Heads of UK telecoms businesses believe the next decade will be a bleak time for their industry, as regulation and higher taxes take their toll on growth prospects.
A survey by banking group Barclays Corporate reveals that 71% of telecoms business leaders expect taxes to rise over the next decade, while 27% expect a steep rise in bureaucracy.
Telecoms firms also have little faith the government will have overturned a budget deficit by 2021, with Barclays noting the largest firms are the most pessimistic.
Lorraine Ruckstuhl, corporate director of the bank’s technology, media and telecoms division, says the results show telecoms companies are “getting anxious that the growth and development of the sector may be stifled.” She advises the government take a light touch with the industry “so foreign investment and growth continue.”
Barclays quizzed the heads of 664 businesses for their views on the political conditions their firms are likely to face by 2021.