2012 Worldwide Telecoms - Key Industry Statistics and Insights

Last updated: 18 Jul 2012 Update History

Report Status: Archived

Report Pages: 159

Analyst: Kylie Wansink

Contact BuddeComm

Purchase this Report

Summary
Table Of Contents

Publication Overview

This report provides a valuable overview of trends and developments for the global telecoms sector with a focus on Internet, mobile and mobile broadband. The report analyses these key market segments and the future of the telecoms sector as a whole. It provides key global statistics and insights.

Subjects include:

The future of the telecoms industry;
Opportunities for the telcos;
Fundamental changes in the mobile sector;
Key global telecoms statistics;
Ranking of global telecom and broadband leaders;
Key global mobile statistics;
Key global mobile handset and touchscreen tablet statistics;
Global mobile broadband and mobile app statistics and insights;
Global Internet statistics and usage;
Global VoIP statistics and insights.

Key developments:

The telco model of the future will be based on OTT; both mobile and fixed infrastructure is going to rely heavily on fixed fibre networks; Telstra (Australia) is leading the global telco move towards the OTT model; IoT is the next frontier.

Reserachers:- Kylie Wansink, Paul Budde, Lucia Bibolini, Peter Evans, Paul Kwon, Henry Lancaster, Peter Lange, Stephen McNamara.
Current publication date:- July 2012 (9th Edition)

Executive Summary

Telecoms a vibrant and changing industry

BuddeComm’s annual publication Global Telecoms – Key Industry Statistics and Insights, provides the key global statistics and trends for the telecoms sector today including fixed services, Internet, mobile and mobile broadband.

It explores the growing concern that many of the social, economic and financial structures have outlived their usefulness and there is no longer a linear way forward. As a result we will have to come up with new solutions and in many ways ICT will be the game-changer.

Despite economic and financial upheavals, the telecoms industry is moving ahead at a fast pace. As a matter of fact our industry is one of the least affected by this turmoil; however the telecoms industry does continue to be involved in a massive transformation.

Since the arrival of the internet, the focus of the industry has moved from providing defined end-products to becoming a facilitator in the development of a range of new products, companies, and indeed new industries.

In recent years we have seen the emergence of digital media and observed the enormous changes to both the industry and society as a result of mobile and mobile broadband.

The next phase of development revolves around the digital economy. Trans-sector services such as e-health, tele-education, e-government, smart grids and the Internet of Things (IoT), incorporating M2M.

In particular, the IoT is the next inflection point after connecting homes (fixed lines) and people (mobile). It will increase telecoms connections to billions of devices. The telcos have an opportunity to show leadership in the developments - but this could equally become another internet-like development, driven by users and the internet industry.

There are many opportunities for the telcos if they are prepared to embrace change. Embracing the OTT model is one option as it opens the way for telcos to start offering certain services internationally. An OTT business model allows the world to become their marketplace.

Perhaps the best option for the telcos is to concentrate on the enormous demand for bandwidth. This needs to be managed, moved around the networks and made available at the edges - using converging wireless and fixed high-speed broadband infrastructure. IoT requires massive data processing through data centres and server farms, linked to an enormous requirement for real-time analytics.

It has become acknowledged that the amount of spectrum needed to satisfy people’s demand from mobile phones, tablets and soon a range of other smart devices is going to be limitless. Mobile carriers are scrambling for spectrum, but it is already known that the spectrum that will become available from the digital dividend (i.e. reuse of broadcast spectrum) will not be enough.

The telco market will remain in transition for at least the next 10 years and during this period new businesses and new industries will develop that will be similar to those we have seen emerging around the internet and mobile broadband.

Market Highlights

Some of the largest VoIP service providers in the world in 2012 include NTT, Comcast and France Telecom.
In 2012 Skype is considered to be the global mobile VoIP leader.
On average, almost 24 hours is spent online by the global Internet population each month.
In 2012 around a third of the global population will use the Internet.
Internet Explorer (IE) and Google Chrome are two of the most popular web browsers worldwide, with other strong players like Firefox and Safari also competing in the market.
Unlike the fixed market, the mobile market is, in general, competitive – with some good products and prices arriving in the market. This, in turn, has driven demand for mobile broadband. However it is important to realise that this growth has as much to do with affordability as it has to do with the technical innovations in and around smartphones.
Developments in the USA, Australia and New Zealand are providing insights into the future direction of the mobile industry.

