Worldwide MNO Directory 2023-2024

Samples

Executive Summary

Key Questions Answered by the Analyst

The analyst of the report speaks about the state of the mobile network operator (MNO) industry, where it’s heading, the impact of the pandemic, growth opportunities, innovation, and challenges telecoms face as we head into the future.

1. What are the emerging trends? What would be the analyst's advice to mobile network operators (MNOs) looking to grow in near future?

The answer is Operators must build offerings not around but throughout the Digital Lifestyle of Consumers, and simply ‘forget’ monetizing their investments by selling Voice, Data, and few OTT offerings. Although connectivity is becoming a commodity and unlimited or more than sufficient data is taken for granted, network quality - both the experience and the service - will still be a differentiator in my opinion. Content is increasingly relevant, though it is increasingly costly. Yet many customers are willing to pay for a better experience and brand bonding. That way you also send a strong message to your existing clientele. And keeping them informed that you are “at it” is as important as planning.

Through work with operator clients, five main strategies for boosting revenue growth have been identified. Their potential varies, and some are long-term bets, while others are short-term, nonstructural measures.

2. Are operators making any money these days? Who according to the analyst may be booking profits and how can other MNOs imitate them? Any specific operator cases that might have turned things around would be helpful for readers of the report.

The telecom market in Europe, North America, and advanced countries in the Asia Pacific, and the Middle East have saturated now. Consequently, the industry has been witnessing fierce competition between mobile operators and negative revenue growth. The industry went into a consolidation phase in recent years and we witnessed several exits, mergers and acquisitions across the globe.

Now, the number of active MNOs in almost every country is fairly good (average 3 operators per country). However, the exponential growth and adoption of OTT services, from WhatsApp to YouTube to Vimeo to Netflix to Amazon Prime Video to so many, has left operators in a very unprecedented situation. 

It has:

• Increasingly commoditised network services, reducing margins 
• Forced operators to invest more in their network to meet the growing demand 

And as we see it, Operators are facing the following challenges: 

• Reduced margin not allowing them to innovate 
• They practically can’t offer the OTT of consumers’ choice - it’s changing so frequently 
• Even partnerships with OTTs are not really effective enough for operators 
• Partnership with OTTs is not a long-term solution 

A ranking of top ten players on the basis of revenue or subscriber or profitability is not really important when their survival can be easily challenged by any startup OTT. Yet, I can give you a few operators that are either coping with these challenges really well or have put their strategic efforts commendably.

3. What's the status of 2G, 3G, 4G or 5G world over? What do you think the priorities of operators are or should be vis a vis growth moving forward? 

LTE became the prime agenda of operators to enable consumers to experience the full benefit of mobile Internet. The current priority of operators is to achieve the full potential of 4G LTE while they have already started working on 5G and beyond. Africa however is lagging far behind the rest of the world. Many African countries have lower LTE footprint and adoption. While smartphone penetration has crossed 50% on the continent, this overplays its significance as most of the countries in the region are running on legacy 2G and 3G speeds, which do not allow video streaming or anything beyond basic web browsing.

4. Where are operators spending the most? What is slowing them down? 

Most of the investments are focused on network expansion, modernisation, and capacity improvement. The exponential growth in demand for data is observed; however, operators have failed to become the prime beneficiary despite billions of investments in 4G network in the past 10 years. 

As for ‘what’s slowing them down’ is huge expectations and commensurate amount of effort and capital it would take to make customers happy in toto. And why not, 21st century is all about that. Yet do not forget the Operators world over still continue to spend a substantial amount of their profits into keeping things running.

5. What is keeping operators excited? 

As in previous years, operators will continue to invest in 4G and 4G+ mobile networks. Not because they are excited but the exponential growth in data traffic is forcing them to do so. This new investment in 4G and 4G+ addresses two needs, the increase of the network coverage, and the improvement in capacity.

6. What is the analyst's take on where the industry might be heading towards in the next 2-3-or-5 years? 

As people, society, industry, and governments move into the future with more effective digital tools, advanced technologies, and automation like never before - telecom players must lead the charge. Capturing opportunities earliest before wide-scale penetration will be the key to meeting the expectations and future needs of the consumers.

The analyst laid out a four-pillar program that can help operators become the prime beneficiaries of their investment in the network, uplift their position across the value chain and maximise their RoI.

7. And finally, a word about Pandemic: how do you think industry dealt with it?

Covid-19 has impacted the global mobile industry; however, the impact is less severe than on the broader economy. In fact, many developing countries, where the absence of fixed-line infrastructure makes mobile the default means of accessing the internet, witnessed unexpected growth in mobile revenue. For example, mobile revenue in India grew more than 17% in 2020 while real GDP declined more than 10%. Telcos today have a multi-faceted business model. While there was a mixed impact on overall revenue for telcos, there is also general uniformity in the impact being concentrated in a loss of roaming business (reduced travel), and lower handset upgrades. 

Please note these are incomplete answers. You will find more details inside the report.