Asian Telecom Market Analysis: A Study On Mobile Network Operators & MVNO Landscape in Asia
Comprehensive overview of the Mobile Network Operator and MVNO segment of the telecom market across the 34 countries in Asia.
Asia is arguably the world's most diverse region with regards to its telecoms industry. The region contains a vast array of countries, ranging from those with highly mature and advanced telecommunications markets, which are world leaders in the move towards 5G and next-generation fiber networks, such as South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan, to some of the poorest and least developed countries such as North Korea and Afghanistan.
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Asia's mobile subscriber market is now witnessing moderate growth in a fast maturing market.
In early 2019 all three of South Korea's mobile network operators - SK Telecom, KT Corp and LG Uplus launched commercial 5G services to consumers.
China is also highly active in its progression towards a 5G launch. All three major mobile operators - China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom are preparing for 5G launches.
Whilst there are still developing markets continuing to grow their mobile subscriber base at moderate to high annual rates, there are few countries left in Asia with significantly underdeveloped mobile markets and low mobile penetration rates. The mobile broadband subscriber base across all of Asia continues to grow strongly. The region's mobile markets have continued to offer huge potential for mobile data services, driven by the high volume of mobile services. The following are some mobile operators and MVNO’s available in the Asian market:
· 3 Macau (Hutchison Telecom Macau), 365 Communications, Afghan Wireless (AWCC), AirAsia, Aircel, Airtel Bangladesh,Altel, Ambit, ArmenTel (Beeline), Asgabat Saher Telefon Ulgamy (ASTU) (New Operator), Asia Pacific Telecom (APT), Azercell, Azerfon (Nar Mobile), AzTelekom, B-Mobile, Babilon Mobile, Bakcell, Baktelecom, Banglalink, Bharti Airtel, Bharti Airtel Lanka, Celcom Axiata, China Mobile, Delta Telecom, Dialog Axiata, Etisalat Afghanistan, Etisalat Sri Lanka
List of Mobile Network Operators in South Asia
1. Lebara KSA
We want to become the brand of choice for wider group of people who want a low cost & high quality service within the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. To become the number one brand for customer service, customer experience and simple honest value.
Global Rank
144,599
Country Rank
988
Traffic Sources:
lebara.sa’s marketing strategy is focused on Search with 49.89% of traffic coming from this channel, followed by Direct with 22.56% from desktop.
Source: https://www.similarweb.com/website/lebara.sa/#alsoVisited
2. Virgin Mobile
Virgin Mobile Middle East and Africa has established a market-leading position across the Middle East and Africa region, being the only mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) in the region. Virgin Mobile Middle East & Africa (VMMEA) has experienced exponential growth and progress since it first entered the market in 2006. With a shared vision of being the champion of mobile users across the Middle East and Africa region, we now serve millions of customers across five markets: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, South Africa and Malaysia and are firmly positioned to take a leading role in the roll-out of more digital focused offerings.
News:
· Virgin Mobile has enhanced customer experience with its app-based and digitized services. What are the key factors driving adoption of digital initiatives in the MEA region.
· Virgin Mobile has 2.5m mobile subscribers in Saudi Arabia and is confident of increasing its market share as 60% of the population is youth and these are the people who demand customized packages and digital services.
· The GCC region has some of the top countries in the world for digital adoption, with more than 100 percent smartphone penetration and more than 70 per cent social media adoption. So there is a definite demand for more digital propositions in the region. Exciting digital experiences and consumers’ desire for always on, on-demand services have instigated telecommunications operators to become digitally agile and responsive. https://www.digitalvidya.com/blog/virgin-mobile-ksas-digital-marketing-strategy-achieves-lowest-subscriber-acquisition-costs/
· High number of customers started their journey experience with Virgin Mobile online. Approximately 90% of consumer leads came from the Virgin Mobile Online where rest were started at the Virgin Mobile Store.
· At only 60% of overall digital budget, Google advertising contributed 71% of bookings from all digital advertising.
· 35X return on investment – Google Search produced 80% lower CPL than any other digital platform.
· Higher conversion rate – 30% of customers who booked a number online completed their journey with a store visit to purchase a SIM.
· Vice President of Brand Rob Beswick says – “We knew that to reach a hyper-connected youth market segment, we had to build an innovative digital and mobile-first model and then amplify our efforts using digital campaigns and engagement”. “By launching the digital approach pre-commercial launch we were able to not only increase the brand awareness in the market significantly at a relatively low cost, but also engage with our audience in a highly-targeted way.
3. HUTCH
Hutch is a subsidiary of CK Hutchison Holdings Limited which owns 85% controlling stake of the company while the rest is held by Emirates Telecommunication Group Company PJSC. HUTCH is one of Sri Lanka’s leading mobile telecommunication service providers offering a range of innovative and great value products and services on an island wide advanced 4G, 3G & 2G network. Hutchison Telecommunications Lanka (Pvt) Ltd., the local subsidiary of Hong Kong based CK Hutchison Holdings Limited, acquired Etisalat Sri Lanka operations in late 2019 and now serves subscribers on both 078 & 072 prefixes.
