Mobile operators are expected to face the reality of zero revenue growth in their core connectivity services in 2016, said Strategy Analytics.
The year 2016 will be tough for mobile operators in an expanding ecosystem, according to the Strategy Analytics Wireless Operator Strategies (WOS) service report.
What operators need to do:
Evolution of today’s propositions: content-bundling and fixed-mobile converged services will help operators buck the trend of stagnation, while an upgrade to the voice/text user experience is now long overdue (IMS/RCS as key enablers here)
Diversification of revenue into lines of business leveraging mobile connectivity expertise, such as IoT near-term opportunities in connected car, smart home and smart city; mobile payments; mobile advertising
Acceleration of new business models enabled by flexible 5G architectures that can be enabled on 4.5G networks today
“Innovation in services and bundling to add value while fending off customer losses in price competitive markets will be essential in 2016,” said Susan Welsh de Grimaldo, director, Wireless Operator Strategies at Strategy Analytics.
The critical fact is that telecoms need to build capacity into their networks to manage data growth. They need to make investment despite zero growth in core revenues this year.
The telecom analysis report said that 5G promises of faster speeds, ubiquitous availability and affordability.
“5G, coupled with other network technologies such as Wi-Fi or Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) M2M technologies. The roadmap to 5G will open up new business models and partnerships within the value chain,” said Martin Bradley, director at Strategy Analytics.
