
work infrastructure, in a bid to improve region, to provide colocation services for financial, media and technol-
mobile broadband speeds and coverage. ogy enterprises.
z Ericsson acquires Canadian OSS/BSS software provider ConceptWave
Kuala Lumpur for an undisclosed sum.
Maxis and media entertainment group
Astro team up to co-develop and market z Research shows LTE users have finally overtaken Wimax subscribers in
customer packages combining Astro’s the key 4G markets of Japan, South Korea and the US.
IPTV offerings with Maxis’ fiber, wireless
internet and ADSL services. z RIM posts a quarterly loss that is far narrower than analysts had ex-
pected, due to a less severe than anticipated decline in shipments as the
company waits to launch the first BlackBerry 10 devices.
www.telecomasia.net Telecom Asia October 2012 11

13. coverstory
12 October 2012 Telecom Asia www.telecomasia.net

14. Making money
from prepaid data
Operators prepare to cash in on the growing popularity
of smartphones in prepaid markets
Joseph Waring, John C. Tanner
S
martphone penetration in developing markets in APAC is estimated
at just 5%. But that’s projected to increase by more than four-fold be-
tween 2011 and 2016, according to Strategy Analytics. There are already
smartphones available for under $100, and in some cases under $50.
Meanwhile, the smartphones that have already reached Asia’s de-
veloping markets represent a huge market opportunity for mobile data services as
affordable smartphones become available to people whose first internet experience
has been – or will be – with mobile devices.
However, operators in developing markets can’t simply look to their developed-
market counterparts for business models targeting smartphone users – at least not
beyond the small percentage of wealthy urban users. It’s not a question of what
“G” the network supports so much as the fundamental differences between the
market segments themselves, says Warren Chaisatien, strategic marketing manager
at Ericsson.
www.telecomasia.net Telecom Asia October 2012 13

15. coverstory
Ajay Sunder, Frost &
Sullivan’s senior director
for telecom, Asia Pacific,
says operators are devel-
oping innovative bundles
of voice, SMS and data to target the
growing population of smartphone us-
ers. He says there is a huge potential for
prepaid data services, and operators are
just starting to tap this segment.
“The growing number of prepaid
data and bundled plans and their popu- dia tier and another for a stream-
larity are a testimony of this opportu- ing data tier. And by offering data
nity.” plans by shorter increments than a
A recent study from Ericsson’s Con- month, operators can entice subscribers ited browsing (without video/media
sumerLab covering Southeast Asia re- who aren’t ready to commit to monthly streaming), BBM and access to social
ports latent demand for mobile data data plans, but who need occasional ac- networks on a daily/weekly/monthly
services that not only conform to the cess. Behind the scenes, operators could basis (Blackberry Socialite).
prepaid experience – top-ups, passes set fair usage limits for the day or week, Airtel’s Internet Data Pack gives pre-
(either time-based or session-based), and throttle speeds when that limit is paid customers 500 MB on 2G and 500
boosters (i.e. paying a bit extra for a reached – with full disclosure to sub- MB on 3G networks with validity of 30
better game or video experience) and scribers. days from the date of recharge. The cost
cross-service bundles – but also are ap- “In the longer term, getting smart- is 151 rupees (about $3) and customers
plication and/or content-specific when- phones into millions of more people’s need to switch manually between 2G
ever possible (i.e. Facebook, YouTube, hands gives service providers additional and 3G networks.
Twitter, etc), allowing users to buy the data valuable to third parties, including
exact services they want. over-the-top providers and potential Transparency crucial
advertisers. As with postpaid subscrib- Sunder argues that one main obsta-
Flexible plans ers, operators have the opportunity to cle to the adoption of data top-up bun-
Many operators are offering free learn more about prepaid subscriber dles by prepaid consumers in emerging
data access services for specific content usage patterns and offer them more economies is the non-transparency or
to get prepaid customers to try out data. personalized plans,” Suriano says. lack of visibility on usage. “Billing for
For example, Openet marketing man- Some work is already being done data is not something that can be pre-
ager Martin Morgan says free Facebook to show the way forward. For example, measured/pre-calculated by user, be-
access is often used by operators to get in the Philippines, Smart Communica- cause you do not know how data-inten-
customers to use apps. Most operators tions is offering a package that allows sive a website/app is before loading. So
also are testing both volume-based and subscribers to access Facebook for a 24- this typically means if a user is browsing
time-based packages. hour period at 50 cents a pop. web applications, he cannot predict the
Tekelec CTO Doug Suriano says “Those kinds of small packages with usage.”
in the short term operators can let very low price points are well suited the For voice and SMS the user of course
subscribers pick plans based on their micro-payment environment, and will can roughly calculate the cost based on
preferences and budgets. For example, encourage new smartphone users to try minutes of use or number of messages
operators can offer application-based data services,” says Chaisatien from Er- sent.
service tiers with flat monthly rates, or icsson. Tekelec’s Suriano says the lack of
access by the day, week and month. In Frost & Sullivan’s Sunder points to a integration between policy and real-
both of these scenarios, pricing is flat so number of other success cases in APAC. time charging remains a barrier. Many
subscribers don’t have to risk bill shock. Telkomsel in Indonesia offers daily vendors use proprietary interfaces or
Multiple Telefónica properties, he or weekly Facebook packages starting policy systems that have difficulty scal-
says, price data plans by application from 10 cents/day with a data-cap of ing to support many transactions and
type, offering one rate for a social me- 3 MB (Kartu Facebook) and unlim- so much Diameter traffic.
14 October 2012 Telecom Asia www.telecomasia.net

