TRPC Research Director Lim May-Ann quoted on ZD Net article: Competition to force Asia’s telcos to diversify faster, 17 Jan 2013

TRPC Research Director Lim May-Ann quoted on ZD Net article: Competition to force Asia’s telcos to diversify faster, 17 Jan 2013

Summary: Declining revenues from core businesses and increasing competition from OTT providers mean operators need to move to new markets and business segments to stay competitive and profitable.

Lim May-Ann, research director at TRPC, elaborated further on the competition between operators and OTT players, saying the discussions around net neutrality and “free” data offerings were industry developments in 2012 that will continue to play a significant role in how the two camps engage each other.

With net neutrality upheld, all online services and content will need to be treated equally and this means Internet service providers cannot discriminate against OTT services by blocking or throttling bandwidth. Bandwidth throttling is something which third-party providers have often complained about in the past as it leads to compromised quality of their services, she noted.

In turn, telcos will have to figure out how to engage with OTT players. Many of them have partnered companies such as Facebook and Twitter to offer “free” data access to these services as part of a postpaid cellular plan, Lim noted, adding there are more such opportunities for the two camps to capitalize on in the year ahead.

Lim said some notable incidents of such nature in 2012 include Japan’s Softbank acquiring U.S. carrier Sprint, and the U.S. government deeming China’s telecom equipment vendors ZTE and Huawei Technologies as a national security threat and urging businesses to reconsider doing business with the two companies.

Given past events, these make the opening up of Myanmar’s telecommunications industry an interesting market to monitor in 2013, Lim said. “Myanmar can stand on the shoulders of the wisdom from different countries that have gone before them in its telco management.”

Full article online available here: Competition to force Asia’s telcos to diversity faster, 17 Jan 2013

Photo by Tim Gouw on Unsplash

zp8497586rq

Related Articles

Access Alert: The intensifying battle between Musk and Ambani over India’s satellite broadband spectrum

Access Alert: The intensifying battle between Musk and Ambani over India’s satellite broadband spectrum

Space industry players should take note of the escalating competition in India’s satellite broadband market, as Elon Musk’s Starlink and...

25 Oct 2024 Opinion
2024 data reveals the urgent need for a village approach to child online safety

2024 data reveals the urgent need for a village approach to child online safety

Children are facing unprecedented online risks. Recent data shows that one in eight children globally (approximately 302 million) have fallen...

21 Oct 2024 Opinion
Access Alert: Mexico’s telecommunications and competition authorities set to be dissolved

Access Alert: Mexico’s telecommunications and competition authorities set to be dissolved

Overview On 13 October, Deputy Ricardo Monreal, leader of the ruling Morena party, announced that reforms to eliminate the Federal...

15 Oct 2024 Opinion
Cybersecurity skills in the EU: A new dawn?

Cybersecurity skills in the EU: A new dawn?

In September 2024, the Hungarian Presidency and the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) co-hosted the third annual edition of...

15 Oct 2024 Opinion