A major new report by the Telco 2.0 Initiative shows how telcos can slow the decline of voice and messaging revenues and build new communications services to maximise revenues and relevance with both consumer and enterprise customers.
It includes detailed forecasts for 9 major developed markets (US, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, UK, Italy, Singapore, Taiwan), in which the total decline is forecast between $92bn (-25%) and $172bn (-46%) on a $375bn base between 2012 and 2018, giving telcos an $80bn opportunity to fight for.
The report also shows impacts and implications for other technology players including vendors and partners, and general lessons for competing with disruptive players in all markets. It looks at the impact of so-called OTT competition, market trends and drivers, bundling strategies, operators developing their own Telco-OTT apps, advanced Enterprise Communications services, and the ability to exploit new opportunities and standards such as Service Enablement, WebRTC and VoLTE.
“Perhaps the most surprising thing is how effective some telco strategies have been in defending against disruptive competitors like WhatsApp. Then again, there are some markets, such as Spain, where the combination of telco pricing and economic conditions have played right into the hands of the so-called ‘OTT Players’”.
“Equally, there are some great opportunities for telcos to build new value, particularly in the Enterprise market, where some of the more traditional technology companies like Cisco face increasingly disruptive competition from players like Google and Microsoft.”