Global telecoms market: trends and forecasts 2024–2029

16 May 2025 | Research

Jonathan Daniel

Forecast report | PPTX and PDF (50 slides) | Global Telecoms Data and Financial KPIs


"Mobile revenue will continue to grow, driven by an increase in the number of 4G/5G connections, rising data usage and migration to high-value plans."

174995081_735x70.jpg

Telecoms service revenue worldwide is projected to grow at a CAGR of 1% between 2024 and 2029. Core mobile and fixed services will account for the majority (75.8%) of the total telecoms retail revenue in 2029, driven by 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.

Landing_page_735_wide.png

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

Click below to take you to the latest dataset if you are logged in and it is part of your subscription. The DataHub interface will only show you the data to which you are subscribed.

Launch DataHub

USD8799

Log in

Log in to check if this content is included in your content subscription.

Author

Jonathan Daniel

Analyst

Related items

16 May 2025 Research

Article

Telecoms operators are hoping to defend ASPU by bundling in AI products such as ChatGPT and Perplexity
26 March 2025 Research

Tracker report

Operators’ financial KPIs: FY2024
28 June 2024 Research

Article

Bouygues Telecom, KPN and Vodafone are hoping to gain more than just market share by acquiring MVNOs

We use cookies to improve your experience

We use cookies to improve the functionality and performance of this site. Please click 'Accept' to continue browsing the site. Learn about our use of cookies in our Privacy Policy.