However, the nature of the market has changed. Industry consolidation, brought about by plummeting bandwidth prices, has hit private operators the hardest, leaving the field to major regional telecommunications providers. That means the traditional consortium will once again be the model of choice for most new cable systems, although the injection of Chinese and Indian capital is likely to have some impact.

“The structure of the industry continues to evolve,” reports senior market analyst Julian Rawle, “but the opportunities which we highlighted two years ago are still there and are now more imminent. Broadband is now firmly in the driving seat of this market. We expect that around half of all users in the Asia-Pacific region will have a broadband connection within the next 10 years. This is going to be made possible by new broadband technologies such as FTTX, xDSL, BPL, and Wi-Max, delivering broadband applications such as VoD, VoIP, and IPTV.” But the infrastructure to support these emerging technologies is not available in all Asia-Pacific countries, Pioneer reports.

For more details about the report, “New Business Models for the Transpacific & Asia Pacific Submarine Cable Industry 2005 Update,” visit the company’s Website, www.pioneerconsulting.com.