IDC: Global Telecommunications Market Size to Reach USD 1.53 Trillion in 2020

On May 13, according to IDC's Global Semi-annual Telecommunications Services Tracker, the global telecommunications and pay-TV services market experienced a recovery in the second half of 2020. Prior to this, the growth of online video users was driven by the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic.

While revenue results did not change significantly in 2020, the pandemic has dramatically altered trends that have long shaped the global telecommunications market. Consumer fixed data services have suddenly become the most important type of connection, enabling people at home to work and play. Business fixed data services have temporarily lost momentum as traffic shifted to the consumer sector, but most connections have been retained as they are protected by long-term contracts. Mobile service spending also fell slightly due to slower renewals of contractual agreements, lower out-of-pack spending, and a sharp drop in roaming revenues due to travel restrictions.

IDC predicts that global spending on telecommunications services will grow by just 0.7% to $1.54 trillion in 2021. Growth over the next four years will push the market past the $1.6 trillion mark by 2025.

IDC believes that as remote work, collaboration, and online media consumption are expected to become part of daily life during the pandemic, connectivity will become a more important asset for homes and businesses after the pandemic. Most national markets are expected to accelerate their migration to FTTP access, while the enterprise fixed data market will recover over a longer period of time as economic recovery drives increased investment in the cloudification of corporate business activities. Revenue growth in the mobile services sector will be driven to some extent by 5G applications, which will invite users to deploy more advanced data capabilities and accept content and services that rely on high-speed data connections.

The global telecommunications market has undergone a severe test in 2020 and has successfully passed it. IDC believes that the lessons learned last year will help the industry achieve stable growth in the coming period.