16. “The process to top-up data plans,
change plans in mid-month or do a try-
and-buy approach all require a scalable
We’re seeing is a second wave of
and reliable Diameter network. Also, policy, whereby old systems that
the Diameter routing market is in the
nascent stages, meaning Diameter traf- supported only a small number of
fic is often a complex mesh that limits
the possibilities of creative new rate use cases, are being replaced with
plans.”
For telcos to be able to move into more sophisticated systems
prepaid data, says Openet’s Morgan,
the key is back-office flexibility. With
data services, he noted that new plans ging in APAC and other regions. it. “To accomplish operators’ desire to
and tariffs often have a shorter shelf life “For one, policy and charging inte- create two-sided business models and
than traditional voice and text bundles. gration and scalability keep operators provide sponsored and toll-free appli-
“Therefore, having BSS support rapid from quickly introducing new use cases. cations requires a solution that allows
product development is important. And We’re starting to see some movement on operators to securely expose APIs.”
the pace of change is only going to in- the postpaid side, like with shared data He also points out that the defini-
crease. When operators start to further plans. As prepaid smartphones grow, it’s tion of “end-to-end” is changing, with
roll out direct operator charging, where only natural that offers for that market operators desiring to control policies
they charge for third-party content, also will expand,” he says. to the handsets themselves. This would
then the need to offer system flexibility open up new avenues of cost control
will only increase.” Policy control and revenue for all subscribers.
The number and sophistication of Morgan insists that policy control For example, he says, service provid-
new bundles, price plans and offers will is essential to giving operators the flex- ers could offer sponsored mobile data
increase while time to market will fall. ibility to innovate with new services. He over a carrier-owned Wi-Fi network
Morgan said the result of this will be agrees that almost all operators have at a sporting venue if a third party ran
increased complexity in an operator’s some degree of policy management – advertisements on top of the content.
product marketing department and the ranging from fairly straightforward fair Or, the operator could limit the signal-
supporting BSS solutions. usage controls to advanced tiered ser- ling messages that chatty applications
“To succeed with data and content, vice offers. send to radio towers, maintaining RAN
operators will need to understand that “However, what we’re seeing is a sec- resources and giving operators some
they have many more usage variables ond wave of policy, whereby old systems defense against poorly-written applica-
than they’re used to dealing with for that supported only a small number of tions.
voice and texts, and so the opportu- use cases, are being replaced with more In terms of commercializing such
nities for delivering more segmented sophisticated systems. This new level services, Ericsson’s Chaisatien recom-
and personalized offers are increased. of sophistication is required as opera- mends an end-to-end approach to
Through personalization customers tors roll out new services and look to policy control, which requires deep
will get offers that suit them. However, policy, not just as a method of control- interaction between the policy control-
it is only by having a flexible and agile ling network usage, but as an enabler of ler, core and radio networks, as well as
BSS, which can quickly support the new product and service differentiation. For integration of OSS/BSS and the service
levels of complexity that data and con- example, providing differing QoS for layer, and orchestration between con-
tent will drive, that simplification and different applications, prioritization for tent provisioning and customer-facing
personalization can be delivered to cus- certain customers and offering a vari- functions. The payoff is the flexibility to
tomers,” Morgan says. able network experience as a marketing enable new services as new smartphone
Suriano noted that most operators offer all need to be supported by a flex- applications emerge.
now can handle the basic policy and ible policy management system.” Put another way, it will give op-
charging use cases, like tiered services Suriano suggests that data plan in- erators the flexibility to innovate – and
by volume and throttling for overages. novation can only be as flexible and that’s going to be a key capability in
But he says new use cases are still lag- powerful as the policy server behind competitive markets. TA
www.telecomasia.net Telecom Asia October 2012 15

