Cambodian Economy Reviews

THE Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPTC) is now the only body that can issue frequency licences to businesses, its director general said Thursday when quizzed on a series of sector controversies.

The telecoms industry came under scrutiny last month when leading Internet service providers (ISPs) wrote to Prime Minister Hun Sen to raise concerns about the ministry’s reissuance of nine existing licences to a company called Digital Star TV.

A permit gives businesses permission to use the radio spectrum to provide technology, such as mobile-phone services or wireless Internet, to customers.

Experts have said that multiple companies using the same frequency bandwidth make technology, like WiMax wireless Internet, impossible to use.

In an interview with the Post Thursday, ministry Director General Mao Chakrya spoke in detail about the row for the first time.

When asked why Star Digital TV was granted a licence already given to nine ISPs he said: “Any other country could have the same problem. This is because the MPTC issues licences, but it is not the only ministry involved.” Read the rest of this entry »

THE country’s fledgling insurance industry saw revenues pick up at the end of the year to record an annualised 2.86 percent drop in premiums, officials said.

Chhay Rattanak, chairman of the General Insurance Association of Cambodia (GIAC), said that total premium revenues for 2009 fell to US$20.07 million.

“The global financial crisis is impacting on all sectors, including the insurance industry,” he said.

Nevertheless, the drop is a marked improvement on figures for the first 10 months of last year, which saw an 11.5 percent fall on premiums – to $14.16 million from $16 million compared with the same period in 2008.

“The results from December last year are better because of a new player [Cambodia-Vietnam Insurance Co], which brought premiums from risk regarding aviation and others into the market.”

He forecast that the industry is expected to expand by at least 10 percent in 2010.

“The increase is expected to follow an expected economic recovery in Cambodia,” he said, adding that new companies are likely to boost the sector. Read the rest of this entry »

Cambodia’s first insurance agency had started in 1990 by the State-owned agency – Caminco. After the 1993 national election, the insurance industry is increasing when local and foreign investors have invested in the sector during nearly 20 years. Even though, it is noticed that insurance industry still face challenges in a market where a few people understand the benefits and many cannot afford premiums.

Despite there was the global financial crisis, Cambodia’s premium insurance revenues increased 18 percent in 2008 – from US$17.5 million in 2007 up to US$20.5 million in 2008. In addition, Cambodian people have started understanding the advantage of buying personal insurance and car insurance, according to In Meatra, Head of the Financial Industry Department’s Insurance Division at the Ministry of Finance.

At the present, there are five insurance companies in Cambodia – Forte Insurance, Caminco, Asia Insurance, Campubank Lonpac and Infinity Insurance. In addition, two new companies are expected to enter the market this year – one local firm and another from Malaysia.

Although, Cambodia’s insurance market is very small in comparison with other countries because Cambodians have a little knowledge about this sector and cannot afford it as well. It is estimated that there is one and two percent amongst Cambodia’s 14 million have possibility to buy insurance. Read the rest of this entry »

Putting an end to a month-long dispute between mobile phone service providers MobiTel and Beeline by trading accusations over price dumping and blocking of between-network calls, Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (MPTC) issued a directive dated Friday, 04 by setting a minimum charges of US$0.045 per minute for calls within an operator’s network and $0.0595 for calls across networks.

So far, there are 9 mobile service providers operating in the Kingdom of Cambodia with some newer entrants to Cambodia’s telecoms market. The increasingly competitive phone market remain tight-tipped about the pricing rules which was set a minimum traffic charge for calls within network and calls across networks.

Leading phone service operator MobiTel and Russian Phone Company, Beeline accused each other of selling below cost price and blocking interconnectivity in September. Read the rest of this entry »