Asia-Pacific is leading recovery in communications sector, ITU says

The Asia-Pacific region is leading the global telecommunications sector out of a two-year recession and into an era of stable and universal growth, helped by its resilient economies and steady consumer spending, according to industry experts.

Seven of the world's top 10 profitable public telecom operators come from the region, officials from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) said at the Telecom Asia 2002 conference yesterday. That showed that the global economic slowdown was not as disruptive here as in North America and Europe, they said.

Michael Minges, head of the ITU's data and statistics unit, said the Asia-Pacific region remains the world's largest telecommunications market, posting steady growth in telephone, mobile and Internet subscribers.

'This region continues to push the envelope for universal service,' Mr Minges said, noting that the region had been able to add 'one new telephone user every second for the past decade'.

A report released by the ITU yesterday found that growth in Asia-Pacific telephone subscribers was around 10 percentage points above the global average, with the gap increasing over last year.

The study also said Hong Kong's Hutchison Telecom, India's VSNL, Singapore Telecom, China Mobile and Taiwan's Chunghwa and Taiwan Cellular Corp were among the world's 10 most profitable public telecom operators.