Telecommunications Industry Statistics (Overview for 2024)

This blog provides comprehensive insights into the telecommunication industry statistics, including trends and future outlooks. Read on!

Key Notes

• 5G Adoption: It is expected that 5G adoption will increase to 54% by 2030, resulting in roughly 5.3 billion connections.
• Economic Impact: 5G will add almost 1 trillion USD to the global economy by 2030, with benefits extending across various industries.
• Mobile Subscriptions: By the end of 2022, there were over 5.4 billion people globally subscribed to a mobile service, including 4.4 billion who also used mobile internet.

Milestone Telecom Industry

Challenges in the Telecommunications Industry

The telecommunication industry’s exponential growth has introduced new challenges.

Telecom companies need to keep pace with challenges like IoT, Gen AI, cloud computing, no-code configuration, open APIs, and many more.

Related read: Cloud Computing in 2024

Key trends shaping the telecommunication industry:

• The focus on 5G monetization as new markets launch 5G services.
• The momentum in private 5G networks.
• The industry’s shift towards sustainability and circularity.
• The growth of the metaverse driven by 5G and AI.

Related read: Telecom industry trends for 2024

The Rise of 5G

The rapid growth of 5G technology is clear, with over 230 commercial 5G networks operating globally.

In fact, the rise of 5G is leading to a decline in the use of legacy networks like 2G and 3G.

Also, most new smartphones nowadays come equipped with 5G capabilities.

5G adoption has already surpassed that of 4G and is on track to become the dominant mobile technology by 2029.

5G technology has rapidly become mainstream in several markets:

• United States,
• South Korea,
• China,
• Japan,
• Germany.

The picture below displays the projected level of 5G adoption in different markets by the year 2030:

Mobile Traffic Growth Worldwide

In 2021 COVID-19 greatly affected mobile data traffic as more people started working from home.

The growth in mobile data can be attributed to: 

• Increasing number of mobile devices and users.
• Growing popularity of applications such as video streaming and online gaming.
• Deployment of 5G networks.

For example, video traffic alone is estimated to comprise about 70% of all mobile data traffic, projected to increase to 80% by 2028.

The picture below represents the mobile data traffic per smartphone in different locations in 2022 with predictions for 2028:

On average people used 15 GB of data in 2022.

China with over 950 million users is leading the way.

India follows, with 492.78 million users that used 25 GB on average.

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The United States has 273.76 million users and they spent around 17.4 GB on average.

The average monthly mobile data usage per smartphone in North America is expected to reach 66 GB in 2029.

Annual Mobile Data Traffic Worldwide

In 2018 people used 26.7 EB mobile data in total.

According to the estimates, the amount of data used on mobile devices is projected to increase significantly, reaching a staggering 483 EB per month by 2028.

Communication Services Revenue

The telecommunication market is divided into:

• Fixed Data: Wired internet services using technologies like DSL, cable, or fiber optics.
• Fixed Voice: Traditional landline telephone services for voice communication.
• Mobile Data: Internet connectivity for mobile devices via cellular networks.
• Mobile Voice: Voice call services for cell phone users using wireless networks.

The picture shows communication services revenue from 2017 to 2023 in million USD:

Related read: Postpaid vs. Prepaid Plans: Which is the Best for You?

Telco Market Share

AT&T is the world’s biggest telecommunications company with

Biggest telecom companies in the world:

• AT&T,
• Verizon,
• China Telecom,
• SK Telecom,
• Deutsche Telekom,
• Vodafone,
• Telefonica.

China Mobile has the most subscribers – 227.2 million subscribers in 2022.

AT&T reported a revenue of 161.50 billion EUR. Verizon followed with a revenue of 117.50 billion EUR. China Mobile generated a revenue of 98.40 billion EUR.

Leading Smartphone Vendors

Apple sells the most smartphones and has more than 1 billion iPhone users in the world.

Smartphone Vendors:

• Samsung 🇰🇷,
• Apple 🇺🇸,
• Xiaomi 🇨🇳,
• Huawei 🇨🇳,
• Oppo and Vivo 🇨🇳.

