APAC public sector enterprise networking spend to grow

The public sector enterprise networking market will grow 13 percent between 2009 and 2013 in the Asia-Pacific, generating almost US$1.4 billion by the end of this year, according to a new report Friday.

The survey by Springboard Research noted that data communications equipment will continue to form the largest share of revenues in the region, with network security investments are also expected to escalate, given its critical importance to network infrastructure.

Nupur Singh Andley, associate research manager of connectivity at Springboard, said in the report: "With the increase in the usage of applications, cloud and outsourcing services, data and network security will assume high priority."

The research firm also revealed that education will receive a large bulk of the total public sector spending on networking equipment, followed by healthcare, utilities and defense.

Springboard noted that last year saw a significant rollout of government network and deployment of basic telecom and applications infrastructure across most emerging markets in the region, such as China and India, and parts of ASEAN.

It added that this year will see the buildup of integrated service delivery platforms and applications to support services between government agencies and citizens.

Countries such as Singapore and Australia will see relatively low growth in ICT and networking equipment spend as technology adoption is already high in these markets' public sector, Springboard said.

There are, however, "booming opportunities" in the public sector of markets such as India, China, Korea and some members of ASEAN as these economies grapple with deploying their nationwide telecom network infrastructures and bridge the urban-rural divide.

Andley said: "E-government initiatives are likely to drive adoption of enterprise networking equipment, especially in emerging markets such as India and China. Despite their impressive initiatives toward e-governance and digital inclusion, these countries have a long way to go in terms of infrastructure development and service delivery."