Broadband revenues set to overtake landlines

by Scott Bicheno on 27 September 2011, 15:33

Tags: Ovum

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Broad changes

Telco analyst Ovum has published the findings of a new report in which it predicts total global revenues for fixed-line broadband will overtake those for landline phone calls for the first time next year.

This year the totals are expected to be $176 billion for landline and $167 for broadband, but the two markets are moving in opposite directions and Ovum reckons broadband revenues will top $180 billion next year, while landline revenues will fall below $159 billion.

"Our research reveals the extent to which the fixed voice telecoms market is shrinking and just how important broadband has become to the telecoms industry," said Ovum analyst Charlie Davies. "Next year, telcos will generate more consumer revenues from fixed broadband than from telephone lines for the first time.

"This will be driven by consumers continuing to shun their landline in favour of the mobile phone and the greater need for fixed broadband in the home to meet the demands of increasing video traffic, more applications and content in the cloud and more connected devices. The rise of Internet-based voice services such as Skype will also play a significant role.

"However, broadband revenue growth alone will not be sufficient to offset the decline in fixed voice revenues due to the investment needed for next-generation access networks and software. This underlines the need for telcos to find a role and further revenues from new service lines."

Davies reckons the smart money will be in entertainment, with the enablement of on-demand content and online gaming being significant growth opportunities. "The way that telcos approach this vertical will evolve rapidly as they learn to exploit partnerships with popular brands more effectively," he said.

 



HEXUS Forums :: 6 Comments

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Next year, telcos will generate more consumer revenues from fixed broadband than from telephone lines for the first time.
They're a bit late - we've been paying VM more for broadband than phone line for some time. In fact, when we renegotiated the deal a while ago, the phone line was a very minor point.
This will be driven by consumers continuing to shun their landline in favour of the mobile phone and the greater need for fixed broadband in the home to meet the demands of increasing video traffic, more applications and content in the cloud and more connected device
Very true, but I'd suggest the utility of the humble mobile phone has got more to do with it, than the “greater need for fixed broadband”. Heck, smartphones are getting more and more capable, and I'm sure that there's some circumstances where a tethered smartphone could perhaps replace a low-spec broadband line. Meanwhile, I hear more and more folks commenting that - apart from 999 calls - they wonder why they've got a landline at all, (certainly not having one might help to cut down a bit on the telephone spam we all get).

Getting back to the broadband, more and more AV kit seems to be “network enabled”, to the extent that if you've not got some Cat 5 whacked into it then you end up missing out on a good deal of functionality. Or at least, that's how it seems to me.
Mobile tethering is never going to take off until something serious is done about the capacity and price of the UKs 3G network - and I cannot see anything huge happening there anytime soon.

I've used the feature twice and both times got the feeling that Orange was sucking money out of my bank account while tethered :P

I think it's just a combination of mobile calls and skype. A lot of people Skype me now and most of the time I am by a Wifi AP so SQ is awesome.
shaithis
Mobile tethering is never going to take off until something serious is done about the capacity and price of the UKs 3G network - and I cannot see anything huge happening there anytime soon. I've used the feature twice and both times got the feeling that Orange was sucking money out of my bank account while tethered
Capacity, price and availability need to improve - it amuses me that I can get a faster download in the middle of a field at the back of my house than I can in some parts of Edinburgh/Glasgow (even allowing for the effects of buildings on signal strength).

As to the cost issue - One Plan from Three - not unreasonably priced and the usage terms are also quite satisfactory. If it wasn't for their worse-than-lousy customer service and the lower signal coverage v's T-Mobile, then I'd probably stay with them when my current contract ends in June. I've never been that impressed with Orange - along with Vodafone they always struck me as being a bit “old fashioned”, hating the idea of folks doing things that needed a data connection.
crossy
Getting back to the broadband, more and more AV kit seems to be “network enabled”, to the extent that if you've not got some Cat 5 whacked into it then you end up missing out on a good deal of functionality. Or at least, that's how it seems to me.
It wasn't long ago when people thought I was talking nonsense when I suggested that internet speed and quality could affect house prices. I think internal networking is the next big thing that the UK hose market needs to get on board with.

And no, wireless is not the solution. Especially in business, no matter how small :wallbash:
Landlines are all well and good, but the price of telephony has been way too artificially high, and VoIP is a significantly cheaper solution which is only going to get more appealing over time. Mainstream broadband has put a dent in demand for all other home services, after all, who needs ludicrously expensive PSTN and broadcast satellite/cable when you can pipe all your services through broadband and use superior online services which are actually in competition.