Hutch is the country's third largest mobile network operator, with 5.3 million subscribers and commanding 27% of the Sri Lankan mobile market.
News Blog: https://hutch.lk/2020/03/
· HUTCH Introduces First Trilingual Self-Care App: Promises a Seamless Digital Experience
· HUTCH announces completion of its island-wide network coverage expansion and 4G roll-out
Hutch and Facebook
Similar to other mobile networks in the country, Hutch’s main social media platform is Facebook. The Facebook page is liked by more than 881,000 fans and is dominated by Hutch promotions and random images.
Furthermore, Hutch has taken steps to answer the various queries of its customers and this includes responding to customer complaints as well.
A few quizzes were also seen in the page. Hutch apps such as the YouTube app, reload and bill payment app and the Twitter app did not work when we tried to access them. This could be a temporary glitch or a more serious one and Hutch should look into it. http://socialmedia.lk/social-media-presence-of-hutch-sri-lanka/
Hutch can reap much better benefits if it implements an effective social media marketing strategy on FB that includes engaging its fans, hosting competitions, conveying its corporate identity, posting original content, educating the public regarding their CSR activities and so on. The Sri Lankan mobile service provider market is very competitive and Hutch should strive to stand out from the rest; a unique, compelling social media strategy will do wonders to the company.
New Apps:
Hutch Self Care
cliQ – Unlimited Internet
4. Digicel
Digicel is a Caribbean mobile phone network and home entertainment provider operating in 33 markets across the Caribbean, Central America, and Oceania regions. The company is owned by Irish businessman Denis O'Brien.
Digicel has concluded what it calls the last significant milestone in the process to reduce its debt.The plan is expected to reduce its total debt by approximately $1.6 billion to about $5.4 billion and lower annual cash interest costs by approximately $125 million. The plan also extends key debt maturities.
https://www.developingtelecoms.com/telecom-business/9674-digicel-debt-diminished.html
5. Airtel
Bharti Telecom, a holding company for Bharti Airtel, is looking to clear its debts by selling a 2.75% stake in the operator for US$1 billion.
The Economic Times quoted a source as saying that: “Bharti Telecom intends to clean up debt at the promoter level, which will clear the path for it to inject more capital towards shareholder support at Airtel in the near future.”
By selling the stake, Bharti Telecom aims to reduce its own debt to zero as well as lowering Bharti Airtel’s ‘debt overhand’ – the term used by rating agencies to describe the liabilities of promoter groups when auditing a company’s finances.
6. PT Smartfren Telecom Tbk
PT Smartfren Telecom Tbk, commonly known as Smartfren (styled smartfren.), is an Indonesia-based wireless network operator headquartered in Central Jakarta. It is owned by Indonesian conglomerate Sinar Mas under the company PT Sinar Mas Komunikasi Teknologi. Smartfren operates exclusively using a 4G LTE network after shifting away from CDMA technologies in 2014. As of 2018, smarften has 10.1 million active subscribers, making them the fifth-largest wireless carrier in the country.
Smartfren provides wireless voice (via VoLTE) and data services in Indonesia, which it claims is available in over 200 cities. In 2015, the company launched their LTE-Advanced network, becoming the first in the country to do so.
· Smartfren aims to double subscriber base to 24m in 2018:
https://www.commsupdate.com/articles/2018/01/23/smartfren-aims-to-double-subscriber-base-to-24m-in-2018/
Subscriber acquisition strategy, noting that the firm is foregrounding: Open Market Handset (OMH) strategy, which targets the premium market by working with handset vendors such as Samsung, Lenovo, and HiSense to develop smartphone devices with products tailored to the cellco’s networks and services; Andromax bundling, which targets the lower-middle segment by offering them bundled services with an Andromax handset (a new model of which will launch in February) and which is based on what it terms an ‘affordable price with unlimited data concept’; and sales of starter packs for the lower-income demographic.
7. Ooredoo Maldives
Ooredoo Maldives formerly known as Wataniya Telecom Maldives is a member of Ooredoo Group. Launched on the 1st of August 2005, within less than a decade the company revolutionized the telecommunication industry of Maldives by introducing the leading edge technologies and telecommunication solutions to the valued customers.
Ooredoo Maldives provides a wide range of innovative voice, data, broadband, content and enterprise services tailored to the growing needs of today’s consumers and businesses. Guided by its vision of enriching people’s lives and its belief that it can stimulate human growth by leveraging communications to help people achieve their full potential, Ooredoo has transformed the communications industry for the people of the Maldives.
Promotion Analysis
As per the current market demands, Ooredoo has enough online present and continually trying to enlarge their online communication process with consumers. Developing online communication platform where customers could participate in a survey process to judge the quality of products will increase chances for this company to know current needs of their consumers and produce products according to that (Jochen, 2016). This is an excellent way to enhance an effective customer satisfaction level.
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