ReleaseWire

Business leaders throughout the United States are beginning to notice the long-term ramifications associated with the latest announcement from telecom industry leader, NEC.

Since the removal of the 10% sales tax on all mobile phones in Malaysia in 2010, the growth of mobile phones has been on a positive and upward trajectory. Recognising the large growth potential in Malaysia, a rising number of phone manufacturers started entering the country, leading to a high concentration of mobile phone sets towards the end of the review period. This intensifying competition pushed down the prices for mobile sets, thereby narrowing profit margins for phone manufacturers. There is also a rising 3G uptake in Malaysia as smartphones and data services become more affordable to the consumers. Coupled with the rising affluence and availability of low cost devices, 3G service is gaining traction in the nation. Moreover, more Malaysian operators are pushing for the launch of next generation LTE 4G services, upon receiving the requisite operating licences in 2012.

Better than expected growth in the mobile market and higher usage of operator-billed services were seen in the third quarter of 2014. In part, this was due to an intensification of price competition and the withdrawal of a number of MVNOs, allowing key players to deepen their influence over the market. The rollout of 4G services also played a key part in this more buoyant growth story. Nevertheless, the cold truth is that the market is now highly saturated and there are few organic growth opportunities left for the remaining players to tap. Convergence-led strategies provide one lifeline, but only Proximus can directly benefit as Mobistar has yet to relaunch its TV-led wireline business and BASE has withdrawn its TV offer and scales back its wireline offering. These developments are reflected in our revised forecasts for the Belgian telecoms market, which have now been extended through to 2019 .

Through real-time reporting, call centers can gain a deeper insight through real-time, personalized dashboards and reporting. The ability of call centers to identify issues, train agents effectively, and to optimize performance is greatly damaged when they do not have access to real-time analytics illustrating current performance. So what are the consequences of getting call center analytics even a day late?

The performance of mobile phones was highly influenced by the unstable economic situation in the country in 2013 and the decreasing popularity of feature phones, which are used by an increasingly small number of consumers and are slowly leaving the market. Smartphones saw higher usage by Czech consumers due to fast-developing technologies, bringing high convenience for consumers which resulted in the growth of internet mobile users and mobile payments. However, as smartphones are replacing feature phones overall mobile phones recorded a 1% volume sales decline in 2013.

This research report presents worldwide mobile phone shipment volume forecast and recent quarter review of major mobile phone vendor performance. The report includes major vendors' shipment volume, shipment growth trends, shipment revenue and revenue growth trends, operating profit margin and ASP, along with analyst insights. The report finds that the worldwide mobile phone shipment volume increased 7.2% sequentially and 4.9% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2014, to around 488 million units. As for shipment volume share of individual brands, Samsung's operating margin fell to the new lows in the third quarter while Apple had a firmer foothold in the high-end market segment after the success launches of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Looking ahead to 2015, the global smartphone industry is expected to continuously enjoy robust shipment growth at around 17%, reaching around 1.5 billion units.

The Indonesian market saw a major development in December 2014, with the deployment and launch of 4G LTE networks by the three largest mobile operators, Tel komsel, Indosat and XL Axiata. Although the outlook for the technology will be limited by the low spending power of most Indonesians and the high price of LTE tariffs and smartphones, it represents a step forward in the development of the market. 3G will be the favoured form of mobile broadband throughout our forecast period, but will continue to make up a minority of mobile subscriptions while the number of competitors remains too high, leading to a significant prominence of low-value prepaid subscribers. Moves towards tower sharing will help reduce the burden of this hyper-competitive environment, and could potentially pave the way for further consolidation. The wireline market is witnessing considerable investments in fibre - optic network infrastructure, a development that should drive the uptake of high-value converged services, including IPTV. The government is looking to encourage the expansion of fixed broadband infrastructure with incentives, however, mobile broadband will continue to remain the dominant service for internet access.

