Global telecoms service providers are only scratching the
surface of the huge business opportunity in Asia-Pacific, and need to redouble
their efforts to increase their impact, according to Ovum.
Though global telecoms companies have begun to target
Asia-Pacific in earnest, they have yet to win a significant amount of
business.
The big five US and European-owned global service providers
have woken up to the new business opportunity the Asia-Pacific region offers
them. However, while they have won their first notable contracts there, they
are only scratching the surface of the market and need to raise their
capabilities and support to the levels they offer in their own regions to turn
that around,” said David Molony, Ovum principal analyst and author of the
report.
According to the report, the total value of deals
announced by global telecoms providers in the second half of 2010 was $16,860
million. However, only three per cent of this figure originated from
Asia-Pacific.
Even market leader BT Global Services, which took 25 per
cent of the total contract value of the deals announced in the second half of
2010, had only two per cent of its contracts volume in the region.
One of the reasons for the low penetration is that
Asia-Pacific’s broad, diverse and fragmented market has meant that continuity
of service from global providers has in the past been difficult, leading
companies to turn to local suppliers.
In effect, they have become used to using local and
national suppliers, who also enjoy more regulatory protection in their markets.
But above all, with the exception of Japan and Australia, the region has not
grown as many global multinational corporations (MNCs) as America and Europe.
However, that is changing, and there will be significant new demand out of the
region for global telecoms service providers to target.
Meanwhile, a lack of network infrastructure and service
support in the region has also left global service providers with work to do.
Global service providers have made their own investments in infrastructure, and
data and service centres, but capacity in these gets used up fast.
Asia-Pacific MNCs will continue to be a challenge for
global service providers. These emerging MNCs have limited experience of what
global service providers can offer them in terms of contracts, account
management and new products and services.
However, these companies are also in a hurry to grow
their global business operations and reach new markets in developed
territories. They will need fast-developing network and service support, which
global service providers can offer them. Global service providers have
solutions and skills in cloud-based network provisioning and management, which
MNCs are particularly interested in.
By Telecomlead.com Team
[email protected]