1. Telecoms Industry in 2012 and beyond
- 1.1 The Future of the Telecoms Industry
  - 1.1.1 From benign to hard-line monopoly
  - 1.1.2 Telco model of the future will be based on OTT
  - 1.1.3 The end of the line for PSTN and HFC networks
  - 1.1.4 Telstra leading the global telco move towards the OTT model
  - 1.1.5 IoT the next frontier
  - 1.1.6 Conclusion
- 1.2 Is There a Future for the Telcos?
  - 1.2.1 Telecoms market is transforming but the telcos are not
  - 1.2.2 Telcos lost the internet battle
  - 1.2.3 Telcos also lost the mobile content battle
  - 1.2.4 Next on the chopping block – the infrastructure
  - 1.2.5 So what is next for the telcos?
  - 1.2.6 Is bandwidth the new growth market for the telcos?
- 1.3 Fundamental Changes to the Mobile Industry
  - 1.3.1 The spectrum crunch
  - 1.3.2 Mobile infrastructure becomes a fibre feed-in
  - 1.3.3 Industry consolidation is a must
  - 1.3.4 Market leadership no longer with the operators
  - 1.3.5 Mobile broadband: killer app for FttH
  - 1.3.6 Case study: Europe
2. Global Telecoms and Mobile Sector Key Statistics
- 2.1 Global Telecoms - Key Statistics at a Glance
  - 2.1.1 Key global telecoms statistics in 2012
  - 2.1.2 Global telecommunications expenditure and revenue
  - 2.1.3 Satellite services
  - 2.1.4 Global telecoms outsourcing
  - 2.1.5 Conclusions
- 2.2 Global Ranking - Telecoms and Broadband Leaders
  - 2.2.1 Global top 11 wireless carriers by subscribers
  - 2.2.2 Global top 10 fixed line carriers by lines in service
  - 2.2.3 Global major 11 broadband carriers by subscribers
  - 2.2.4 Major 228 carriers worldwide by revenue and subcribers
  - 2.2.5 Major 104 parent telecoms companies worldwide
- 2.3 Global Mobile - Key Statistics at a Glance
  - 2.3.1 Mobile – the major battleground
  - 2.3.2 Global mobile CAPEX and services revenue
  - 2.3.3 Global mobile ARPU
  - 2.3.4 Global mobile churn
  - 2.3.5 Spotlight on selected developing markets
  - 2.3.6 Mobile market insights
  - 2.3.7 Conclusion: mobile phones are a powerful tool
- 2.4 Global Mobile - Handset and Touchscreen Statistics
  - 2.4.1 Historical handset market growth
  - 2.4.2 Global mobile handset statistics and forecasts
  - 2.4.3 Smartphones leaders
  - 2.4.4 Touchscreen tablets
  - 2.4.5 Other trends and developments
  - 2.4.6 Safety and security issues
- 2.5 Global Mobile Broadband - Key Statistics and Mobile App Insights
  - 2.5.1 Market summary
  - 2.5.2 Mobile broadband insights
  - 2.5.3 Mobile apps insights
  - 2.5.4 Interesting wireless broadband start-up examples
  - 2.5.5 Mobile TV/video comms
  - 2.5.6 Brief case studies
  - 2.5.7 Early adopters: Japan and South Korea
  - 2.5.8 Japan
  - 2.5.9 South Korea
  - 2.5.10 Technology insights
3. Global Internet Sector Key Statistics
- 3.1 Global Internet – Search Engines, Websites and Usage
  - 3.1.1 Web 2.0
  - 3.1.2 Internet traffic continues to grow
  - 3.1.3 Internet users and penetration
  - 3.1.4 The World Wide Web
  - 3.1.5 Search engines
  - 3.1.6 Websites
  - 3.1.7 Other developments
- 3.2 Global Internet – VoIP market insights
  - 3.2.1 VoIP market summary
  - 3.2.2 VoIP market insights
  - 3.2.3 Case studies: China and Japan - 2010
4. Glossary of Abbreviations

