10% Annual Global Wireless, Broadband Growth to 2013

Wireless and broadband subscribers will grow at over 10 percent per year over the next five years, says TeleGeography, with a net 2.5 billion net new subscribers by the end of 2013.

But average revenue per user will grow more slowly, at a five percent annual rate, in large part because the bulk of the new customers will be gotten in developing regions where subscription and usage fees will be lower.

The bulk of subscriber growth will come from countries where GDP per capita is under $3,000 a year, with obvious implications for retail pricing.

For those of you who have followed global communications industry for any length of time, this is a surprising development, as policymakers have for decades lamented the slow pace of communications development in much of the world.

These days, the use of mobility to rapidly increase both voice and broadband consumption is nothing short of breathtaking.

The corollary, TeleGeography says, is that service providers with significant exposure to developing markets will fare better in acquiring those new customers. Service providers operating in multiple geographies will do even better, TeleGeography says.

http://www.telegeography.com/cu/article.php?article_id=28323