Mobile Data, Fixed Broadband and Pay-TV to Drive Malaysian Telecom Market to 2021

Steady growth in the consumption of mobile data, fixed broadband, VoIP and pay-TV services is set to help Malaysia’s telecom market remain viable through to 2021, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

The company’s latest report: Malaysia: Expansion of High-Speed Wireless and Fixed Broadband Networks to Drive Telecom Market Growth’ confirms that the sector, which has struggled  since 2014, is expected to recover from 2019 onwards  returning a flat performance of  +0.01 percent growth through 2021, with estimated sales of  $8.4bn, the same figure it posted in 2016.

The Malaysian telecom services market suffered a revenue decline of 8.1 percent in 2016, mainly due to a weak economy, a price war on broadband services and a general decline in voice revenue. Revenues were further reduced as operators competed with each other to offer cheaper plans to counter weak consumer spending.

Mobile services revenue is set for a flat CAGR of 0.8 percent until 2021, due to the huge erosion in mobile voice revenues caused by user migration from voice telephony to OTT-calling applications together with free calling offered by operators as part of bundle deals.

GlobalData analyst, Alfie Amir, commented: “Mobile voice revenue, which used to be a backbone to the industry, contributed 37.8 percent of total service revenues in 2016, is now facing stiff competition from OTT-calling applications. As a large number of users are now migrating to these services while traditional revenue streams are being eroded.”

Fixed broadband, mobile data and the pay-TV segments are set to provide a boost to sales, driving the market upwards and helping it to stay afloat over the next four years. Mobile data revenue is expected to  grow at a CAGR of 2.8 percent to reach $2.7bn in 2021, driven by the rising consumption of high-bandwidth online content on smartphones, and  adoption of 4G/LTE-A.