Technology, Media & Telco (TMT)

Telecoms

Deals Activity: Low

Restructuring Activity: Low

Increasing investment requirements in this low-margin sector is likely to trigger consolidation.

Deals activity in Telecoms

1. Healthy deal volumes in telecoms is supported by a sizeable supply chain extending beyond operators to specialist equipment, mast installation and servicing.

2. Consolidation continues as major infrastructure players divest non-core assets and create specialist contractor firms.

Restructuring activity in Telecoms

The sector has become increasingly commoditised, resulting in a low-margin operating environment and high cost of customer acquisition and retention.

Growth in Fibre To The Property (FTTP) internet providers have seen record investment in broadband infrastructure, especially in urban areas. Some operators may struggle to recover their investment when competing against incumbent network operators.

Telecoms

Investment requirements in new technology and infrastructure are high – and rising – but the sector has become increasingly low margin in recent years.

Mobile is being squeezed by declining consumer revenues – a product of intense competition across MVNO and traditional operators – and increased investment in 5G connectivity. The latter is increasingly relevant, with 5G requiring a greater number of masts to provide the capacity speed and latency necessary to support services such as autonomous vehicles. Similarly, as the cost-of-living crisis impacts on household incomes, we're likely to see consumers delaying mobile phone upgrades, impacting an important revenue stream for most operators.

In fixed line, there is little short of a revolution underway. The previous infrastructure duopoly is being supplanted by a host of private equity-backed upstarts, investing rapidly in fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) connections. Many of these operators are heavily lossmaking as they race to lay cable across the business. There is likely to be medium-term consolidation to build efficiencies.

Find Your Expert

Mark Raddan is Interpath Lead for the Technology, Media and Telecommunications sector. Nathan McCarthy
leads our approach to Telecoms nationally for Interpath.
For a full list of our senior people with experience in the sector use the button below.

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