The New Zealand Mobile Market Is Now Approaching Saturation And Mobile Subscriber Growth Will Taper Off Significantly In 2007 And 2008

(http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c48148) has announced the addition of 2007 Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband in New Zealand & the South Pacific Islands to their offering.

With over 540 pages of research, the 2007 Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband in New Zealand and the South Pacific Islands contains a comprehensive analysis of the telecoms industry and the companies involved in it.

This research is divided into the following volumes: Volume 1 - 2007 Telecoms Overview, Statistics and Analyses in New Zealand

Volume 2 - 2007 Mobile and Broadband in New Zealand

Volume 3 - 2007 Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband in the South Pacific Islands

Telecom New Zealand maintains a stranglehold on the local access market in fixed-line voice and broadband. It has made steady progress during 2006 with strong growth in broadband and data services; however, it is still heavily reliant on revenue from declining traditional services. Total market growth of around 3.9% is predicted in 2007 and 3.6% in 2008, down from 4.1% in 2006. The combined fixed network voice and local access market displayed negative growth for the first time in 2006. This negative growth will gradually accelerate over the next few years. Mobile growth will, however, begin to taper off as the market approaches saturation.

The New Zealand mobile market is now approaching saturation and mobile subscriber growth will taper off significantly in 2007 and 2008. During 2006 the trend of ISP consolidation slowed; however, moving forward into 2007 and 2008, commoditisation of products is likely to see the speed of ISP consolidation pick up once again. The long-awaited government policy that will pave the way for Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) was finally introduced in New Zealand in mid-2006.

A growing number of wireless broadband players, including Woosh Wireless and CallPlus are also making some inroads into the market and this trend will continue into 2007. ADSL2 was the prevailing high-speed broadband technology deployed in New Zealand in late 2006. Broadcasting's ad revenues are gradually being squeezed due to falling audiences and rising costs.

The progressive introduction of ADSL2+ broadband will enable the delivery of new services on top of Telecom's broadband infrastructure. Services delivered over its NGN in 2007 and 2008 will include VoIP, video calling, converged fixed/mobile offerings, Interactive television and VoD.

It was not until mid-2006 that the government put legislation in place that will pave for the way for Local Loop Unbundling (LLU). Both LLU and an upsized UBS service should, but will not necessarily, allow triple play services. While upsized UBS went live in 2006, LLU and Naked DSL are still waiting for introduction, perhaps in late 2007 or possibly even as late as 2008.

South Pacific Islands

Penetration rates of telecom services in the South Pacific Island region remain comparatively low, although mobile and Internet penetration have gained traction is some of the more highly populated and developed islands such as Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Guam. Access to basic telecom services remains relatively expensive.

By the end of 2006 less than half of all Pacific Islanders had a phone and generally only had one supplier for any particular fixed, mobile or Internet service. Internet cafes and telecentres help to address the issue of low Internet penetration. To communicate outside the region, most islands are in a satellite footprint and both Fiji and Guam are connected by submarine cable.

Mobile telephony is expected to outpace growth in fixed-line connections as the market moves into 2007. New technologies are gaining ground in some island countries: 3G mobile services are expected to be launched in Fiji in 2007. Several of the South Pacific nations are upgrading satellite links to outer islands, installing wireless broadband and upgrading fixed-line broadband capability and some are rolling out high-speed ADSL2+ broadband. There is strong interest amongst South Pacific operators regarding WiMAX as a communications solution.

Source: Research and Markets Ltd.