The Telecom Market in New Zealand's Grew by 9% in 2005 to $7.3 Billion.

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c29580) has announced the addition of 2006 Telecoms, Broadband and Mobile in New Zealand & South Pacific Islands - Geographic to their offering.

With over 480 pages of research, the 2006 Telecommunications in New Zealand and the South Pacific Islands - Geographic series contains a comprehensive analysis of the telecoms industry and the companies involved in it.

This research is divided into the following volumes:

--Volume 1 - 2006 Telecoms Overview, Statistics and Analyses in New Zealand

--Volume 2 - 2006 Mobile and Broadband in New Zealand

--Volume 3 - 2006 Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband in the South Pacific Islands

** Note the reports in this package can also be purchased individually; please search our site for more information.

Summary

Executive Summary

This report contains a comprehensive description about the New Zealand and South Pacific Islands telecoms market including the regulatory, infrastructure, fixed network voice and VoIP sectors. It also looks at the future trends and developments for this region.

New Zealand

Telecom maintains a stranglehold on the local access market in fixed line voice and broadband. Telecom began a rollout of its NGN network in 2005, however a 2012 completion date will leave New Zealand well behind the rest of the developed world. From 2003 to 2005 the industry saw a significant rise in the use of wireless technologies as serious competition to the more traditional copper and fibre optic-based solutions. A number of niche fibre optic networks had also been established by late 2005.

Without regulatory intervention to introduce Local Loop Unbundling, the low broadband penetration in New Zealand will not get much better during 2006 and 2007.

Key Highlights:

The total telecoms market in New Zealand grew by 9% from $6.7 billion in 2004 to $7.3 billion in 2005, however if this amount is adjusted for Telecom's recent acquisitions, growth reduced to approximately 5% for the same period.

Overall total telecoms market growth of around 5% to 6% is predicted for both 2006 and 2007.

Total telecom services revenue growth in New Zealand for the 2005 financial year was 3%.

The voice market performed poorly with negative 5% growth, whilst both the mobile and data markets performed strongly.

Telecom maintains a stranglehold on the local access market in fixed line voice and broadband.

Data, Internet and Valued added services grew 8% and the mobile market grew 13% during 2005.

TelstraClear's retreat from a nationwide residential rollout in late 2005 will shift the balance even further back to Telecom, however from 2006 onwards there will be a window of opportunity for another player to capitalise on the hole that has been left in the market.

South Pacific Islands

Penetration rates of telecom services in the South Pacific Island region are still comparatively low, with large differences between urban and rural areas where coverage is usually poor. Access to basic telecom services remains relatively expensive. In 2005 less than half of all Pacific Islanders had a phone and generally only had one supplier for any particular fixed, mobile or Internet service. A. lack of reliable fixed infrastructure combined with cheaper installation costs has enabled mobile services to make significant inroads into the market. Mobile telephony is expected to outpace growth in fixed-line connections as the market moves into 2006 and 2007. New technologies are gaining ground in some island countries: 3G mobile services are expected to be launched in Fiji in 2006, and in 2005 Unwired Fiji launched the country's first privately-owned broadband wireless network.

Key Highlights:

In 2005 less than half of all Pacific Islanders had a phone and generally only had one supplier for any particular fixed, mobile or Internet service.

The vast expanses between the islands have created many uneconomic pockets and an enormous diversity in social and economic development has hindered the ability to adequately utilise the latest technologies.

A major digital divide has resulted and assistance from developed nations such as New Zealand and Australia is needed urgently to address the issue.

To make further economic progress, the region needs to start liberalising trade in goods, then services and labour. But it has been stumbling at the former partly because of strong protectionist business lobbies.

In mid-2005 Fiji was in the process of deregulating its telecom industry, and this process is expected to continue until 2006 or 2007. Like many other islands in the region, there has been pressure from the World Bank and other institutions for a more deregulated environment.

With the prohibitively high costs involved in laying wired infrastructure, wireless technology offers alternative opportunities to make Internet access, telephone and television services more widely available to the region's dispersed populations.

Two types of mobile fraud: Internet Dialler Activity and PRS/ roaming fraud. are now prevalent worldwide as well as amongst many Pacific Islands.

The introduction of NewSat's satellite services into PNG in 2005 is expected to provide a huge benefit to the country's businesses and local communities in particular its schools, universities and hospitals

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c29580