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Broadband services poised for mass-market adoption in Southeast Asia


WEBWIRE

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU)today announced key findings from its annual global broadband services user survey that indicate a range of opportunities for carriers and service providers.

Alcatel-Lucent’s Broadband-For All End User Research is an annual study on end-user needs and expectations regarding broadband services. The study aims to provide insights from which service providers can deliver solutions that best tap the potential in high-growth markets around the world. Now in its second year, the study has been expanded from the 2006 survey, which covered seven markets, Brazil, Russia, Egypt, Kenya, India, Malaysia and China, including 400 respondents from Malaysia. Three additional markets, Vietnam, Philippines and Indonesia were included this year to deliver greater insights for the Southeast Asia region.

In May 2007, phone interviews were carried out with respondents in the states of Malacca, Perak and Negri Sembilan of Malaysia; Surabaya and Bandung of Indonesia; Manila and Cebu in the Philippines; and Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. Alcatel-Lucent surveyed a total of 1,200 existing and new residential broadband subscribers, and “floating” users who access the Web at Internet cafés and at work. This last group represents an untapped market of potential residential broadband subscribers which providers can reach out to as Internet café customers typically see it as the first step before a permanent home service subscription.

“Southeast Asia is a one of the fastest growing markets for broadband services and offers a largely untapped user base for service providers to grow their networks, expand their broadband footprint, and transform their business”, said Valérie Faudon, Alcatel-Lucent’s vice president of Marketing Programs. “This research can give service providers practical insights and findings to help shape and transform their broadband services to meet real-life user needs,” she continued.

Alcatel-Lucent found that 60% of users who access the Internet outside the home at public hotspots and at work also own a PC at home, and 80% expressed interest in signing up for a personal broadband subscription. In addition, 60% of new subscribers who have recently signed up for home broadband services said that they are “extremely satisfied *” with their current broadband subscription.

Broadband is at the early adopter stage in Southeast Asia when compared to more developed markets like South Korea and Japan, with prices still higher than affordable for the mass market.

However, the recent survey findings indicate that these markets are reaching the critical user mass needed to achieve economies of scale and three key factors are needed for this to happen.

The first is accelerating PC usage and penetration within the population. The second is to create and offer new, affordable and innovative broadband services to stimulate broadband adoption. The third is to transform from a copper-based telecommunications infrastructure to next generation fiber-and-IP-based wireless broadband networks to support evolving communications services.

“The building blocks for broadband to transition to a mass-market service in Southeast Asia are all in place and need just one more push from local operators in the form of accessible entry-level broadband packages,” says Pierre Alain Cadillon, Vice President of Alcatel-Lucent’s Southeast Asia activities. “Once this happens, we will begin to achieve economic diversity through e-commerce and online trade, raise the general level of education, productivity and offer a stable platform for long-term economic and social progress for high growth markets in South East Asia.”



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