Annual global operator-billed revenues from voice and data services are expected to fall by over $50 billion over the next 5 years, from $837 billion last year to $785 billion by 2022, according to a new report released by Juniper Research.
According to the report, the anticipated decline to further migration to OTT messaging and social media services, with data bundle pricing erosion also expected to impact significantly on revenues.
Despite that, Juniper Research has identified a series of new revenue opportunities and cost savings which collectively would enable operators to sustain, or even increase, margins.
The study claimed that the opportunities afforded by the IoT (Internet of Things) should enable operators to increase revenues from that sector by over $8 billion by 2022. It also argued that A2P messaging adoption across a number of key verticals including marketing, banking and healthcare should result in a similar uplift in revenues from that source.
Meanwhile, the report highlighted a series of measures by which costs could be reduced, including network virtualization, the implementation of next-generation firewalls and improving customer relationship management.