CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-The Asia/Pacific region has experienced cellular subscriber growth rates of around 70 percent, according to a report compiled by Pyramid Research Inc.
“Growth rates have been pushed up by extremely fast subscriber uptake in a few countries,” said Alexandra Rehak, director of Asia/Pacific research. “For example, China, has attracted the world’s attention with its spectacular growth. Subscribership jumped from 48,000 subscribers at the end of 1991 to 3.74 million at the end of 1995, making it the world’s fourth largest cellular market.”
In its report, “Cellular & PCS Markets in Asia/Pacific,” Pyramid said Southeast Asia has become the world’s testing ground for personal communications services networks, which are being introduced to the region to increase the capacity of existing networks.
In a separate announcement, the firm also noted Latin America is experiencing explosive growth. The region had fewer than 150,000 cellular subscribers in 1990, and Pyramid predicts it will have more than 21 million subscribers by 2000. Pyramid said the region has experienced subscriber growth levels of around 100 percent.
Catherine Forster Connolly, director of Latin America research said the threat of new PCS markets shouldn’t worry cellular carriers in Latin America. “After all, with or without PCS, by the year 2000, Brazil will log on nine million cellular subscribers, Argentina will reach 2 million and Mexico will surpass 3 million,” she said.
