Asia’s emerging markets (ex-China) are forecasted to add 573 million more mobile phone subscribers by the end of 2012, totaling an estimated 1.06 billion cellular users and accounting for 46% of Asia-Pacific’s subscriber base.

In 2007 these emerging markets, with cellular penetration rates under 50%, registered 487 million mobile users, accounting for 37.1% of Asia-Pacific’s total mobile subscriber base.

The potential mobile markets earned combined revenues of US$33.27 billion last year and were identified as Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

Frost & Sullivan’s report, “Asia Pacific’s Final Wireless Growth Frontier”, projected that the mobile services sector in the above countries will grow at a CAGR of 10.7% (2007-2013) to reach a market size of US$61.35 billion by end-2013.

Vietnam had 48 million mobile phone subscribers as of end July with four main providers, namely Mobifone, VinaPhone, S-Phone and Viettel. The latter recently became the first operator to launch consumer mobile email and leads the market with about 25 million subscribers and more than 40% market share.

The number of mobile phone subscribers in Bangladesh increased to 45.4 million at end-August from 44.8 million the previous month. The South Asian country’s cellular users rose nearly 58% in 2007 to 34.4 million. Bangladesh has just 1.3 million land-line phone customers.

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission’s website states that as of end-August, top operator Grameen Phone’s subscriber base stood at 20.84 million, followed by Egypt-based Orascom Telecom with 10.17 million total subscribers and TMIB with 8.14 million.