2G telecom networks in Southeast Asia will give way to 3G and 4G over the next five years, said Pyramid Research.
The 3G and 4G subscriptions will account for 88 percent of the SE Asia market by 2020, according to Pyramid Research.
3G will make up 71 percent of all subscriptions, 4G 17 percent and 2G 12 percent by 2020.
Mobile data usage per 4G subscription is substantially higher than that of 3G subscriptions. The average data usage per subscription will grow at annual rates of 20-40 percent over the next five years.
Telecom network operators will rely on additional spectrum for rural expansion and capacity addition.
Common approaches to driving mobile broadband adoption include data-centric bundles, zero-rated OTT apps and discounting of high-volume data plans. OTT services and social media are important.
Overall subscriptions inn Southeast Asia surpassed 128 percent of the population in 2015. Pyramid Research expects mobile subscriptions to grow at a CAGR of 2.4 percent from 2015 to 2020, pushing the penetration rate to 139 percent. LTE will grow at a 54 percent CAGR over the period.
Mobile broadband subscriptions in the SE Asia region in 2015 will grow at a 14.3 percent CAGR to 292 million in 2020 from 142 million in 2015, driven mainly by smartphone adoption and 3G and 4G network expansion.
Annual mobile data traffic will total 1,747PB in 2015, increasing to 10,799PB in 2020. Average monthly data usage per user to climb from 1,236MB to 3,579MB over the same period.
Telecom network operators in SE Asia are focusing on urban centers for their initial mobile broadband network deployments but for rural expansion and capacity buildout will rely on additional spectrum, particularly in lower frequencies.
