Spending on telecommunications and pay TV services will drop 0.8 percent to nearly $1.6 trillion in 2020.
The IDC report said the decline in spending on telecom and pay TV services will continue in 2021 — at a lower degree.
Spending on telecommunications and pay TV services in Americas will be $623 billion in 2020 as compared with $623 billion in 2019.
Spending on telecommunications and pay TV services in Asia Pacific will be $465 in 2020 vs $471 billion in 2019.
Spending on telecommunications and pay TV services in Europe, the Middle East and Africa will be $474 billion in 2020 as compared with $480 billion in 2019.
The latest IDC report said growth is not expected in EMEA or Asia Pacific region before 2022 as the users in emerging markets are expected to remain cautious about spending for some time.
The telecom services industry is proving to be one of the most resilient sectors of the global economy during the Covid-19 crisis. The measures imposed by many governments that have forced people to stay at home and reduce face-to-face interactions have increased the consumption of telecom services.
However, the economic impact from shutting down businesses, higher unemployment, frozen tourist activities, and reduced consumer spending on non-essential products and services will have a negative impact on the market.
The mobile segment, the largest segment of the market, will post a slight decline in 2020 due to lower revenues from roaming charges, less mobile data overages due to the stay-at-home situation, and slower net additions, especially in the consumer segment.
Fixed data services spending will increase by 2.9 percent in 2020 as the need for more fixed Internet connectivity determined by the “great lockdown” is likely to help this segment maintain growth.
Spending on fixed voice services will continue to decline and will take an additional hit due to the pandemic as users will likely drop fixed voice services for savings purposes. Fixed IP voice will survive longer as the service is included in bundles in most cases.
Spending on Pay TV services is expected to decline slightly.
“As the 5G revolution is being put on hold or delayed, the proven technologies and business cases will keep the ball rolling in these uncertain times,” said Kresimir Alic, research director with IDC’s Worldwide Telecom Services team.
