World to have 1.5 billion inbound roaming connections in 2024
Juniper Research predicts there will be more than 1.5 billion inbound roaming connections globally in 2024, which are expected to rise to 2.4 billion by 2028.
In its newly released global report, ‘Roaming Intelligence Centre’: Global Wholesale Roaming Market 2023-2028’, the UK-based specialist in identifying and appraising new high-growth market sectors within the digital ecosystem, assessed the wholesale roaming landscape across 60 key countries, forecasting the market for five years.
The top 5
According to Juniper Research, the top five countries for inbound roaming subscribers in 2024 will be: the US (164 million), France (147 million), China (136 million), Spain (70 million), and Mexico (66 million).
Together, these countries will account for more than 583 million inbound roaming connections; representing 40% of the global market share next year.
The analysis forecasts global wholesale roaming revenue will rise from $7.1 billion in 2023 to $27.6 billion by 2028.
Specifically, this growth of 286% over the next five years will be driven by the proliferation in the demand for data-centric use cases, including IoT over VoLTE and 5G networks.
The new research identified factors such as strong tourist markets and established and comprehensive roaming agreements as key to high numbers of inbound roaming connections in the five countries.
Specifically, VoLTE roaming readiness and contingencies for 5G and IoT connections will prove critical in maximising the return on investment for wholesale roaming revenue, the report states.
Advice for operators
Elisha Sudlow-Poole, the report author at Juniper Research, said: “As roaming networks become increasingly complex, operators must invest in identification tools to ensure they can accommodate the predicted influx of inbound roaming connections over the next five years, especially as the travel industry is expected to exceed pre-pandemic levels for the first time in 2024.”
In particular, the research urges operators to invest in strong network analytics and device identification tools either in-house or via third-party roaming providers to enable the detection of data-intensive roaming connections to provide accurate billing settlements and to maximise wholesale roaming revenue.
Last Updated on 1 year by Arnold Pinto
