Page 104 - SAMENA Trends - May-June 2024

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

New Telecoms Alliance to Streamline ASEAN Cross-Border Connectivity

A group of telcos and data center providers in Southeast Asia have
formed an alliance called ASEAN Connect.One that aims to make it
easier for data centers, carriers and OTT players across the region
to collaborate on connectivity services. Initial stakeholders in the
alliance include APT Satellite, FPT International Telecom, Interlink
Telecom, Neocom ISP, NTC Asia, SEAX Global and Telin. Between
them, ASEAN Connect.One has access to over 10,000 km of
network infrastructure covering Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia,
Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. According to a
statement issued on Tuesday, the alliance intends to provide
clients a standardized suite of services under the ASEAN Connect.
One umbrella, which it says will ensure “reliability, scalability, and
efficiency in connectivity and data centre management solutions”.
To that end, alliance members will pool their resources and
expertise to streamline one-stop shopping, single-end billing and
unified operational processes, which it says will reduce installation
and maintenance lead times. This will enable OTT platforms to
deliver content more efficiently, ensuring seamless streaming connectivity supported by a suite of fully redundant terrestrial,
experiences for users across borders, the alliance says. It will also submarine cable, and satellite networks, promising a short lead
potentially pave the way for innovative content delivery solutions. time for seamless integration,” the ASEAN Connect.One statement
“The alliance one-stop shop delivers high SLA with borderless says.

Armenia Targets 80% of Towns with 4G Within Two Years

In the next two years, 4G networks of the three existing operators
are expected to be built in 80% of the settlements in Armenia. This
was announced by Garegin Baghramyan, Chairman of the Public
Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC), during the discussion of
the 2023 state budget report in parliament. Baghramyan noted that
5G coverage, including Internet of Things (IoT) technology, will be
expanded in Yerevan, Gyumri, and Vanadzor. He also reported that
fiber-optic internet is available in 70% of the settlements, which
house 97% of the country's population. In the next two years,
operators will lay optical cables in the remaining 30% of the small
villages. According to Baghramyan, the number of mobile internet
users in the republic is estimated at 3.2 million, including both
permanent residents of Armenia and temporary residents.
Compared to last year, the number of users increased by 8%, and
the traffic they consumed grew by 6.5%.

104 MAY-JUNE 2024