Most of the global telecom operators are looking for new strategies as worldwide spending on telecommunications services and pay TV services will grow at 1.6 percent to $1,689 billion in 2018 against 1.4 percent growth at $1,662 billion in 2017.

The telecommunications services and pay TV services will continue its positive growth until the end of the five-year forecast period (2018-2022), growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1.1 percent.

The telecoms market will maintain steady growth of 2 percent over the forecast period of 2018-2022.

Communications service providers are in transition, facing a flat voice market, but steady growth in fixed and mobile data services.

Fixed data services will grow by 4 percent due to strong demand for broadband, Ethernet, and high-speed fiber connectivity.
“While mobile voice revenues are declining, this sector will be sustained by strong growth in data and other services,” said Courtney Munroe, group vice president, Worldwide Telecommunications Research at IDC.

The Americas will remain the largest services market until the end of the forecast period in 2022.

Due to slower growth compared to other regions, its share of total worldwide spending will decline from 38 percent in 2017 to 36 percent in 2022. The partial exit of SoftBank from the U.S. telecom market indicates the slow growth in revenue.

The above chart prepared by Technology Business Review shows the 5G investment in the next few years.

Telecom operators in Asia Pacific region will increase their revenue contribution to total revenue from 32 percent to 34 percent, said IDC.

The consolidation effort between Vodafone Group and Idea Cellular, an Indian telecom operator, indicates the emergence of Asia Pacific for global mobile service providers for investment purposes.

Since China is a closely held market due to high regulation, India is one of the key markets for investment. India’s economy growth will also bolster investment from telecom service providers in coming years.

Asia Pacific market is growing faster than other regions due to data services. Spending on fixed data services is set to grow by 6 percent over the forecast period, which is significantly higher than other regions. The IDC did not mention about growth in 4G Internet which is the focus of many telecom operators.

Main telecom operators in the Asia Pacific region include China Mobile, China Telecom, Vodafone, Airtel, NTT Docomo, SoftBank, SingTel, among others.

The single-digit growth rates show that the market for telecommunications services has matured. This situation requires changes on the supply side. IDC said growth in telecom revenues requires innovative strategies and tactics and a steadfast approach to the market.

Denise Lund, research director, Mobile Enterprise Research at IDC, said: “Establishing and growing a base of connections has never been more challenging, yet it is critical to communications service providers that want to claim a stake in the future revenue growth opportunities.”