The market is primarily dominated by Apple and Samsung, but Xiaomi is also performing well.

For example, in 2021 Samsung sold 272.3 million smartphones.

Here’s the graph that shows market share from Q1 2021 to Q4 2022:

There has been a significant increase in mobile subscriptions in recent years.

The number of mobile subscriptions reached 361,66 million, indicating a growth trend that shows no signs of slowing down.

The statistics of mobile subscriptions in the US telecom industry from 2011 to 2021:

The United States has 274 million smartphone users.

Major telecom companies in the USA:

• AT&T,
• T-Mobile,
• Verizon,
• Comcast,
• Charter Communications.

AT&T leads with 15.3 million connections and top customer satisfaction.

However, T-Mobile US offers the fastest 5G download speed and the best coverage in the US.

One of the biggest is Verizon which reported 137 billion USD in revenue in 2021.

Canada Telecom Market Share 2023

The Canadian telecommunications market is dominated by the big three.

Biggest telecommunication companies in Canada:

• Rogers Wireless,
• Bell Mobility.
• Telus Mobility.

Canada has some of the highest prices for mobile data.

Due to the high cost, Canadians are increasingly relying on text and call features.

There is no doubt that the telecommunications industry in Canada requires significant reforms.

European Telecommunications Industry

Europe has a vast and complex telecommunications industry across approximately 44 countries with numerous players in each country.

In addition to major players, smaller countries have their local mobile phone providers, making the market even more fragmented.

The leading European telecommunication operators:

1. Deutsche Telekom 🇩🇪,
2. Telefónica 🇪🇸,
3. Vodafone 🇬🇧,
4. Orange 🇫🇷,
5. BT 🇬🇧,
6. Telecom Italia 🇮🇹,
7. Telenor 🇳🇴,
8. Numericable-SFR 🇫🇷.

Deutsche Telekom is Europe’s telecom leader, with a presence in many European countries, including:

• Germany,
• Austria,
• Poland,
• Netherlands. 

Telefónica is another major player in the European telecommunications market and one of the top telecom operators worldwide.

Primarily used among customers in Spain, where it is the largest telecommunications provider. 

Vodafone is another top-rated telecom operator in Europe, especially famous in the UK. 

Telecommunications Industry in UK

The United Kingdom’s telecommunications industry is highly competitive.

UK mobile market share by operator:

• Vodafone,
• British Telecommunications,
• Sky.
• 3.
• O2.

Vodafone is the most valuable telecommunications brand in the UK with a brand value of 19.506 million USD.

UK’s active mobile subscriber base continues to grow steadily, reaching 97.2 million subscribers in 2021.

China Telecommunications Industry Overview

The Chinese telecommunications market is dominated by:

• China Mobile,
• China Telecom,
• China Unicom.

China has 1.7 billion mobile subscribers.

China is the world’s largest mobile market.

China Mobile had 975 million subscribers, making it the largest telecommunications company in China.

Growth of Telecommunications Industry in India

Mobile data there is affordable.

The telecommunication market across India is the second largest in the world.

Market share of telecom companies in India:

• Reliance Jio,
• Vodafone Idea,
• Airtel.

There were around 1.15 billion mobile subscriptions in 2021.

Average monthly data usage per subscriber: 17 GB.

Here’s the growth of top telecommunication companies in India:

Reliance Jio, known as Jio, has a base of 419 million subscribers in 2022, making it one of the fastest-growing telecom companies in the world.

Australian Mobile Telecommunications Industry

Top telecom companies in Australia:

• Telstra,
• Optus,
• Vodafone.

Telstra has 44% of the market share for mobile phone services.

Australia telecom market share:

Telecommunication Industry Outlook

Predictions show that by 2025, there will be more than 400 million new mobile subscribers.

Telcos are facing significant challenges in the telecommunications industry, including keeping up with improved technologies and meeting the greater data demands of customers.

Telecom statistics show that the industry has already started setting the roadmap for 6G.

The future telcos must prioritize sustainability and revenue growth on the front burner to keep up with the industry’s changing landscape which they cannot escape.

So, what are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.

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