|
|
This migration to mobility - coupled with the burgeoning smart phone market - will have a profound effect on telecommunications companies according to the analyst. By 2015 Frost & Sullivan claims that there will be twice as many mobile broadband users as fixed broadband users.
According to Frost & Sullivan partner and head of ICT practice, Nitin Bhat; 'The value of mobility far exceeds the incremental bandwidth in home high speed broadband network.' NBN naysayers however should not consider this as the death knell for the organisation.
Mr Bhat indicated that purely commercial business cases for fibre to the premises high speed broadband networks did not stack up; 'that is why you need one player and Government participation,' he said.
Waiting for the industry to go it alone to develop FTTP networks was not realistic. Instead he said that over the next decade broadband networks would be increasingly recognised as a 'national utility and GDP accelerator.'
Telecommunications companies in general however were warned to prepare for challenging times ahead as more mature growth rates of 4-5 per cent a year took hold through the decade, far slower than the exuberant 12 per cent plus growth rates that the industry has more recently enjoyed. 'This is driving down margins dramatically,' said Mr Bhat.
|
One of the major new opportunities for telecommunications companies was in acting as conduits to and platforms for cloud computing services according to the firm's analysts. Telcos' existing billing systems and large networks were a significant asset in this regard.
Research director Arun Chandrasekaran predicted that in the medium term cloud services would significantly disrupt the ICT landscape.
Australia was leading the region in terms of cloud adoption with 35 per cent of organisations reporting that they were currently using cloud (22 per cent hybrid, 6 per cent private and 7 per cent public).
