Technological trends in the telecommunication industry

Europe’s telecommunication industry is continuing to show mild positive trends in both the number of connections and service market values. At the same time, the increasing deployment of advanced technology to the sector is poised to make the telecommunication value chain more complex as virtualised networks and edge computing encourage the development of new business models and partner ecosystems for telecommunication services. Among businesses, governments and other organisations, telecommunication services remain critical for the operation of nearly all sectors with advanced  technologies expected to play an increasingly important role in banking/finance, retail, transport & logistics, media and manufacturing sectors.

In this report, the relevance of advanced technologies in the telecommunication sector has been explored through the analysis of market trends, data on private equity investments, skills and technology uptake. 

This report is structured as follows:

• The first section sets the industrial context.
• The second section analyses technological trends in advanced technologies applied in the telecommunication sector.
• The third section presents findings about private equity investment and start-up/spinoff activity in the area of telecommunication.
• The fourth section explores the supply and demand of skills related to advanced technologies.
• The fifth chapter concludes with a short future outlook.