Net additions of 203 ,000 in Q314 in Bulgaria's mobile market might indicate that market correction has been achieved after more than two consecutive years of contraction since 2012. We also retain the view that the weak subscriptions growth opportunities, along with strong take-up of smartphones, will drive operators to develop their data service offerings to take advantage of value growth from non-voice services.

Euromonitor International's Industrial reports provide a 360 degree view of an industry. The Industrial market report offers a comprehensive guide to the size and shape of the Telecommunications market at a national level. It provides the latest retail sales data, allowing you to identify the sectors driving growth. It identifies the leading companies, the leading brands and offers strategic analysis of key factors influencing the market - be they new product developments, packaging innovations, economic/lifestyle influences, distribution or pricing issues. Forecasts illustrate how the market is set to change.

While about 88% of all households owned a smartphone in 2013, in 2014 this figure is expected to rise to 102%, reflecting increased multiple ownership in households.

Lithuania's mobile market recorded negative growth in 2013 and the for first nine months of 2014, with incumbent Omnitel finally ceding its lead position to Tele2. The mobile market is saturated and as operators move customers to more valuable postpaid plans, so large numbers of inactive prepaid accounts are being eliminated. In Omnitel's case, this has yielded stronger ARPU figures and uncovered underlying posit ive ARP U growth that had previously n o t been visible. Consumers have become used to very low monthly mobile bills, however. And, despite an uptick in mobile data consumption, we expect revenues to continue declining over the next five years. The pressure will be on operators t o develop advanced new prod ucts and services. Not all players will survive the medium term and news that the Bit? gro up is being prepared for sale comes as no surprise.

The TRA's release of 800MHz LTE spectrum in the UAE will enable operators' networks to cope with rapidly rising demand for data. As content becomes an increasingly important piece of the Middle East's telecoms ecosystem, we expect operators to continue forming partnerships with and eventually move to acquire regionally focused content providers.

The Danish telecommunications market is highly mature and increasingly focused around value-added premium services. Most notably, while the broadband market is growing steadily on the back of demand for converged services, the mobile sector is beginning to show signs of fatigue, with periodic declines in subscriber numbers linked to the retirement of low-value or inactive acc ounts. Curiously, adoption of M2 M services lags behind other equally advanced European markets, although growth now seems to be accelerating. In this environment, there are scant opportunities for new or risk-averse investors, although the potential for niche value-added services is far from played out.

An Internet based reverse phone lookupservice NonPublished.com announces a new service to assist the public, private investigators, law enforcement, attorneys and press to effectively locate people that don't want to be found. 

Driven by the growing demand for data intensive applications in Public Safety markets, the industry is set to grow at a CAGR of 30% from 2015 to 2020 representing over $19.5 Billion in revenue by 2020, up from $ 5.3 Billion in 2015.

Although the Dutch market is very mature and past the saturation point in 2011, this market is surprisingly dynamic, with two new mobile operator s launching their services in H214/H115. The roll out of 4G LTE services provides some uplift to the mobile and broadband markets, but essentially operators are now cannibalising an existing audience. In this context, Tele2's delayed emergence as a converged services player lacks conviction. In the wireline sector, convergence has been a key theme over the last year.

Although the UK mobile market lags behind some of its regional peers in terms of mobile penetration, BMI does not believe there's much scope for further growth. The maturity the UK market has diminished opportunities for organic subscription growth, and operator strategies reflect this by increasingly focusing on value generation from high value postp aid subscriptions focussing on LTE, as well as VAS such as mobile advertising and payments. Meanwhile, in the fixed broadband sector, operators continue to target the converged services market through the provision of triple- and quad-play packages.

Iraq's telecoms market offers a mix of great opportunity and heavy risks. The country's large population and a penetration rate still below 100% underpin our generally positive growth outlook for the country's telecoms sector between 2014 and 2018. Moreover, a final agreement between operators and the government on 3G spectrum and subsequent launch of 3G services at the very end of 2014 creates massive opportunities in Iraq's wildly underserved data market. However the deteriorated security situation has begun to take its toll on the sector, with network outages resulting in sharp mobile subscriptions losses in Q314 and ARPUs continuing to fall. BMI's Country Risk team expects ISIS to remain a resilient fighting force over the coming years, which will weigh on private consumption levels in the country, and keep operating costs and the cost of reaching national 3G coverage high for operators.

