Despite a struggling global economy, there’s money out there to be had.
In a new report, analyst firm Ovum finds that there will be $213 billion in new revenues available in 11 “high potential" telecom segments over the next few years, with mobile broadband leading the list.
“Telecoms operators around the world face a common challenge – maintaining positive revenue growth in the face of declining voice services and a maturing data market," said John Lively, Ovum chief forecaster and author of the report. “They can successfully manage this transition by identifying and then capturing a part of the higher-potential segments. Securing some of this growth is imperative for players to avoid the consequences of stagnating revenues."
Mobile broadband is expected to generate $92 billion in new revenues between 2012 and 2015. Fixed broadband will produced $51 billion in new revenues during the same three-year span, Ovum predicts.
Broadband services offer operators the biggest, most important new opportunity for operators looking to make up for declines in voice and other legacy services, Lively added.
Ovum’s report says other key growth areas include managed and hosted IP voice – slated for $9.2 billion of new revenues between 2012 and 2015 – as well as enterprise Ethernet services ($18 billion) and consumer services like digital music downloads and subscriptions ($11.5 billion) and IPTV ($20 billion).
“In the consumer segment, telecoms companies will be competing with new over-the-top players, as well as traditional competitors," Lively said. “Adopting a marketing approach that is tailored to consumer services will be key to success in this sector."
IP/Ethernet switches and routers, ROADMs and 40/100G networking gear are key growth areas for infrastructure vendors, the report says. Together, they will contribute $7.7 billion over the next three years. Ovum expects optical components vendors will see demand remain somewhat volatile, but 40G/100G components are a key growth opportunity for them also.
Getting a foothold in the 40G/100G technology market will be key for component makers if they want to avoid lagging behind competitors, Ovum says.
