WASHINGTON-The United States and South Korea posted the strongest gains in cellular and PCS net subscribers during the first three months of 1999, according to quarterly results from “Strategis dataBank: World Cellular/PCS Subscribers and Operators,” compiled by research firm The Strategis Group.
The United States posted 4.23 million new subscribers in the first quarter, ending with 73.4 million total. South Korea added 3.4 million, ending the first quarter at 17.3 million, according to the market research firm.
Competition and nationwide rollout of CDMA technology are the main engines of growth in South Korea. With five cellular/PCS operators, one in three Koreans owns a cellular or PCS handset, said the report. Improving economic conditions were also a factor.
“There was a dramatic turnaround in the Korean economy in the first quarter, and this clearly impacted cellular growth,” said Elizabeth Harr Bricksin, director of international wireless publications for The Strategis Group. “GDP increased by an annual rate of 4.6 percent in the first quarter, after contracting by 5.8 percent for all of 1998.”
In addition to the United States and South Korea, China and Japan also were top performers in net subscriber gains, together accounting for 45 percent of first-quarter total net subscribers.
Harr Brickson noted that China finished the quarter with a net gain of just under the 3.4 million that South Korea reported. This is significant, she said, because Korean operators have been greatly overestimating their subscriber numbers. This then places China right up there in ranking with South Korea. China finished the quarter with 27.9 million subscribers, she said.
Quarterly findings revealed the world cellular/PCS subscriber base reached approximately 340 million as of 31 March, adding 25 million subscribers from year-end 1998.
