Its new report, which assesses the wholesale roaming landscape across 60 countries, identified the top five countries for inbound roaming subscribers in 2024:
1. US (US$164 million)
2. France (US$147 million)
3. China (US$136 million)
4. Spain (US$70 million)
5. Mexico (US$66 million)
Together, these countries will account for over 583 million inbound roaming connections, representing 40% of the global market share next year.
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Strong tourist markets and roaming agreements were cited by Juniper Research as key factors to robust roaming connections.
Specifically, VoLTE roaming readiness and contingencies for 5G and IoT connections will prove critical in maximising the return on investment for wholesale roaming revenue.
“As roaming networks become increasingly complex, operators must invest in identification tools to ensure they can accommodate the predicted influx of inbound roaming connections over the next five years, especially as the travel industry is expected to exceed pre-pandemic levels for the first time in 2024,” commented Juniper Research report author Elisha Sudlow-Poole.
The analysis forecasts global wholesale roaming revenue will rise from US$7.1 billion in 2023 to US$27.6 billion by 2028, accounting 286% of growth over the next five years driven by demand for data-centric cases including IoT over VoLTE and 5G networks.
Therefore, the research urges operators “to invest in strong network analytics and device identification tools either in-house or via third-party roaming providers to enable detection of data-intensive roaming connections to provide accurate billing settlements, maximising wholesale roaming revenue.”