Combined Cloud as a Service revenue for telecom operators grew 12.6 percent in the second quarter of 2017.
The chart shows cloud revenue of Airtel, Singtel, Korea Telecom, Vodafone, Telefonica, Orange, BT, NTT, among others.
The double digit growth was due to acquisitions and alliances, investments in new data centers, and portfolio expansion in growth segments such as SaaS and hybrid cloud, according to Technology Business Research.
IaaS revenue among benchmarked companies increased 10.8 percent, driven by expansion and data center investments to reach customers in new markets.
IaaS revenue growth is decelerating for most carriers due to the maturity of the platform and pricing pressures from webscales such as Amazon Web Services (AWS).
“Though the bulk of companies continue to expand their native IaaS portfolios, they recognize the demand and preference for solutions from other cloud providers, which is causing carriers to emphasize hybrid enablement to support multi-cloud environments,” said Steve Vachon, an analyst in TBR’s Telecom Practice.
TBR said global telecom operators are capitalizing on their cloud portfolios to target customers undergoing digital transformation initiatives, equipping businesses to integrate solutions in areas including mobility, Internet of Things (IoT) and content delivery.
The largest carrier cloud providers, including DT, NTT and Orange, invested in portfolio and data center expansion to gain market share in new regions.
Asia- and Europe-based operators are currently benefiting from regulations and data sovereignty laws favoring local carriers. Competition will escalate for carrier cloud providers over the next several years, as AWS, Microsoft, Google and Alibaba focus their data center investments in Europe and Asia to grow their cloud businesses.
Pricing pressures, particularly in the U.S., contributed to AT&T and Verizon moving away from the IaaS market as the carriers divested the bulk of their remaining IaaS businesses to IBM.
Integrating cloud capabilities remains central to AT&T’s and Verizon’s strategies, however, as both companies continue to collaborate with leading cloud providers such as AWS and Microsoft to enhance their network connectivity platforms such as NetBond, Secure Cloud Interconnect as well as adjacent portfolio segments such as IoT and unified communications.
