By the end of June ----, Korea had --.--mn mobile subscribers, reflecting a net gain of -.---mn customers in the first six months of the year. We maintain our forecast that, by the end of ----, the mobile subscriber base will increase to --.-mn. This gives South Korea a mobile penetration rate of --- . Although the South Korean mobile market is already mature, continued mobile customer growth has been the result of stronger smartphone handset penetration rates and the provision of flat-rate data services offering cheaper tariffs. Growth in the number of smartphone customers has a direct impact on the country s -G subscriber base, which we estimate will reach --.---mn by YE--. ...Contributing to the higher Industry Rewards score this quarter are the higher subscriber growth and the more healthy ARPU performance, which was reported by all three of the country s mobile operators in Q---. The higher Country Rewards score reflects evidence that inflation has peaked and disinflationary pressure is mounting.
...Revisions to our macroeconomic data and expectations have had an impact on the country rewards ratings of all countries in BMI s telecoms business environment ratings for the Asia Pacific region. This coupled with updated figures from various regulators and telecoms operators and revised forecasts have further fuelled changes to the countries rankings, but unsurprisingly, the region continue to see developed countries such as Japan, Singapore and South Korea leading the pack, while the likes of Sri Lanka, Laos and Cambodia remain firmly rooted to the bottom of the table. ...Revisions to our macroeconomic data and expectations have had an impact on the country rewards ratings of all countries in BMI s telecoms business environment ratings for the Asia Pacific region. This coupled with updated figures from various regulators and telecoms operators and revised forecasts have further fuelled changes to the countries rankings, but unsurprisingly, the region continue to see developed countries such as Japan, Singapore and South Korea leading the pack, while the likes of Sri Lanka, Laos and Cambodia remain firmly rooted to the bottom of the table. The -.- magnitude earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in March has inevitably placed a dampener on the country s investment appeal, but we believe that the Japanese telecoms industry is structurally resilient enough to withstand the short-term disaster effects. ...However, the three countries have launched next-generation technologies in hope of spurring a lease of growth in the market. We expect large-scale commercial LTE services to be available in Singapore, South Korea and Australia in the next two years, which would enable mobile operators to migrate heavy data subscribers
...Strengths South Korea is the fourth largest economy in Asia and home to many world- class companies employing cutting-edge technology in the production of everything from mobile phones to ships � all of which are exported in great abundance. Political alignment with the US and Europe gives South Korea access to international markets that it might not otherwise get so easily. ...
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