INVESTING TO BUILD TOMORROW’S NETWORKS
As the demand for data services increases, our associates are expanding their 3G and 4G, or LTE, network capabilities.
Collectively, our regional mobile associates invested S$13 billion in capital expenditure in FY 2014 and FY 2015. A significant portion of these funds were spent on building mobile data networks. The associates will be investing S$9 billion in capital expenditure collectively in FY 2016.
In Thailand, AIS has the highest number of 3G customers and its network covered 97% of the population as at 31 March 2015. Currently, 93% of its customers are on the 3G network. AIS is also leveraging fibre optics built for its 3G network to offer fixed broadband services. It intends to drive increased penetration of home broadband services.
India offers great growth opportunities with its relatively low mobile data adoption, particularly in rural areas. Our associate, Airtel, already holds 3G and 4G spectrum in most of the mobile service areas in the country. It was the first to offer 4G in India, and its high-speed network is now available in 19 cities.
In March 2015, the company acquired additional 111.6MHz mobile spectrum for 291.3 billion Indian Rupees, which gives it a 20-year leading platform to provide mobile data to its customers.
Across the African continent, softening global oil and commodity prices, as well as weakness in key trading partners, moderated its economic growth in FY 2015. Nevertheless, Airtel Africa’s mobile data customer base grew by 36% to 30.4 million, accounting for 40% of its total customer base as at 31 March 2015. The telco has 3G licences in all 17 countries it operates in. It has expanded its 3G network footprint, with 3G sites accounting for 53% of its total sites of 18,819, a marked increase from 39% a year ago. Airtel signed four agreements to divest telco tower assets across 13 countries in Africa. The divestments will drive industrywide cost efficiencies by promoting infrastructure sharing and further accelerate the growth of telco services in the African continent.
The Philippines was Asia’s second-fastest growing economy in 2014. Household incomes and consumer spending continue to rise. As with other developing markets in Asia, the country’s consumers are quickly adopting the digital way of life. Our associate, Globe, is well positioned to benefit from data growth with the completion of its network transformation programme in FY 2014.
Globe offers nationwide 3G coverage and was the first operator to commercially launch 4G in the Philippines. It is further improving its network performance in FY 2015 by deploying single self-organising network technology. This technology intelligently manages complex networks and redirects traffic to achieve optimum coverage, capacity and quality, delivering a more consistent customer experience.
In Indonesia, smartphone penetration and data adoption have overtaken customer growth as key market drivers. With increased competition from new and existing players, Telkomsel is differentiating itself through new digital services, better customer experience and continuous network expansion. In December 2014, Telkomsel became the first mobile operator to launch LTE in Jakarta and Bali. As at 31 March 2015, it had also installed more than 42,000 3G mobile base stations across the country, representing 47% of its base stations, and achieved population coverage of about 60% for its 3G network.
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