Table 1 – Visitors to top web properties worldwide – 2008; June 2009; May 2011
Table 2 – Worldwide - broadband market share by access technology – 2009 - 2011
Table 3 – Bharti Airtel mobile ARPU – 2004 - 2005; 2007 - 2011
Table 4 – Worldwide smartphone operating systems by market share – 2007 – 2010; Q3 2011
Table 5 – Top ten carriers worldwide by revenue – 2010; 2011
Table 6 – Worldwide telecom statistics at a glance – 2012
Table 7 – Worldwide Internet users – 2000 - 2012
Table 8 – Worldwide fixed broadband subscribers and annual change – 2005 - 2012
Table 9 – Broadband access among Internet households – selected countries – 2004 - 2010
Table 10 – Worldwide DSL subscribers – 2000 - 2012
Table 11 – Worldwide mobile subscriptions and annual change – 2000 - 2012
Table 12 – Global telecoms capital expenditure – 2008 - 2012
Table 13 – Global telecoms expenditure as a percentage of GDP – 1990; 2006; 2009
Table 14 – Worldwide satellite industry revenue – 2008 - 2010
Table 15 – Worldwide satellite services revenue – 2003; 2006; 2008; 2010
Table 16 – Worldwide mobile satellite devices – 2008; 2010; 2018
Table 17 – Worldwide total contract value of outsourced services across all sectors – Q1 2008 – 2011; Q3 2011
Table 18 – Global top 11 wireless carriers by revenue and subscribers – 2010; 2011
Table 19 – Global top 10 fixed carriers by revenue and lines in service – 2010; 2011
Table 20 – Major 11 broadband carriers by subscribers – 2010; 2011
Table 21 – Major 228 telecoms companies worldwide - 2011
Table 22 - Major 104 parent telecoms companies worldwide - 2011
Table 23 – Worldwide mobile statistics at a glance – 2012
Table 24 – Worldwide mobile subscriptions and annual change – 2000 - 2012
Table 25 – Mobile subscribers by region – 1993 - 2011
Table 26 – Worldwide 3G subscribers – 2004 - 2012
Table 27 – India - GSM mobile operators, subscribers and market share – 2010
Table 28 – China - Mobile subscribers by operator and annual change – March 2011
Table 29 – USA - Mobile major operator subscriber market share – 2008 - 2011
Table 30 – Worldwide MVNO subscribers –2010; 2013; 2015
Table 31 – Worldwide mobile CAPEX – 2008 - 2012
Table 32 – Worldwide mobile services revenue – 2008 - 2012
Table 33 – Worldwide average mobile monthly ARPU – 2005 - 2013
Table 34 – India - mobile ARPU by technology, prepaid/postpaid/blended – 2010
Table 35 – India - mobile ARPU (GSM and CDMA) – 2005 - 2010
Table 36 – Vodafone customer churn by key market (Europe) – 2004 - 2011
Table 37 – TeliaSonera annualised customer churn by key market (Europe) – 2007 - 2011
Table 38 – Telekom Deutschland annualised monthly customer churn by key market – 2009 - 2011
Table 39 – France Telecom customer churn by key market (Europe) – 2007 - 2011
Table 40 –Mobile termination rates by region – 2005; 2010
Table 41 – Worldwide mobile roaming revenue – 2000; 2008; 2012
Table 42 – Number of prepaid subscriptions worldwide – 2007 - 2012
Table 43 – Prepaid service revenue worldwide – 2005 - 2012
Table 44 – Brazil - mobile prepaid/postpaid ratio – 2002 - 2011
Table 45 – India - prepaid mobile subscribers: share of total market – 2003 - 2010
Table 46 – China - mobile subscribers and annual change – 1995 - 2012
Table 47 – Overview of India’s mobile market – 2009 - 2010
Table 48 – India - mobile subscribers, annual change and penetration – 2006 - 2012
Table 49 – India - mobile subscribers (GSM and CDMA) – 2002 - 2010
Table 50 – India - mobile penetration urban and rural – 2007; 2009 - 2010
Table 51 – India - mobile services revenue – 1996 - 2012
Table 52 – Worldwide overall mobile handset sales – 2004 - 2013
Table 53 – Worldwide overall mobile handset sales by quarter – 2009 – Q1 2012
Table 54 – Mobile handset revenue worldwide – 2009 - 2014
Table 55 – Mobile handset sales regional market share - 2011
Table 56 – Handset supplier worldwide market shares – 1999 – Q1 2012
Table 57 – Worldwide smart phone mobile device sales by quarter – 2009 – Q1 2012
Table 58 – Worldwide smartphone operating systems by market share – 2009 – Q1 2012
Exhibit 21 – Examples of Touchscreen Tablets
Table 59 – Worldwide touchscreen tablet device leaders ranked – Q1 2012
Table 60 – Worldwide touchscreen tablet operating system market share – mid 2010; 2011
Table 61 – Worldwide touchscreen tablet sales – 2010 - 2012
Table 62 – China mobile subscribers and annual change – 1995 - 2012
Table 63 – Worldwide mobile services revenue – 2008; 2010; 2012
Table 64 – Global - key app store competitors
Table 65 – Worldwide mobile TV subscribers
Table 66 – Japan - Prepaid mobile subscribers – December 2010
Table 67 – Japan - mobile Internet subscribers, services and technology by provider – August 2011
Table 68 – Japan - mobile Internet subscribers by providers – 2004 - 2010
Table 69 – Japan - mobile Internet subscribers – 2000 – 2011
Table 70 – South Korea -Wireless internet subscribers by service provider – June 2008
Table 71 – South Korea - Wireless internet subscribers by service provider – December 2010
Table 72 – SK Telecom wireless internet ARPU by service type – 2005 - 2009
Table 73 – South Korea - purpose of using mobile phone wireless internet – 2009 - 2010
Table 74 – South Korea - wireless internet device usage - 2010
Table 75 – Worldwide HSPA subscribers – 2010; 2013
Table 76 – Worldwide LTE subscriber forecast – 2013 - 2015
Table 77 – Worldwide LTE growth – October 2010; January 2011; July 2011; January 2012
Table 78 – Worldwide WiMAX subscribers – 2011 – 2015
Table 79 – Number of Wi-Fi mobile handset shipments worldwide – 2009 – 2010; 2015
Table 80 – Number of public Wi-Fi hotspots – top 10 countries worldwide – mid-2009; early 2011
Table 81 – Worldwide Internet penetration by region – 2009; 2011
Table 82 – Top ten ranking by country by Internet users – Mid 2008; Mid 2011
Table 83 – Percentage of Internet traffic to non-computer devices – selected countries- 2011
Table 84 – Selected countries – average time spent online each month – Q4 2010; Q4 2011
Table 85 – Top US online activities – Q3 2010; 2011
Table 86 – Historical - top online activities – 2008
Table 87 – Number of domain names worldwide – 2007 - 2011
Table 88 – Internet users by top 10 languages – 2005; 2007; 2010
Table 89 – Worldwide market share of top 4 browsers – various months – 2008; 2010; 2012
Table 90 – Web server market share top 4 developers – various months – 2006; 2008; 2010; 2012
Table 91 – Worldwide search engine market share – Jan 2010; May 2011; Jan 2012
Table 92 – Number of websites worldwide – various months - 2004; 2006; 2008; 2009; 2011
Table 93 – Visitors to top web properties worldwide – 2008; June 2009; May 2011
Table 94 – Visitors to top 10 mobile web properties worldwide – March 2012
Table 95 – Worldwide VoIP subscriber base – 2005; 2007; 2009; 2011; 2013
Table 96 – Worldwide VoIP services market value – 2010; 2015
Table 97 - Largest VoIP providers by subscribers – mid-2008; mid 2011
Table 98 – Largest alternative VoIP providers by subscribers – 2009 - 2011
Table 99 – Worldwide registered users of Skype – 2007 - 2011
Table 100 – Growth in IP telephony in China – 2004 - 2010
Table 101 – Registered Tom-Skype users in China – 2005 - 2009
Table 102 – VoIP subscribers and annual change in Japan – 2004 - 2010
Table 103 – VoIP subscribers and market share by operator in Japan – June 2010
Table 104 – Carrier share of VoIP subscribers in Japan – 2006 - 2010

