Report: Colombian telcos capitalise on pay-TV, mobile
April 26, 2018
The Colombian telecommunication services industry is undergoing rapid change due to increasing consumer dependence on wireless-enabled services. Frost & Sullivan’s latest analysis, Colombian Telecommunication Services Market, Forecast to 2022, expects the business to top 11.5 billion by 2021 with fixed and mobile broadband, IPTV and machine-to-machine (M2M) services to grow at double-digit rates. Revenue for mobile and fixed-voice services is forecast to drop due to decreasing mobile termination rates and other types of available communication, such as messaging and unified communication and collaboration solutions.
“To be successful going forward, telecommunications providers must embrace business models that include expanding their service portfolios, pursuing non-traditional revenue streams, and leveraging expertise in customer care and billing,” said Gina Sanchez, Digital Transformation Senior Consultant at Frost & Sullivan.
Telecommunication services have become increasingly integrated and competitive, bringing greater pressures on margins. Sanchez recommends providers focus on programmable infrastructure and networks, such as software defined networking (SDN), network function virtualisation (NFV), data centre orchestration, automation, and mobile network virtualization, to exploit new growth opportunities.
Four strategic imperatives for Telcos’ success include:
- Expand service portfolio to become a full-service provider for connected homes;
- Develop effective security monitoring systems to guard and enable devices that are fully context-aware for connected work;
- Harness Big Data analytics to drive proactive customer experience strategies and customer engagement; and
- Embrace cognitive intelligence in their cloud-enabled customer experience solutions roadmap.
“Shortening technology cycles, disruptive competition, elevated prices for high-capacity broadband technologies, and reduced profitability of telecom services are key factors restraining market growth,” noted Sanchez. “Players need to identify a vertical focus based on their skills, expertise, and partnerships. They should monetise new opportunities through innovative business models and introduce fresh capabilities and resources when developing new processes.”