Price increases are the only answer to Europe’s telecoms crisis

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Recent data has shown stark differences in telecoms revenue growth between different regions, mostly driven by how each country has been affected by rising energy costs, inflation, COVID-19 recovery, and new government policies. In particular, Western Europe has shown the worst revenue growth performance in the world in 2022, with only 0.8% YoY growth across mobile and fixed communications services. This report discusses the situation in Europe and how operators can return to meaningful growth.

Asia and the Middle East are thriving

Telecoms services revenue growth is slowest in Western Europe (see Figure 1). Operators in the region have shifted strategy to tactical cost-saving mode, reducing capex and scaling back innovation to core business areas. By contrast, operators in South-Eastern Asia such as China Mobile, SKT, and others continue to invest heavily in new growth opportunities and next-generation networks. While growth in the Oceania, Eastern & South-Eastern Asia (OESEA) region has been slow in 2022, China’s recovery from COVID-19 and return to travel will drive growth throughout 2023 in the region. In the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) area, the recent economic boom has brought more market confidence than ever, led in particular by huge investments from the Saudi government as part of its Vision 2030 program. India is the largest growth market for telecoms in terms of absolute revenue gain and offers many opportunities in the coming years. Operators in Brazil, Mexico, and the rest of Latin America continue to try to temper raging inflation while meeting growing demand for next-generation network services.