BY PATRICK McLAUGHLIN
Europe has achieved world domination where it really counts-in the telecommunications market-but some other regions of the planet are growing at a more rapid pace than the continent.
The latest annual market report from the U.S.-based Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA; www.tiaonline.org) says consumption in Europe totaled more than $1 trillion in 2006.
That number includes an array of equipment and services, such as network equipment, enterprise equipment, consumer telecommunications landline equipment, wireless capital expenditures, Wi-Fi equipment, WiMax equipment, and wireless devices on the equipment side. For services, the report incorporates Internet access, broadband, unified communications, videoconferencing, audioconferencing, Web conferencing, as well as services in support of enterprise networks and customer-premises equipment, and services supporting wirelines, cable, and broadband networks.
The report, authored annually by Wilkofsky Gruen Associates (www.wilkofskygruen.com) for the TIA, divides the worldwide market into six regions: The United States, Canada, Europe, Middle East/Africa, Latin America, and Asia Pacific. It states, “Europe, which had the largest telecommunications market at $1 trillion in 2006, will retain its [worldwide] lead, growing to $1.3 trillion in 2010, a 7-percent compound annual increase.”
The report adds, “Middle East/Africa was the fastest-growing region in 2006, with a 21.6-percent increase. We expect double-digit growth for the next three years, followed by a 9.5-percent increase in 2010.” Despite that rate of growth, the total market for Middle East/Africa in 2010 is projected at just over $146 million; it came in at approximately $92 million in 2006.
In addition, the report finds “Asia/Pacific ... at $715 billion, rose by 15 percent in 2006 ... We expect it to be the fastest-growing during the next four years, expanding at a 12.5-percent compound annual rate to $1.1 trillion in 2010.”
The United States market, to which the report pays the most attention, accounted for $923 billion last year and will grow at a 7.6-percent compound annual rate through 2010, when it will reach $1.2 trillion.
Canada will grow from $42.3 billion last year to $52.3 billion in 2010 (5.4-percent compound rate between 2007 and 2010), while Latin America will expand from $213 billion to nearly $338 billion over the same period (12.2-percent compound rate between 2007 and 2010).
In a briefing on January 25, Wilkofsky Gruen principal, and report author, Arthur Gruen covered key drivers of domestic and international markets. In Europe, he stated, competition in some markets is driving investment in broadband while regulators are encouraging competition in other markets. Meanwhile, governments in the Asia/Pacific region are actively promoting broadband to facilitate economic growth, and the region is a major research-and-development center.
The Middle East/Africa region has few phone connections, Gruen stated, and is focusing its efforts on expanding basic infrastructure. And improved economy is driving telecommunications in Latin America, which he said is experiencing rapid growth in public network equipment and telephone penetration.
Commented TIA president Grant Seiffert: “Technologies like Voice over Internet Protocol and broadband video, as well as new mobile data services, are sparking new growth in the telecommunications industry. As a result, carriers are offering more competitive all-in-one bundled packages, and consumers are seeing lower prices and more services.”
