Sector confidence intact but external challenges persist
Telecoms are confident about sector growth prospects, with 55% of respondents highlighting that their view has improved over the last six months compared with just 4% citing a worsening outlook. This contrasts with 14% who see global economic prospects in decline.
Nevertheless, concerns around external pressures are never far from the surface. Thirty-one percent of respondents see competition from existing competitors and new market entrants as the most significant challenge to their companies’ growth plans, while 21% view regulatory uncertainty as the greatest external risk facing their business, which was the leading answer.
Meanwhile, 71% of operators believe that competition for assets will rise in the year ahead. Private equity acquirers have accounted for three of the five largest deals in telecoms in 2019 so far, and 80% of telecoms executives expect them to be a major acquirer of assets in the next 12 months.