Asia ICT

The sale of nine 3G licences in an auction in mid-October raised Bt41.6bn ($1.35bn) for Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), heralding the long-awaited introduction of more advanced data services in the telecoms industry. There are concerns, however, that the bandwidth prices were set too late and will not encourage competition among providers.

Over the past decade of economic growth, India has worked hard to position itself as a pioneer of low-cost manufacturing. Where once the whole world marvelled at the Tata Nano, the world’s cheapest car, the Indian government is hoping that it will once again attract international attention with the world’s cheapest tablet computer, the Aakash-2.

Competition in the Philippines’ telecommunications sector is heating up as the two main players in the market battle for subscribers. While both firms are likely to benefit through an increase in the number of consumers, this may come at a cost if profit margins are deeply impacted, as is expected.

A surge in Brunei Darussalam’s mobile data traffic usage at the beginning of 2012 has heightened expectations over the impact that 4G technology will have on the telecommunications sector.

Encouraging innovation in the industry and investing in its infrastructure, Brunei Darussalam has made information and communications technology (ICT) a pillar of its ambition to become a knowledge-based economy. However, hopes that a nascent software sector will boost the Sultanate’s export economy face strong competition from Asian rivals.