Telecommunications operators across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) are experiencing revenue growth from their core services as the regional economy improves. At the same time, many operators are actively pursuing new revenue streams outside their traditional service portfolios. As a result, IDC’s latest research predicts that non-core-business revenues will continue to rise throughout 2017–2021.
The IDC study, titled “CEE Telcos Beyond Telecoms in 2017”, indicates that in 2016 the combined revenues from non-core business services reported by 11 incumbent CEE operators made up 15% of their total revenues.
Kresimir Alic, senior program manager at IDC, commented: “Telcos are expanding into activities beyond their core operations and investing in areas they see as promising, while exiting ventures that have underperformed. The ability to pivot and pursue new opportunities quickly often separates successful telcos from those that struggle.”
Following the trends seen in 2017, CEE telcos were also expected to see increases in non-core revenues in 2018 driven largely by strong growth in three key areas: energy services, ICT services, and terminal equipment sales.
In several markets, incumbent operators in countries such as Croatia, Hungary, and Poland have diversified by taking on roles as gas and electricity distributors and by operating electric vehicle charging stations. Additionally, nearly all incumbent telcos in the region now offer IT-related services, including data center hosting, cloud solutions, and security services.
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