This IDC study presents IDC's consensus of the top 10 predictions for the 2008 telecommunications market in Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) or APEJ. Drawing from the latest IDC research and from internal sessions among IDC's regional telecommunications and network analysts, we take a high-level look at trends, vendor and service provider (SP) strategies, as well as new technologies that will emerge and impact the industry and its players in 2008.

"The preference of the new media sector and corporate users for on-premises solutions have been disruptive to the APEJ telecom industry in the past few years. To stay on top of the market, telcos have been experimenting with various go-to-market offerings, partnerships, solution developments, and network investments models. However, not all experiments generate immediate financial benefits. As a result, telcos are under pressure to find a balance between continual innovation and ensuring positive financial returns in the immediate term from "cash-cow" offerings. 2008 will be a year where telco providers continue to experiment with various business models in order to find an optimal balance between creating and sustaining demand and maintaining positive financial returns," says Sandra Ng, Group Vice President for IDC's Asia/Pacific Communications, Peripherals, Services and ETAS research.