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SCMP Reporter

Prepaid mobile-telephone connections in Hong Kong are poised to peak this year, driven by carriers' aggressive marketing to mainland visitors and foreign contract workers.
 'Considering the maturity and limited size of the Hong Kong market, there is limited room for new user growth outside of attracting existing postpaid subscribers or providing new prepaid services such as high-speed mobile broadband,' said Sherrie Huang,  an analyst at market research firm Ovum.  
'Prepaid mobile connections will grow at a slower pace after this year.'
 Subscriptions to prepaid mobile services are forecast to reach 6.2 million this year, or 48.1 per cent of the city's total mobile-telephone connections, according Ovum estimates.
 Those numbers are up from last year's 5.8 million prepaid subscriptions, or 47.8 per cent of total mobile-telephone connections.
 Prepaid mobile connections are projected to hit 6.7 million by 2014, when these would comprise a comparatively smaller 45.6 per cent of total mobile subscriptions in Hong Kong.
 Tourists, especially the large numbers of mainland visitors, and foreign domestic helpers are the main customers of prepaid mobile-telephone service providers in the city, Huang says.
China Mobile Hong Kong, which was formed from the mainland carrier's acquisition of wireless operator Peoples in 2006, currently has 11 prepaid service offerings targeting those customers. These include the popular 'Super Roaming Prepaid SIM Card', for mainland and Hong Kong users, and the 'Kabayan' and 'Rekanan' prepaid cards, which provide cheap international direct-dial calls to the Philippines and Indonesia, respectively.
 Huang said CSL had competitive offerings, such as its 'Hong Kong Special Edition' prepaid cards and low-tariff 'Best Value Pack' cards. Although its focus is in the postpaid services, SmarTone-Vodafone also has some prepaid products.
'Local operators realise the importance of prepaid services in competitive differentiation and in generating revenue,' Huang said, noting that Smart Communications  and Globe Telecom  from the Philippines also compete in Hong Kong's prepaid mobile services market. 'We expect more high-speed prepaid mobile broadband services, as operators upgrade their networks.' 
Macquarie Equities Research  analyst Lisa Soh,  however, pointed out that local carriers neither report nor break down their prepaid subscriber numbers and revenue.



Prepaid mobile services in Hong Kong set to peak, analyst says