The first quarter of Japan's new fiscal year was somewhat subdued at 2.5m fkm, marking a year-on-year decline of 8.4 percent. This was at least an improvement over the abysmal demand growth recorded in FY03 Q4 (CY04 Ql), but will defmitely fail to boost morale. A more radical approach to achieving greater broadband uptake is required. Until carriers can identify this, which may not necessarily be in 2004, Investment is set to stall. Expect further repercussions on the global as well as domestic cable front. Local cablers are already sensitive to China's proposed levies in its anti-dumping investigation (see optical fibre editorial, pages 2,5), with Japanese exports to China plummeting in May alone by just over 69 percent. Japan and South Korea have championed broadband deployment in Asia and can be said to have stimulated activity elsewhere within the region. Taiwan and Hong Kong currently have subscriber rates slightly higher than Japan's 30 percent, at 38 percent and 32 percent respectively, but have set the target of achieving a critical mass of 50 percent by year-end 2004. Unlike Europe and the US, "Triple Play" is not being pushed within the region, and this has been cited ?s no barrier to generating subscriber interest. Television over DSL bundled with VoIP has proved very successful in Hong Kong, with PCCW claiming 2,000 new subscribers per day since its launch in August 2003. Other countries such ?s Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines have only launched their high-speed Internet Services in 2003, but are reportedly seeking to build infrastructures relatively cheaply to reach rural areas.
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