UFB connecting over half a million homes while industry pushes for universal 1Gb/s service

Accelerating 4G take up reflects the high spending tech savvy population of Taiwan that makes it one of the most developed in the Asia Pacific region. The three leading operators have announced rapid take-up of their 4G services, driven by strong competition and high demand. With six operators hav ing obtained 4G licences and launching quickly, it is clear that operators have high expectations of the impact 4G will bring . However, operators face a short-term ARPU squeeze from the regulators, who have imposed compulsory cuts to mobile termination rates and requirements to provide free peering between 2013 and 2016. Operators will look to mobile payment, mobile commerce and cloud computing services as means of further boosting income with services to encourage loyalty over the long term .

'Peru: Incumbent Mobile Operators Face Rising Competitive Pressure from New Entrants,' a new Country Intelligence Report by Pyramid Research, offers a precise, incisive profile of Peru's mobile and fixed telecommunications and pay-TV markets based on comprehensive proprietary data and insights from our research in the Peruvian market. Published annually, this presentation-quality, executive-level report provides detailed analysis of the near-term opportunities, competitive dynamics and evolution of demand by service type and technology/platform across the fixed telephony and broadband, mobile and pay-TV sectors, in addition to a review of key regulatory trends.

The technological boom in Vietnam, with the rise of affordable 3G and free mobile text and call applications such as LINE and Viber, greatly contributed to the rising popularity of smartphones. Although feature phones are much cheaper in terms of unit price, consumers are increasingly willing to purchase smartphones, which are considered to offer greater convenience and functionality. With the abundance of free mobile applications, smartphone users can use their phones for a range of purposes such as playing games, reading the newspaper, listening to music, and navigation by GPS.

2015 seems poised to be a big year for the Caribbean, with a number of major developments that could transform the telecom industries in a number of markets. The CWC acquisition of Columbus International will have a far-reaching regional impact in the broadband internet and pay-TV markets, which remain underdeveloped and ripe for growth. New players are expected in the Bahamas and Trinidad & Tobago, and new regulators in Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Barbados and Haiti could lead to huge improvements in the business environment. Agreements between the US and Cuba have shocked the world. Cuba represents the most attractive market in the Caribbean in terms of total size and growth opportunities, however, we don't expect to see this play out. Nonetheless, there will be massive interest from lots of international players. We expect interest in the region really take off in 2015, with plenty of opportunities for interested players.

As the harsh winter weather hits the greater Philadelphia area, commutes take longer and business suffers. To allow the business to prosper no matter the weather conditions, Chorus Communications, a leading agency for all advanced telecom services in Philadelphia, is now providing Hosted PBX Solutions to increase productivity. Save money by avoiding the investment in telephone equipment, and utilize a VoIP system for all phone operations through a Hosted PBX.

Mobile commerce or m-commerce, as it is widely called, is the buying or selling of goods over a mobile-enabled platform. The West, in particular, has been very proactive in adopting this platform to improve commercial transactions. The high adoption of this platform has enabled various retail stores to go online, and adopt more effective marketing strategies. With the proliferation of technology and handheld devices, people are increasingly inclined to use cellphones to carry out their m-commerce activities.

Overall, mobile phones are expected to grow by 6% in retail volume terms in 2014, mainly driven by positive demand for smartphones in Singapore. Singapore?s well-developed information technology (IT) infrastructure and government plans to supply and improve broadband connectivity nationwide continue to sustain the growth of and demand for smartphones. Initiatives such as Wireless@SG, launched in 2006, and 4G launched near the end of 2013, sought to meet the needs of growing smartphone users and demand for broadband services. In addition, the affordability of telecommunications equipment in Singapore also encourages both new and existing consumers to purchase mobile phones.