Telcos Missing $Billions in Africa
The future of Nigerian telcos would depend on their capacities to grow revenues from platforms, applications and services (PAS). The PAS would have Internet of Things (IoT ) as the hub. GSMA, an industry body, projects that connectivity revenue will be just 5% of total IoT revenue by 2025. Global IoT revenue would hit $1.1 trillion by 2025 - a huge opportunity for startups.
From health to agriculture, logistics and security, and more, PAS will drive telecom business.
The GSMA, a global body that represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting nearly 800 operators with more than 300 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, has urged operators to look beyond connectivity and begin to tap into the Internet of Things (IoT) market, which be worth $1.1 trillion in revenue by 2025.
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GSMA said it is riding on its Intelligence Report, which releases Global IoT connections and revenue forecasts. According to new data from GSMA Intelligence, market is gradually shifting from connectivity to platforms, applications and services, noting that by the end of 2025, there will be more than 25 billion IoT connections (cellular2 and non-cellular), driven largely by growth in the industrial IoT market.
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It argues that although connectivity revenue will grow over the period, it will only account for 5 per cent of the total IoT revenue opportunity by 2025, underscoring the need for operators to expand their capabilities beyond connectivity in order to capture a greater share of market value. This is a challenge already being addressed by a number of operators, which are creating dedicated IoT business units and service lines.
Interesting projection, which requires a lot of thinking out loud for it to come to fruition in this part of the world. The telcos have the data and customers' spending powers, and yet seem to be at a loss on how to maximise the benefits of what they already have.
There's really nothing innovative about going on relentless customer acquisition drive or doing countless airtime promos, which end up depleting the much needed revenue.
I think their maturity level has reached where they need to understand the future of technology and channel their research and investment there, rather than doing the same old thing which doesn't inspire or motivate anymore.
The PAS would help each of them to offer something unique, with sound value proposition; at the moment, they are just copying and doing the same thing.