Malaysian mobile services market revenue will reach $7.45 billion in 2014 as mobile subscribers will grow 2.2 percent to 42.9 million, said Frost & Sullivan.
The growth driver will be data and value added services. The Frost & Sullivan report did not say what will be the growth in mobile service revenue in Malaysia that has a mobile penetration rate of 140.7 percent.
The report said non-voice ARPU is expected to grow 2 percent to $5.9 billion. The decline in voice ARPU will be 2.4 percent.
“Availability of affordable smartphones and attractive bundled offers from the MNOs are expected to drive the smartphone penetration in Malaysia from 38 percent in 2013 to 48 percent by the end of 2014,” said Ajay Sunder, vice president of Telecoms, Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific.
Some of the latest mobile services are attractive to telecom users. DiGi is offering mobile internet add-ons for social Apps while U Mobile offered unlimited YouTube and Tonton videos for free, the report said.
4G adoption is currently under 3 percent, as service coverage is restricted to select locations, and there is no significant value proposition presented by service providers.
Though the mobile data growth is leading to an increase in ARPU for operators, revenue per incremental MB is falling. The report said Malaysian telecom operator in investing towards Capex to meet data demands.
In 2014, 68 percent of people in Malaysia were internet users; out of which, 95 percent were Facebook users. Service providers are increasingly looking at social media platforms as an important tool in their overall promotion and marketing campaigns but do not have a clear strategy.
Operators are looking to establish in the OTT space. Tie-ups with social media partners would provide mobile operators with accessibility to increased target base for value added services.
