“This was exactly the type of operator the Singapore government had in mind during the development of the Next Gen NBN, and you can see the impact My Republic has had, with retail fibre prices dropping almost 90% since launch,” he adds.
Impact of LTE
Certainly LTE is having an impact in terms of usage as the demand for video remains, and providing faster pipes will allow people to consume more data.
But are operators able to charge more for the additional usage?
“I don’t think this is the case,” Moon claims. “Yes we have seen ARPU increase for various operators (LGU+ in Korea is probably the most prominent example) as they move to LTE, but the ARPU is coming from consumers upgrading to more expensive plans in order to get a free device rather than an appetite to pay more for data.”
According to Moon, China is widely expected to become the most aggressive country in the region to deploy fibre.
“Definitely China,” he adds. “Obviously in terms of scale it eclipses every other market in the region, but what is interesting is how aggressive the Chinese government has been with its targets around the Broadband China initiative.
“The government is looking to double the number of fixed broadband connections to 400 million by 2020 and offer secure speeds of at least 50Mbps and 12Mbps in urban and rural homes respectively.”
As a result, Moon believes this will be the main driver of fibre in the region, including New Zealand, over both the short and long term.