A new report released by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) October 11, 2012 shows that global revenues from telecommunications services reached an amount of $1.5 trillion in 2010, with developing countries accounting for 35% of the total revenue.
The revenue corresponds to 2.4 % of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP), the ITU said in its flagship annual report ‘Measuring the Information Society 2012’.
In the same year [2010], investment (measured by capital expenditure) in telecommunications amounted to more than $241 billion, or an estimated 2% of the world’s total gross fixed capital formation, the report says.
It indicates that between 2007 and 2010, both telecoms revenues and investment continued to grow by 22% in developing countries, whereas revenues stagnated in developed countries.
Developing countries, it says are also increasingly attractive destinations for foreign direct investment (FDI) in telecommunications.
By the beginning of 2011, nine of the top 20 telecoms markets globally in terms of revenues, according to the ITU, were developing country markets – including Brazil, China, India and Mexico – and developing countries accounted for 35% of world telecommunications revenue.
The report also shows that the ICT sector has become a major contributor to economic growth adding that “in 2010, global exports of ICT goods accounted for 12% of world merchandise trade, and as much as 20% in developing countries.”
The ITU therefore, suggests that developing countries need a relatively higher level of investment in advanced ICT services to fuel growth, mainly because ICT infrastructure levels are still limited.
By Ekow Quandzie