3G users in RP seen to reach 8-10 million next year

MANILA, Philippines - The number of 3G (third generation technology) users in the Philippines, whether for mobile phones or USB modem devices, is expected to grow to eight to 10 million by next year, quadrupling to 40 million by 2014 or about 39 percent of the population.

In an interview with The STAR, Qualcomm Philippines Inc. country manager Mantosh Malhotra also disclosed that some of the applications that they expect to drive 3G usage in the country include accessing social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, Friendster, etc.), location-based uses (tracking, security), gaming devices(delivering content through non-traditional devices), healthcare, among others.

Malhotra, however, said they have no estimates yet as to the projected 3G subscriber base in the Philippines by yearend.

Qualcomm is a wireless telecommunications research and development company, as well as the largest fables chip supplier in the world, headquartered in the US. It is the investor of CDMA one, CDMA 200, and CDMA 1xEV-DO which are wireless cellular standards. It also owns significant number of key patents on the 3G technology W-CDMA. The license streams from the patents on these inventions and related products are a major component of its business.

It also developed Snapdragon, which are chipsets used in smartbooks or those that combine the features of a smart phone and a laptop. In other countries, Qualcomm provides the platform for the delivery of mobile television services.

In the Philippines, while 3G technology was originally intended by telecommunications companies such as Smart Communications, Globe Telecom, and Digitel Mobile for mobile phone connectivity, now, they are devoting the frequencies more for use in wireless broadband.

Malhotra said that with the right speeds, devices, content, and price points happening for 3G, usage in the Philippines has started to pick up, especially in the USB modem space (which includes Smart Bro, PLDT We Roam, Globe Tattoo, among others).

The projected eight to 10 million 3G subscribers in the Philippines by next year is divided between those that use 3G via their mobile phones and those that access the Internet through other devices such as USB modems.

While the figure is still small compared with the total number of cellular and wireless broadband subscribers in the country, Malhotra emphasized that this is already a good starting point.

According to Pyramid Research, 3G penetration rate in the Asia-Pacific region is forecast to reach nearly 40 percent of the population by 2014.

It added that 3G in the region is at a turning point this year, with adoption set to ramp up significantly over the next five years.

While the developed markets of Northeast Asia account for a disproportionate number of overall 3G subscriptions in the region with 56 percent coming from Japan and South Korea by yearend, Pyramid Research said the balance of 3G subscribers will however shft to emerging markets as the timely combination of government initiatives, operating expense benefits, and steadily declining device ASPs work together to help drive the 3G penetration rate to 40 percent in the region by 2014.

It added that particularly in emerging markets opportunities for operators will broaden as subscribers, content providers, and developers become increasingly sophisticated in leveraging 3G.

Pyramid currently forecasts 3G subscriptions in the region to enjoy a compounded annual growth rate of 38 percent from 2009 to 2014. In all its various flavors -WCDMA/UMTS, EVDO, HSPA, TD-SCDMA, it said 3G will be the dominant radio technology in five year’s time, surpassing the one-billion mark in the region during the first half of 2014.

The research firm sees 3G subscriber base in the Philippines growing to 43.7 million or a penetration rate of 39 percent.

It said early stage markets like the Philippines are seeing operators targeting high-end customer segments with broadband access and Web browsing packages, video on demand, video calling and streamed mobile TV - all standard 3G launch offerings.

But with the prepaid wireless broadband segment growing leaps and bounds in the country, 3G usage is seeing an unprecedented growth in recent years.

Among the more successful 3G data services in emerging markets, including certain countries in the Asia-Pacific region like the Philippines, are mobile Internet, mobile music, wireless broadband, social networking (in 2008, Intel estimated that 25 percent of all Internet traffic are social networking related, Facebook Mobile being the most successful with 30 million members as of April 2009 and growing at 200 percent yearly), mobile advertising, mobile commerce, video-related services, social improvement services.