Asia Pacific region to become the largest and most valuable roaming market



ROAMING REVENUE WORTH $20 BILLION TO ASIA PAC OPERATORS



Singapore-/30 September, 2004 - Wi-Fi Technology News/- The Asia Pacific region could soon head the world in generating revenue from mobile roaming. Earlier this year, official GSM industry figures confirmed the region accounted for some 40 per cent of the global mobile subscriber base ? a share which would put its roaming revenues at an estimated US$20 billion annually.

The revenue figures are based on research from global roaming specialists Roamware, who provide software, services and a roaming delivery platform to more than 50 mobile network operators including 18 in the Asia Pacific region. Roamware?s research, supported by official industry figures and growth trends, puts the total value of global roaming revenues at some $50 billion annually. Asia Pac?s share of the market is seen to be second only to Europe in size and value.

What?s more, the Asia Pac region ? and the markets in India and China in particular ? are growing at a faster rate than their European counterparts and Roamware is seeing increasing evidence of the use of roaming services in the region both in terms of in-bound visitors and outbound roamers.


Speaking at the 3GSM Asia Congress in Singapore, Roamware CEO John Hoffman told delegates that securing the right roaming partnerships and services with global network operators can help home operators retain a greater share of the revenue generated by roaming traffic.


With the interoperability issues of both voice and data no longer a hurdle, he stressed that operators who want to gain a strong share of the roaming subscriber custom need to ensure their networks provide a welcoming environment for inbound roamers.


?This region of the world is a constant source not only of innovation but also enthusiasm for achieving the highest levels of customer service. The days when service levels for roaming were based on luck have long gone. Operators looking for the loyalty from visitors as well as from their own customers travelling abroad need to consider their own, and their partner networks, as a top level facility for customers,? Hoffman said.


?The better the facilities, the more usage they will attract, which in turn generates greater revenue. Subscribers won?t spend money on a substandard service,? he warned.


Neil Montefiore, CEO of innovative Singapore operator M1, emphasised the importance of roaming to his business. ?Singapore is an international business hub and attracts a large volume of business travellers, as well as being an established tourist destination. We have to provide a familiar mobile environment for our visitors, as well as partnering with networks abroad to enable our own customers to enjoy the same mobile experience when roaming as they do when at home on M1.?


Over the years many attempts have been made to value the global roaming market. Roamware?s own research and experience from its global operator customer base, estimates from the GSM Association, and figures from the CDMA Development Group however all point to a roaming value of around ten per cent of total mobile subscriber revenues. Based on a variety of sources and methods, Roamware puts the global roaming market currently at $50bn annually ? a figure which can be supported not only from industry growth, but also from total operator revenues. Today, the GSM market alone numbers more than one billion with operator revenues forecast to hit $500billion by the end of this year.


About Roamware, Inc.
Roamware, Inc. is a leading global provider of value added voice and data roaming solutions that currently help to maximise revenue, increase operational efficiency, and reduce subscriber churn for 77 mobile operators in 25 countries. Roamware solutions enable mobile operators to design and deploy a new generation of cost-optimizing and revenue-generating services with an attractive ROI promise. These new generation services are built around a core technology footprint called the Roamware Service Delivery System (SDS), which allows operators to unify critical subscriber information for design and deployment of intelligent personalized services. Roamware?s executive and engineering leadership consists of experienced visionaries from the telecommunications industry. The company is headquartered in Cupertino, California, with its European office in Brussels, Belgium and Asian office in Hong Kong with a global development center in Mumbai, India. http://www.roamware.com