Chart example – Worldwide Internet users – 2000 - 2012
Chart 1 – Worldwide Internet users – 2000 - 2012
Chart 2 – Worldwide fixed broadband subscribers - 2005 – 2012
Chart 3 – Worldwide DSL subscribers - 2000 – 2012
Chart 4 – Worldwide mobile subscribers 2000 - 2012
Chart 5 - Global top 11 wireless carriers by subscribers – 2010; 2011
Chart 6 - Global top 10 fixed carriers by lines in service – 2010; 2011
Chart 7 - Major 11 broadband carriers by subscribers – 2010; 2011
Chart 8 – Worldwide mobile subscribers 2000 - 2012
Chart 9 – Worldwide 3G subscribers - 2004 - 2012
Chart 10 – China mobile subscriber growth, population penetration – 2000 - 2012
Chart 11 – India - mobile subscribers and penetration – 2006 - 2012
Chart 12 – India - mobile subscribers by technology and mobile services revenue – 2002 - 2010
Chart 13 – China mobile subscriber growth, population penetration – 2000 - 2012
Chart 14 – Worldwide mobile TV subscriber annual change – 2009 - 2014
Chart 15 – South Korea - trends in wireless internet usage rate – 2002 - 2010
Chart 16 – Worldwide LTE Network Commitment and Commercial Networks – Oct 2010 – Jan 2012

