The telecommunications industry has undergone unprecedented change over the last few years with the growth of mobile devices, vastly increased connectivity and data usage. Consider this mind-boggling statistic: according to Deloitte’s latest Global Mobile Consumer Survey, US consumers look at their mobiles over 8 billion times a day in aggregate. It really is true that people are glued to their phones.

As a recent report (also from Deloitte) succinctly put it, the telecoms industry is “at the epicenter for growth, innovation, and disruption for virtually any industry” as demand for services like mobile payment solutions and cloud computing increase. And this makes perfect sense. At ARTÉMIA we constantly counsel our clients to have a solid mobile strategy; to create content that is mobile friendly; to consider developing a mobile app to help better serve their customers; to avoid tactics that will slow down or frustrate a user’s mobile experience.

So what does this new and continually evolving landscape mean for the telecommunications industry that has for so long been dominated by major players?

Here are my top stand-out telecommunications industry trends from Deloitte and other industry sources.

• New partnerships and alliances.

Last September, the White House announced the launch of their ‘Smart Cities’ initiative, leveraging technology collaborations to enable cities to operate more efficiently and effectively at a local, community-managed level. According to Deloitte, this represents an opportunity for telecoms companies to find growth in the public sector, for example by making it easier for people to pay for public services on mobile.

• The critical importance of cybersecurity

Security compromises experienced by telecoms companies are often in the news, and cybersecurity is increasingly front of mind for consumers. Telecoms carriers will need to respond quickly and thoroughly to ongoing breaches, and work to find innovative solutions to address this major threat.

• Massive growth in data consumption

Revenue from voice services is no longer a growth area. The Internet of Things (IoT) and the streaming of more audio and video content indicate that the huge growth in data consumption that we’ve seen over the past few years is set to continue. Developing services and capabilities that help support data consumption (e.g. mobile broadband services) will be key in building revenue.

To keep up to date with all the latest developments in the telecom industry, I very much recommend becoming familiar with the QuEST Forum – a wonderful global organization for anyone connected with the industry. Find more details here.