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3G, NGN, and Outsourcing
A SAARC Perspective
It is an exciting time to be in the SAARC region, especially
when it comes to telecom. The region has seen feverish growth in the
area of telecommunications in the last few years. The subscriber
bases in many countries of the region have doubled in recent years,
and this is despite the region offering the lowest tariff prices in
the world. The SAARC region is also being eyed by the global players
as a lucrative manufacturing base.
Many of them have plans for setting up units here. With the
disparity in the tele-density between the nations within the region,
there is an immense opportunity in terms of manufacturing.
The SAARC opportunity is immense. There are already 200 million
lines (including fixed and mobile) in the region and the number is
expected to grow to 300 million by September 2007. And with most of
the region’s population residing in the villages, all SAARC
countries consider rural telecom development a priority and are
formulating schemes for the same.
Each country in the region has its core strength in the area of
telecom. If that were to be combined, with the potential of the
region so promising, SAARC is going to be bigger than China in terms
of telecom opportunity. India alone is looking at a subscriber base
of 250 million by 2007 and 500 million by 2010. India has also
managed to attract investment in telecom manufacturing.
Pakistan has taken lead in MVNO and mobile number
portability. Sri Lanka is the first nation in the region to
run NGN and 3G trials. Bangladesh has worked extensively for
providing connectivity to its largely rural population with the
Grameen Phone. Maldives has the highest tele-density of the
region—a whopping 35.74%! Nepal and Bhutan are putting
in all efforts to battle the challenges posed by a difficult terrain
to get its citizens connected. Not an easy task but htings are
moving as per plan.
Every major operator is preparing to roll out 3G in the region. The
question that arises from this is that in this land of opportunity,
how do we leverage from each others’ strengths? Can we share the
infrastructure? What should be the business model for NGN or 3G? Can
we look at a different tariff for the SAARC region.
These discussions, analyses and questions will be taken up when we
meet at the Fifth VOICE&DATA CEO Conclave, with experts,
industry moguls, and government representatives, to discuss the
future of telecom in the SAARC region.
I cordially invite you to participate in the Fifth VOICE&DATA CEO
Conclave, 2006. This year, as before, will bring together CEOs
and primary decision-makers from the communications industry. But
there are a lot of interesting departures from the previous years.
For one, the Conclave will be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It will
also feature some exciting events, including a SAARC Summit on
Telecom, SAARC Innovation Awards, a CEO Round Table, and lots more.
I hope you will participate in making this an interesting and
meaningful interaction. One of my team members will be calling on
you to provide details of the opportunities in which you could be
associated.
Looking forward to your participation.
Ibrahim Ahmad
Editor
VOICE&DATA
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