Global Telecoms Market: Trends and Forecasts 2025-2030

"Worldwide telecoms service revenue is projected to grow at a CAGR of 1.3% over the forecast period."

The core mobile and fixed services will account for the majority (75.2%) of the total telecoms retail revenue in 2030, driven by the growth in revenue from mobile handsets and fixed broadband.

This report and the associated data provide:

• a 5-year forecast of around 200 mobile and fixed KPIs for the worldwide telecoms market and for eight regions (note that there are an additional 150 KPIs for Western Europe and Central and Eastern Europe)
• an in-depth analysis of the trends, drivers and forecast assumptions for each type of mobile and fixed service in each geographical region, and a worldwide summary
• an overview of operator strategies and region-specific topics, in order to highlight similarities and differences by means of a cross-regional comparison
• a summary of results and key implications for mobile and fixed operators.

Worldwide totals are refreshed every time any of the regional results are updated.

Geographical coverage

Regions modelled

• Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)
• Developed Asia–Pacific (DVAP)
• Emerging Asia–Pacific (EMAP)
• Latin America (LATAM)
• Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
• North America (NA)
• Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)
• Western Europe (WE)

Key performance indicators

Connections

Mobile:

• total (handset plus mobile broadband, excluding IoT), total including IoT, business
• handset: smartphone, basic, smartphone share of handsets
• mobile broadband
• total, handset and broadband: 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G (and 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G share)
• total and handset: prepaid, contract and prepaid share
• IoT
• penetration: total, prepaid, contract, handset, smartphone, mobile broadband, IoT

Fixed:

• voice: narrowband, VoBB, dial-up
• broadband: ADSL/VDSL, FTTP/B, cable modem, FWA, 5G FWA, other technologies, total business connections
• penetration: voice, broadband (business sites and households)

Pay TV

• operator, traditional

Traffic

• Outgoing minutes (fixed and mobile), MoU
• Cellular data and messaging traffic

Network-independent metrics

• GDP
• Population
• Households
• Business sites
• Exchange rates

Service revenue

Mobile:

• total
• share of GDP
• per capita per month
• prepaid, contract, prepaid share
• 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G (and 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G share)

Fixed:

• total (retail plus wholesale)
• share of GDP
• per capita per month

Retail revenue

Mobile:

• total
• share of GDP
• per capita per month
• per GB
• 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G (and 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G share)
• voice, voice per minute
• data, data per GB
• handset: total, voice, messaging, data, prepaid, contract, prepaid share
• mobile broadband
• IoT

Fixed:

• total
• share of GDP
• per capita per month
• voice
• dedicated connections
• broadband: ADSL/VDSL, FTTP/B, cable modem, FWA, 5G FWA, other technologies

ICT services

Pay TV

• operator, traditional

Wholesale revenue

• Mobile
• Fixed

ASPU

Mobile:

• total
• voice
• data
• mobile broadband
• IoT
• handset: total, prepaid, contract, voice, messaging, data

Fixed:

• voice
• broadband: ADSL/VDSL, FTTP/B, cable modem, FWA, 5G FWA, other technologies

ARPU

Mobile:

• total
• prepaid, contract
• 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G