17. IP Capacity
Robust yet slowing growth
IP transit price declines accelerate – dropping 50% in NY – while internet capacity
continues to expand, but at a slower growth rate
I
Joseph Waring
nternational internet capacity con- of bandwidth growth outpaced increasesgrowth will continue in many countries,
tinued to increase at a brisk rate in underlying average and peak trafficbut annual growth can be lumpy with
– aggregate backbone bandwidth levels. strong growth in one year followed by
more than doubled in the past two The report said the modest declineslower growth the next year.”
years – but the growth rate slowed for the in utilization rates is not unusual. In theHe says that while mobile video is
fifth consecutive year, dropping to just certainly growing quickly, it’s not any
past five years, peak utilization rates have
40% from just under 70% back in 2008. more likely to generate international
fluctuated within a fairly narrow band.
According to a recent report from traffic than video accessed from fixed
While some operators have predicted
TeleGeography, international internet that soaring traffic would overwhelm connections. A large amount of video
capacity jumped from 37 Tbps in 2010 (whether accessed by mobile or fixed
networks, TeleGeography noted that this
to 77 Tbps in Q2. has not proven to be true on interna- networks) is served locally from cach-
The research firm’s annual survey es or from CDNs, so each time a user
tional links. “Steady investment in new
of internet backbone operators found capacity has contributed to remarkablywatches a video, international traffic is
that the decelerating network capacity not always created.
stable levels of average and peak traffic
growth rates are mirrored in declining utilization on international networks.” Global IP transit prices continued
rates of peak and average international to fall as declines accelerated in most
The question is if the steady decline
internet traffic growth. regions. The median GigE port price in
since 2008 will continue for the foresee-
TeleGeography reported that aver- New York fell 50% from Q2 2011 to Q2
able future or will it be reversed by say a
age international internet traffic grew surge in mobile video traffic. 2012, compared with a 28% CAGR de-
35%, down from 39% last year, and peak TeleGeography research director cline over the past three years.
traffic grew 33%, well below the 57% in- Alan Mauldin told Telecom Asia that TeleGeography reported that median
crease recorded in 2011. The firm noted prices of GigE ports over the past five
forecasting growth rates is tricky. “I’m
that global average and peak utilization years dropped at a CAGR of 22% in New
not sure I’d say it’d be the same rate of
rates dipped slightly in 2012, as the rate decline. I suspect the slowing rate ofYork and São Paulo, 26% in Hong Kong
and 31% in London.
Mauldin reminded us that IP transit
Capacity expands while growth slows prices only go in one direction – down.
He says the underlying cost of transport
capacity continues to get cheaper on a
!"#$%"&'()*+(*)&!*#!+%,-. per unit basis. “But as the major interna-
tional backbone operators expend their
networks into new markets, prices in
#'?)-*'2#',(> O#2&'1 9-*0," +*- (#-?)3#( "*7(#1 *'.4 )' ,"# 2&X*-/',#-'#, "76 3),)#(these cities tend to drop quickly as well.”
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c Despite sharp price drops glob-
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persist. For example, the median Hong
(#-?#( &( &'*,"#- 3*7',#-?&).)'9 +&3,*- &9&)'(,)',#-'&,)*'&. ,-&++)3 -*0,"> /' -#3#', 4#&-(5
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)'3-#&(#1 -#.)&'3# *' 3*',#', 1#.)?#-4 '#,0*-8( !"#$%"&'()*+(*)&!*#!+%,-..*3&.3&3"#("&( "&1times the price of a GigE port in London
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&B3.#&-5B1&2%#')'9B#++#3,B*'B.*'9Y1)(,&'3#B/',#-'#,B,-&++)3B9-*0,"> over the past seven years.
The latest survey found that the low-
91$':#04)'#,';<1"-(,-'=>"?1%) est 10-Gbps port prices have fallen to
/'!0+*&4
50 cents per Mbps or less in the US and
9#3',0)A'B!)/G)1-,0O'&)G-'$#O)'0)9,X>-)A@>Q,@)4'&'#OH )' ")9" )'3*2# western Europe. The report said: “Cave-
Source: TeleGeography
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16 October 2012 Telecom Asia www.telecomasia.net
,* #2#-9)'9 2&-8#,(> @.*6&.6-*&16&'1 (76(3-)6#-( '#&-.4 1*76.#1 6#,0##' e&-3" <;;N
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