SNL Kagan Analysis of Asia-Pacific Broadband Indicates Growth Despite Recession

Broadband subscribers grew nearly 18% in 2009, with Chinese and Indian telcos posting the strongest results

MONTEREY, Calif. — In a recent analysis of the Asia-Pacific broadband market, SNL Kagan found that despite recessionary pressures, the region’s broadband subscriber base grew 17.7% to 181.4 million in 2009 compared to 154.1 million in 2008, with a household penetration of 22.2% at year-end 2009. SNL Kagan forecasts the market will continue to grow, increasing from 208.8 million households at year-end 2010 to 352.5 million by 2015, a five-year CAGR of 11%.

The report, “Asia-Pacific Top 10 Broadband Operator Analysis,” examines the current state of Asia-Pacific’s largest fixed broadband providers and explores the impact of telco investment, consolidations and recessionary pressures on the region’s major ISPs. Due to Chinese ISPs’ dominance of the Asia-Pacific fixed broadband market, accounting for 57% of subscribers, SNL Kagan reviewed the two largest Chinese telcos, China Telecom and China Unicom, in addition to the ten largest broadband providers in the rest of the region.

According to SNL Kagan’s analysis, the 12 fixed broadband providers under review, in aggregate, saw steady growth in average quarterly subscriber net additions between 2006 and 2009, increasing from 4.5 million subscribers per quarter in 2007 and 2008 to 6.4 million in 2009. However, the market was not completely immune to the recession. Outside China and India, in aggregate, Asia’s top fixed broadband providers experienced a 50.8% decrease in average quarterly subscriber net additions in 2009. Continued growth in 2009 was driven primarily by China Telecom, China Unicom and India’s BSNL.

“Chinese and Indian telco giants have weathered the global financial crisis far better than their regional peers,” said SNL Kagan Senior Analyst Ben Reneker. “Stronger macro-economic fundamentals as well as consumer confidence and high telecommunications market growth potential allowed telcos in these countries to achieve the highest growth rates among the operators surveyed.”

Asia-Pacific broadband data was recently integrated into SNL Kagan’s global multichannel coverage and includes market analysis and profiles for: Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand, as well as a regional summary. This data is available exclusively as part of the SNL Kagan Unlimited Information Service. For more information, contact SNLKaganSales@snl.com or 866.296.3743.