Telcos eye $400bn enterprise opportunity, says GSMA Intelligence

Manufacturing and financial services offer the greatest opportunity for telcos driving enterprise digital transformation

7 October 2024, MWC Las Vegas 2024: A new report from GSMA Intelligence launched today ahead of MWC Las Vegas - "The opportunity for operators in B2B technology services - sizing prospects for growth in financial services, manufacturing, automotive and aviation​"[NM1] - highlighting an addressable market of more than $400bn for telcos looking to grow revenues in the enterprise space. This equates to approximately 35% of the existing mobile operator revenue base worldwide.

The report also shows thattelcos need to look beyond connectivity driven solutions and services and take a broader view of the opportunity. Core telecom solution and service areas, such as SD-WAN, unified communications and mobile voice and data, currently contribute around 70% of B2B revenues or $250bn for operators in 2023, although they offer little headroom for growth with just 3% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) expected out to 2030.

Conversely, enterprise spending on tech services beyond those core services - including cloud and datacentre, cybersecurity, IoT, analytics, AI, blockchain and network APIs - is around five times the spend on traditional communications at $1.16tn in 2023, with a CAGR of 14% to 2030, growing to become a market worth $2.91tn.

Tim Hatt, Head of Research, GSMA Intelligence, said: "Telcos looking to monetise their investments in 5G need to look beyond consumer centric and basic connectivity driven use cases. Greater focus is needed on offering advanced network solutions such as network slicing and private networks in the short term and developing end-to-end solutions to support a variety of enterprise use cases combined with integration capabilities in the longer term. Enterprises are increasingly looking for service providers to integrate a blend of technologies that fit their specific technology environments and business needs. Though the competition is fierce, telcos have assets and capabilities they can leverage to play in over one-third of this trillion-dollar market."

Manufacturing and financial services offer biggest opportunities

The report highlights characteristics of four key verticals: financial services, manufacturing, automotive and aviation. In 2023, these sectors presented significant addressable opportunities for telcos, valued at $59 billion, $61 billion, $22 billion and $16 billion respectively. Collectively, they accounted for 37% of the total addressable market opportunity, amounting to $159 billion. Projections indicate robust growth for these markets, with expected CAGR of 10.9%, 12.1%, 12.0%, and 8.4% from 2023 to 2030.

Other markets comprised 63% of the telcos' growing addressable enterprise tech services beyond core opportunity. This growth is driven by diverse verticals, including healthcare, public sector, retail, media, smart cities, energy and utilities, agriculture, oil & gas, transportation & logistics, professional services, personal & consumer services, mining and ports.

Jo Gilbert, Technical Director and GSMA Connected Manufacturing and Production lead, said: "To bolster operational efficiency, resilience, agility, and flexibility, manufacturing companies are investing in advanced connectivity, IoT, edge, and AI technologies. These innovations are generating massive data volumes across factories, requiring stronger data management capabilities to unlock business value. Furthermore, the growing convergence of IT and OT systems has expanded cyberattack surfaces, making cybersecurity a key priority for manufacturers."

Telcos must be prepared to compete with a diverse array of players

To meet the demands of the market, operators face significant competition not only from their peers and equipment vendors, but also from a broad array of players, including hyperscalers and security vendors. In fact, 24% of operators view hyperscalers as formidable competitors in edge networking and cloud, while 41% view security vendors as key competitors in security.

Operators must invest in building new capabilities, enhancing their existing offerings in key areas like security and exploring partnerships in others such as cloud. By balancing internal investments with external partnerships, operators can remain competitive, optimize resources, and meet the evolving demands of the market.

Hatt continues: "Winning in market needs a new mindset and operational changes. To succeed operators must look to collaborative approaches and new partnerships as well as adopting an enterprise-centric solution-oriented approach; being more like IT consultants than connectivity sellers. Telcos need to consolidate and simplify enterprise portfolios, adapt sales and marketing, and acquire new technical and commercial skills to effectively serve ever-evolving needs of enterprise customers."

Services beyond connectivity are gaining ground

The latest research tracks with earlier findings from GSMA Intelligence's "Enterprise Opportunity 2024" survey, published in March 2024, where 36% of the operators said market leadership in enterprise connectivity and services is the primary goal of their B2B strategy; with leadership in enterprise connectivity second. Historically, connectivity has received the highest share in previous editions of this survey. This is the first time operators have identified connectivity and services as their primary goal. Furthermore, a majority (64%) of participants said they have already launched 5G services beyond connectivity for enterprises such as 5G IoT, private networks and Mobile Edge Compute. This signals a shift in focus towards services and the need to be good at bundling connectivity with services fit for enterprise needs.

New enterprise survey to be previewed at MWC Las Vegas 2024

As part of our participation at MWC Las Vegas 2024, GSMA Intelligence will be offering an exclusive preview of the forthcoming GSMA Intelligence Digital Transformation Survey 2024 results at the GSMA Pavilion in the exhibition hall, booth 557 - one month prior to the official launch. The survey, conducted with over 4,200 enterprises across 10 vertical sectors and 21 countries, provides a deep dive into digital transformation trends across key sectors such as manufacturing and financial services.

Attendees at MWC Las Vegas 2024 will have the opportunity to explore our interactive dashboard, showcasing insights on emerging technologies like 5G, AI, IoT, and more. Visit the booth to gain early access to these insights before the full report is released.

-ENDS-

About GSMA

The GSMA is a global organisation unifying the mobile ecosystem to discover, develop and deliver innovation foundational to positive business environments and societal change. Our vision is to unlock the full power of connectivity so that people, industry, and society thrive. Representing mobile operators and organisations across the mobile ecosystem and adjacent industries, the GSMA delivers for its members across three broad pillars: Connectivity for Good, Industry Services and Solutions, and Outreach. This activity includes advancing policy, tackling today's biggest societal challenges, underpinning the technology and interoperability that make mobile work, and providing the world's largest platform to convene the mobile ecosystem at the MWC and M360 series of events.

We invite you to find out more at gsma.com

About GSMA Intelligence

GSMA Intelligence is the definitive source of global mobile operator data, analysis and forecasts, and publisher of authoritative industry reports and research. Our data covers every operator group, network and MVNO in every country worldwide - from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. It is the most accurate and complete set of industry metrics available, comprising tens of millions of individual data points, updated daily.​

GSMA Intelligence is relied on by leading operators, vendors, regulators, financial institutions and third-party industry players, to support strategic decision-making and long-term investment planning. The data is used as an industry reference point and is frequently cited by the media and by the industry itself.​

Our team of analysts and experts produce regular thought-leading research reports across a range of industry topics. ​

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