BuddeBlog

Around the world we are witnessing remarkable changes to the telecoms environment. After years of debate, structural separation is now taking place in many parts of the world including Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore and some European markets. Structural separation - or at least full-blown operational separation - is required to advance the entire industry and to create new business opportunities and innovations which will benefit our society, our economy and ultimately our industry. 

The focus is also shifting away from broadband to what it can actually achieve. Next Generation Telecommunications better describes this new environment and is essential for the emerging digital economy. Important services that depend on NGT include telehealth, e-education, e-business, digital media, e-government and environmental applications such as smart utility meters. 

Worldwide telecom statistics at a glance - mid-2008

(Source: BuddeComm estimates) 

In order to meet this burgeoning consumer demand for NGT applications, we are seeing increasing investment in All-IP Next Generation Networks and fibre networks. A proper inventory of national infrastructure assets is required if we want to establish an efficient and economically viable national broadband structure for these services. In the developing markets, next generations telecoms will take the form of wireless NGNs (ie, LTE/WiMAX). 

These are some of the elements of the broader ICT revolution that is unfolding before our very eyes. We are right in the midst of the transition from old communications structures (mainly one-way streets) to new structures that are fully-interactive and video-based. However this is not simply a technology-based development - it is bringing with it massive changes in the way we live, work and communicate. It impacts on nations and businesses as well as individuals. 

One of the drivers behind the industry changes are the declining revenues experienced by the telcos in their traditional markets. Over the past 10 years or so, fixed-line operators have been affected by deregulation, a severe industry downturn, declining prices and major inroads by mobile services. In addition, people are drifting to other forms of communication, such as email, online chat, and mobile text messaging instead of the traditional phone. 

This has also led to an increased need for bandwidth, which in turn has revived the submarine cable sector. In recent times there have been many cable build-out announcements around the world, and some major systems are again being constructed. Over 25 systems are expected to be built over the next two to three years and network upgrades are also on the agenda for some existing systems.  

The use of NGT applications is also one of the main reason governments and operators globally should concentrate on deploying FttH. Existing copper-based networks will become increasingly strained as they try to keep up, and there is a risk that these will not cope. Today it is the countries with effective and strong government policies that are forging ahead with a lively fibre footprint. Asia is the one region of the world where FttH has started to emerge as a serious broadband platform.  

It is clear that the mobile industry is also undergoing profound changes. The saturated developed markets are forcing the industry to find new revenue streams and we are now seeing other organisations such as media companies, content providers, Internet media companies and private equity companies becoming involved in this market.  

For the time being however, voice will remain the killer application for mobile with some data services included as support services and niche market services. 4G (ie, WiMAX/LTE) is the real solution for mobile data and by 2015 it is expected that the majority of mobile revenues will come from data.  

With the Internet economy, digital media and other telecommunications activities becoming further established, the need for modern and efficient infrastructure is becoming more critical. To facilitate this, the industry is again turning to outsourcing and in 2008 over $60 billion is expected to be spent worldwide by service providers on outsourced services. 

This annual report provides an insight and analyses into the trends and developments taking place in the worldwide telecoms sector. The report provides analyses of the issues surrounding the communications revolution, with a focus on the digital economy, structural separation and next generation telecoms. Information on submarine cable and fibre developments is provided as well as an overview of the global telecoms outsourcing market. Analyses of the developments in mobility are included, along with statistics and forecasts for both the mobile and wireless broadband sectors. The report also provides a valuable summary of key global telecoms market statistics including subscribers to both fixed and mobile technologies, top carriers worldwide and global telecoms capital expenditure and revenues. 

Key highlights:

• In 2008 the overall telecoms industry was valued at well over $3.5 trillion with steady growth ahead.
• On a regional level, Western Europe still has the largest share of broadband subscribers worldwide.
• DSL is the most popular broadband access technology worldwide, equating for around a 66% market share.
• By the end of 2008 around 18% of the global population will be online. Growth in the developing countries is still hampered by poor telephone connections, but mobile applications will assist future growth.
• Developments in mobile communications cannot be described in any way other than being spectacular and by the end of 2008 there should be almost 4 billion mobile subscribers worldwide.
• In 2008 it is becoming apparent that WiMAX and LTE are emerging as the most likely candidates for Next Generation Mobile Networks. 

For more information on the new BuddeComm report: 2008 Global Telecoms - Key Trends and Statistics

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008 at 1:55 pm and is filed under BuddeBlog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.