ITU/93-5
26 April 1993
Original: English
The dawning of the Pacific telecommunications century:
a region with potential, technical expertise and financial resources
According to a study by the International Telecommunication Union to be released next month, the Asia-Pacific region is currently the most dynamic regional economy of the world with growth rates considerably higher than the average for Europe or the Americas. More than 3 billion consumers, a combined Gross Domestic Product representing one quarter of global wealth as well as untapped potential for telecommunication development (the overall telephone density is less than 4 main lines per 100 inhabitants), make the region attractive to telecoms suppliers and investors.
Asia-Pacific Telecommunication Indicators, a review and data compilation of the telecommunication networks of 39 countries of the region, is issued in conjunction with the regional development conference (AS-RDC) and Asia TELECOM 93 to take place in Singapore from 10 to 15 and 17 to 22 May respectively.
In the area of telecommunication development, Asia-Pacific Telecommunication Indicators shows that, over the last decade, the region has experienced a steady growth of 7% per year which has led to an increase of 70% in the number of main lines. In recent years, main lines growth in the dynamic Asian economies of Hongkong, Singapore and the Republic of Korea has been twice this rate at around 14%. In the Republic of Korea, Hongkong and Singapore, the teledensity (number of main lines per 100 inhabitants) growth rates are so high that they are likely to overtake the OECD Members of the region  (Australia, New Zealand and Japan) before the turn of the century. In the last decade, the number of main lines in the Republic of Korea alone grew from 4 million to 14 millions. Also, exchange line digitization in Hongkong and the Republic of Korea is above 90% while in Australia it is below 35% despite the country's higher teledensity.
The data for international telephone traffic confirm the growing importance of trading links within the region. For instance, within-region calling accounts for around 55 per cent of all traffic originating in Asia-Pacific. This is higher than for the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA) and is the same as the European Community (EC) despite the larger distances in the Asia-Pacific region. China's international traffic has been growing more than 50% a year pushing its global telecommunication revenues to US$2.6 billion. China's telecommunication sector now accounts for around 1% of GDP per capita. 
According to the study, Singapore ranks first in overall productivity, scoring particularly high on revenue per line whereas in the Republic of Korea, the number of lines maintained per employee is about four times the regional average.
Asia-Pacific is one of the fastest growing areas for mobile telephones and the prospects for expansion are very high, particularly in areas where fixed-link infrastructures are deficient and local tariffs high. At current rates of growth and if technology and spectrum availability permit, mobile phones are likely to outnumber fixed-link telephones by the year 1997 in Thailand and by 1995 in the Philippines. From the data, it seems likely that mobile communications should do particularly well in the low teledensity countries of the region, notably China and India, provided the service is allowed to develop under competitive conditions and the choice of technology is left to the market to decide.
But Asia-Pacific is also a region of great contrasts: between large continent-sized nations and tiny Pacific atolls; between rapidly expanding cities and remote rural areas; between free-enterprise city-states and centrally-planned republics. These contrasts are also reflected in the telecommunications statistics of Asia-Pacific Telecommunication Indicators. For instance, the three Member countries of the OECD in the region  account for 70 per cent of the wealth (expressed in terms of GDP) and more than 50 per cent of the telephone lines, even though their population is just 5 per cent of the total. Equally, two countries (China and India) account for just 12 per cent of the wealth and telephone lines while having two-thirds of the region's population. In terms of telecommunications policy, the environment ranges from state-run monopolies to virtually unregulated competition, reflecting the conflicting ideologies of the region.
The investment required in the lower income countries (including India and China) to reach a teledensity of 10 lines per 100 inhabitants (a medium teledensity for Asia-Pacific) would be almost US$ 400 billion.
The study also outlines preconditions which need to be met to spur telecommunication growth. It highlights the need: 
	to corporatize public telecommunication operators so that they can act and look like an independent company
	to introduce new sources of funding possibly through privatization, build-operate-transfer schemes, licensing of new market entrants or by giving the Public Telecommunications Operators the possibility to raise private capital
	to separate regulatory and operational activities, separate postal and telecommunication services and create independent regulatory agencies to oversee the licensing of operators and the negotiation of interconnection agreements
Asia-Pacific Telecommunication Indicators is more than just a compilation of statistics. It is an in-depth analysis of the region's telecommunication development outlook, a source of instant briefing, a wealth of facts, figures and comparative charts. And it is available on diskettes for further custom-made data analysis and processing.

An order form for BDT Statistical Products including Asia-Pacific Telecommunication Indicators is enclosed. A limited number of copies is available for press review from the ITU Press Office: +41 22 730 5969 (phone) or +41 22 730 5939 (fax).

For more information and for permission to reproduce any part of the publication, please contact:

Mr Michael Minges
Information Services/Telecommunications Development Bureau
International Telecommunication Union
Place des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 20
Switzerland

Telephone:  +41 22 730 5519         Fax:  +41 22 730 5484