Ann Emilson, president and country manager, Ericsson Singapore, says the perennial debate regarding roaming and pricing of 3G services will continue this year

Q. What's your outlook for the Asian telecommunications industry in 2007?
The prospects for 2007 are very positive. First, with respect to Singapore, there is the implementation and adoption of ultra broadband. Singapore's IN2015 Masterplan, which encompasses both the wireless and wireline areas, is a major highlight for Singapore and Ericsson. Push for the ultra speed broadband rollout and adoption will certainly amplify Singapore as a world-class communications hub in this region. A study commissioned by Ericsson to investigate the economic benefits of ultra-broadband networks in part of Australia showed that implementation of such networks costing AUD$850 million (US$665 million)would generate a return of about AUD$5 billion (US$3.9 billion)j. This does not include benefits derive from the creative of new high-tech businesses.

On a broader global scale, converged broadband communications as such will bring about the concept of "Any Service, Any Device, Any where". Any service refers to games, sports and live entertainment, or even high secure data communication and video chats. You can enjoy any kind services via your TV, your PC, your gaming console and your mobile devices, and you can access from anywhere--the big cities to the countryside or from the office desk to the great outdoors.

All this means operators and providers will have to re-model and re-think the way they market their services to their customers. That's because 'prime time' is no longer prime time since it's anywhere, anytime. Watching the prime-time news is no longer confine to sitting in front of your TV since you can watch it from any screen, anywhere, anytime. It was predicted that by 2011, nearly half a billion people would watch TV on their mobile handsets.

It is also more imperative for providers to focus more on their core business. The converged world will inevitably bring about more competition with non-traditional communication players. With the change in the marketplace, traditional providers will be compelled to focus more on their core business, which is selling and marketing consumer services.

And watch out for China and India. Tremendous growth in China and India--1 million mobile subscribers sign up every day in China. China is the largest market with some 1.3 million new subscribers per week during 2006, while India in the fourth quarter last year signed up more than 20 million new subscribers. India's mobile penetration rate remains at under 14 percent.

Name one issue that you think the industry should collectively work harder to address.
The perennial debate regarding roaming and pricing of 3G services will continue this year. Although we have made significant improvements, roaming charges in most parts of Asia are still considered high. The re-evaluation of both the roaming charges and 3G service pricing will encourage wide spread usage amongst end consumers and businesses, which will significantly boost the telecoms market in Asia. Simple-to-use and affordable end-user service offerings will also encourage usage.

Will 2007 be the year for fixed-mobile convergence?
Looking at the current market situation, we see the bulk of the first half of 2007 being the building up of both wireline and wireless broadband infrastructure across Asia. In some developed markets, operators are already providing some form of converged services to their end customers. In the latter half of 2007, the focus will be on the rolling out of more extensive wireline and wireless broadband services in the marketplace--and more so in developed markets such as Singapore and Hong Kong. Fixed-mobile convergence is already a reality in Japan and South Korea and will only be a matter of time before other parts of Asia will hop onto the 'convergence train'.

What's on your wishlist for mobile Internet in 2007?
Most certainly more user-friendly, simple-to-use and affordable applications and services for consumers and businesses. To enable richer and fuller communications for all in this region. Affordable, portable and mobile devices to make mobile internet a reality for all.