Telecom Industry Booming Again

Global telecoms industry revenue will reach $1.2 trillion by the end of 2006, with growth in wireless leading the way, according to Insight Research. Meanwhile, a study from the Leichtman Research Group finds that US broadband providers acquired a record 2.6m new subscribers in the third quarter of 2005.

The Insight Research study, The 2006 Telecom Industry Review: An Anthology of Market Facts and Forecasts, says wireless revenue will approach 49% of all telecoms services revenue by the end of 2006, reaching 55.6% by 2010. By the beginning of 2006, it estimates that 1.8bn subscribers worldwide will use mobile wireless telephones.

Revenue for worldwide telecoms services as a whole is expected to grow at a compounded annual rate of 5.9% between 2005 and 2010 - from $1.2 trillion in 2006 to almost $1.6 trillion in 2010 - bringing an end to the industry slump. Fast-growing segments include VoIP, WiFi, IMS, and streaming media.

Insight Research President Robert Rosenberg anticipates that growth will be uneven across geographic regions as well as product types. 'Asia Pacific and Latin America/Caribbean are forecast to enjoy the fastest overall broadband growth, while North America and Europe lag.'

A free report excerpt is online at www.insight-corp.com/review06.asp

Despite Insight's predictions of a lag in the US broadband market, the Leichtman Research Group (LRG) analysis suggests that growth is still healthy. It found that the twenty largest cable and DSL providers in the US - representing about 94% of the market - acquired a record 2.6 million net additional subscribers in the third quarter of 2005. These providers now have more than 40.2m customers - 23.2m for cable and 17m for DSL.

Bruce Leichtman, President and Principal Analyst, says: 'As evidenced by the results of the third quarter, speculation of the decline of broadband in the US was greatly exaggerated. Aggressive offers from DSL providers continue to expand the market, even as cable operators are able to add subscribers in similar numbers to a year ago.'

The company is online at www.LeichtmanResearch.com.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.