Cambodia’s telecommunications industry earned about $20 million in the first nine months of 2004—about 55 percent of the total revenues last year—while the number of mobile phone users continues to rise, the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications said.
On average, the sector earns $30 million to $40 million per year, So Khun said.
Predicting a sharp rise in phone use, So Khun said up to
54 percent of Phnom Penh residents will regularly use mobile or landline phones by 2008, up from the current 39 percent.
Nationwide, up to 8 percent of the population will be using phones regularly by 2008, compared with the 3.5 percent who regularly use phones now, he told reporters at the Institute de Technologie du Cambodge.
Growth in the mobile phone market continues to surpass the landline phone market, as people seek portable means of communication, he said. “Now the mobile [phone] is available everywhere,” So Khun said.
Still, the minister said, landline service for the state-run Camintel has expanded, reaching six provinces near the border that had previously relied on Thai or Vietnamese telephone service providers. Casinos, which are some of the largest users of telephones near the border, have also begun using Camintel lines, he said.
He added that Japan is scheduled this week to sign over a $30 million loan to the ministry to help fund a fiber optic cable project linking Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville. The ministry is also seeking funds to build a fiber optic cable system from Kompong Cham province to Laos, he said. Costs for that project are not yet known.
The minister vowed to lower the price of all local and international calls by 10 percent to 15 percent annually, saying the government has adopted a policy to reduce phone service prices.
Overseas calls placed to the US through Camintel lines currently cost $1 per minute, he said.
One of the largest areas of growth could be the use of Voice Over Internet Protocol, which allows people to make cheap overseas calls through the Internet, he said.
Earlier this year, VOIP calls were yanked from Internet cafes throughout the capital as the ministry handed over exclusive rights to provide VOIP to the privately-owned AZ Distribution Co Ltd.
Internet cafes now wanting to use VOIP need to register for a license from the ministry, So Khun said.
Earlier this year, cafes testing the service charged about 800 riel to 1,000 riel per minute for overseas phone calls, compared with the $1 per minute through the government’s international telephone gateway.
“We already provide the service, so people will now likely use the VOIP the most,” So Khun said.
