As we wrap up another tumultuous but fascinating year in the telecoms sector, it’s already time for industry players to gear up for 2015, which by most accounts is going to be just as tumultuous but no less fascinating.
There’s no shortage of projections and predictions as to what 2015 holds in store for telecoms. But with pretty much every single aspect of the telecoms space undergoing some form of transformation - some of them gradual, some of them jarring, many of them game-changing - it’s difficult to sum them all up in the space of a few pages.
So we asked seven top analyst firms, consultancies and industry experts to name the telecoms trends in the next 12 to 18 months that they consider to be worth tracking. And if there’s a common thread among them, it’s this: if you’re going to transform your business, now would be a good time to do it.
According to our experts, 2015 is going to be the year where old business models finally start to flame out and operators will need to get into the digital services business to survive. And that will require an internal change in culture in mindset for many players.
This message isn’t new. But it’s never been more urgent.
Meanwhile, a number of new opportunities are springing up for operators to capitalize on, particularly in regards to mobile payments and finance services, unified communications for enterprises and, of course, the Internet of Things. But even those will require operators to rethink their strategies and business models to have a hope of cashing in on them.
And that’s assuming they’ll have the ability to do so. The other big potential disruptor in 2015 could be net neutrality. A number of telecoms regulators are formulating policies on it. Many of those policies will be finalized next year - and the price of getting net neutrality wrong will be high.
Seven incentives to change your game:
1. Fiddling over net neutrality while business models burn
2. Goodbye telcos, hello IDSPs
3. Cellcos remain their own worst enemy
4. Mobile Money Part 1: Apple Pay will break payments gridlock
5. Mobile Money Part 2: Wireless/digital finance earns additional interest
6. Plenty of room in 2015 unified comms market
7. Getting to grips with the IoT value chain
More coverage of 2015 predictions
This article first appeared on Telecom Asia Vision 2015 Supplement December 2014 edition