Rising mobile internet service revenues over the next five years will not necessarily translate into profit, ABI Research analysts warn.
The firm predicts revenues will generate double digit CAGR increases in Middle East, Africa, and Latin America over the next five years, with data consumption per subscriber in the three regions tipped to grow at a CAGR of between 45% and 49% between 2013 and 2018.
However, Jake Saunders, vice president and practice director at ABI, says the profitability of carriers in the three markets will be affected by their ability to react to new regulations. “For example, a slash in termination rates means consumers have fewer reasons to subscribe to different operators concurrently. The battle to gain market share will be even more intense.”
The risk of regulation may be worth taking, if ABI’s forecasts prove accurate. The firm tips subscribers in Middle East and Latin America to generate at least 2.5-GB of data traffic a month by 2018, and that Africa will generate consistent messaging service revenue growth over the five years.