Exhibit 1 – Apple iPhone and Apple iTunes
Exhibit 2 – Major shareholders in Bharti Airtel – April 2011
Exhibit 3 – Digital economy – key developments
Exhibit 4 – UMTS900 commercial network operators (3G) in Europe – 2011
Exhibit 5 – UMTS900 commercial network operators (3G) in Europe – 2010
Exhibit 6 – Major global fixed satellite service operators
Exhibit 7 – Carrier attributes churn to poor network coverage
Exhibit 8 – Growth drivers for prepaid mobiles in emerging markets
Exhibit 9 – Number Portability important element in competition
Exhibit 10 – Examples of countries with mobile numbering plans
Exhibit 11 – Digital Dividend
Exhibit 12 – FMC service examples
Exhibit 13 – Growth inhibitors for FMC
Exhibit 14 – Leading dual-mode mobile device manufacturers
Exhibit 15 – Mobile billionaires
Exhibit 16 – Billions in revenue from replacements handsets
Exhibit 17 – Handset prices in decline
Exhibit 18 – Apple iPhone and Apple iTunes
Exhibit 19 – Open Handset Alliance
Exhibit 20 – Spotlight on Nokia and smart phone sector
Exhibit 22 – Satellite phone
Exhibit 23 – Approximate data rates for selected services on mobile devices
Exhibit 24 –Mobile Apps examples
Exhibit 25 – Global top 10 most popular mobile apps - 2011
Exhibit 26 – Open Mobile Video Coalition
Exhibit 27 – Mobile TV/Video – emerging across the world
Exhibit 28 – First example of video media collaboration
Exhibit 29 – South Korea - Wireless internet operators and services
Exhibit 30 – Defined: HSPA, HSDPA, HSUPA
Exhibit 31 – LTE definition
Exhibit 32 – Countries with LTE commercial networks – January 2012
Exhibit 33 – WiMAX Forum
Exhibit 34 – UQ Communications starts WiMAX deployments
Exhibit 35 – Bluetooth SIG
Exhibit 36 – Historical growth of the Internet
Exhibit 37 – Examples of Web 2.0 developments
Exhibit 38 – Examples of popular domain name suffixes worldwide – 2012
Exhibit 39 – World Wide Web - The phenomenon of the 1990s
Exhibit 40 – Mozilla Firefox
Exhibit 41 – Examples of alternative search engines
Exhibit 42 – Difference between Grid Computing, Utility Computing and Cloud Computing
Exhibit 43 – VoIP market – selected key developments
Exhibit 44 – Examples of large consumer VoIP service providers by region
Exhibit 45 – Skype in the classroom
Exhibit 46 – What is IMS?

Related Reports

Purchase this Report

Contact BuddeComm

Share this Report

TMT Intelligence

A platform to scale your intelligence tasks

Monitor critical insights with our AI-powered Market Intelligence Platform gathering and analyzing intelligence in real time. With AI trained to spot emerging trends and detect new strategic opportunities, our clients use TMT Intelligence to accelerate their growth.

If you want to know more about it, please see:

TMT Intelligence Platform

Research Methodology

BuddeComm's strategic business reports contain a combination of both primary and secondary research statistics, analyses written by our senior analysts supported by a network of experts, industry contacts and researchers from around the world as well as our own scenario forecasts.

For more details, please see:

Research Methodology

More than 4,000 customers from 140 countries utilise BuddeComm Research

Are you interested in BuddeComm's Custom Research Service?

Hot Topics

News & Views

Have the latest telecommunications industry news delivered to your inbox by subscribing to BuddeComm's weekly newsletter.

Unsubscribe