Telcos in quest for new revenue streams

Although voice revenues for telecom operators – fixed line and mobile – are expected to increase in Africa over the next five years, alternative revenue sources are urgently being considered by telcos, some of which will be addressed at the upcoming AfricaCom 2015 work sessions.

How to harness data and whether big data can be successfully monetised by operators, will be a pivotal discussion at ‘New Revenue Streams’, an addition to the AfricaCom 2015 line-up.  Matthew Reed, Principal Analyst at Ovum, noted recently that mobile data revenues in Africa are expected to almost double over the coming five years, rising from about $10.8bn in 2014 to $20.9bn in 2019. This figure also includes the shift towards digital service offerings from the operators to consumers and enterprise alike.

Supporting this premise and adding fuel to the data burning, is the emergence and rapid adoption of new character-based languages, such as Emojii.  From pen pals, to email and now to graphic engagement, the world of communication is changing.  This is also good news for African MNOs as these graphic lingos are catching on fast, aiding social inclusion with their easy-to-understand representations and subsequently boosting data traffic across all income groups.

However, data continues to be expensive in Africa and in order for fixed line and mobile network operators to remain profitable for the foreseeable future, diversification of service and product offerings, has to occur.  For this reason, topics at the ‘New Revenue Streams’ session will also include: Opportunities for revenue from the Triple Play Model as well as the role that Machine to Machine (M2M) services could play in Africa – how the technology works, what business models and what standards would need to be agreed on and implemented for device to device communications to succeed.

Discussing the various opportunities that are currently available and even those of the future, are numerous industry achievers.  Included in the line-up is Rapelang Rabana, founder of Re-Kindle Learning – acknowledged by the World Economic Forum as Entrepreneur for the World – who will share her insights as to how learning and mobile can be combined for revenue and social enhancement.

“As the digital economy evolves, telcos have a unique opportunity to play a more active role in the ‘advancement’ of society and, global enterprise” commented Julie Rey-Gore, Research Director for Com World Series.  Indeed, Telcos are integral and influential to many aspects of our connected lives ranging from media and information, to trade and finance as well as education and healthcare.  As such, an increasing part of this ‘ever on’ segment is the growing ‘Wearable Device’ market and its influence on digital retail.

Globally, Wearables are currently valued at approximately USD 8 billion and are predicted to grow to between USD10 billion – USD 12.6 billion by 2018 as we march towards singularity and a brain-computer interfaced society.  For Telcos, owning a slice of the connected living market is an opportunity not to be ignored, consequently this will also be debated during the session on Wednesday 18^th November, day two of AfricaCom 2015.

Other notable organisations taking part in the discussions on this day will be: Malawi Telecommunications, Zamtel, Airtel Africa, Procera Networks, Wananchi Group, NEC Corportaion, BCSG, Huawei Technologies and BTCL.