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APAC Top Ten Telecom Predictions

According to IDC�s latest research and insights on the top 10 trends in the Asia/Pacific Telecommunications Industry, 2006 will be a year where several game-changing technologies and services will enter the marketplace and redefine the rules of the game.

�Shifting business models and strategies are the key themes in the region for 2006. Changing regulatory environments, coupled with disruptive technologies in the guise of Skype, will cause many industry players to go back to the drawing board,� says Sandra Ng, Vice President, Asia/Pacific Communications, Peripherals and Services Research.

The Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) telecom services market was worth slightly over $160 billion in 2005 and is projected to exceed $170 billion in 2006, a growth rate of 7 percent. Growth will continue to come from VoIP, Broadband, IP Services and 3G Services. Another area of opportunity for Telco service providers will be Managed Services, which is estimated to grow from $5.7 billion to US$6.5 billion. In addition, the equipment market, estimated to be $36.5 billion, is expected to grow and will reach close to $39 billion over the same period.

Drawing from latest research and the opinions of IDC telecommunications and network analysts in the region, the following represents IDC�s high-level take on user trends, vendor and service provider strategies, as well as new technologies that will emerge to impact the industry and its players in 2006.

As in IDC�s Asia/Pacific Predictions 2006 for the ICT industry, there will be three core pillars around which industry-defining developments will occur, in the Enterprise space where the e-Empowered Employee works, the Vendor community servicing the Enterprise, and finally the Telcoms Industry players. Consumer-led experiences will cause vendors and service operators to evolve their business models and offerings to cater to user demands in the dynamic Telecommunications market.

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