Roaming Tariff Market

Roaming Tariff Market: Contours

Tariff plans for roaming in national and international services cover text messages, text messages, and internet services. The roaming tariff market has evolved in response to changes in marketing strategies adopted by mobile operators. New plans have emerged and gained acceptance on the back of the changing demand and preference dynamics of mobile users. The regulatory norms and policy frameworks vary with time and across geographies.

Subsequently, these have laid the groundwork for competitive dynamics. The strategic collaborations between leading regional mobile operators have shaped the opportunities the roaming tariff market has taken over the past few decades.

Broadly the wholesale roaming agreement between a mobile user’s home operator and the visited mobile operator network decides the charges incurred in availing the various services under roaming.

The study presents a detailed assessment of the various key factors and industry investment trends shaping the current prospects and influencing the emerging avenues. The research authors strive to offer an in-depth and granular assessment of the telecom industry and the trends that impact the strategic leaning ofsome of the top players in the roaming tariff market. 

Roaming Tariff Market: Drivers, Current Prospects, and Emerging Avenues

The roaming tariff market has witnessed new growth avenues on the back of a prospering travel and tours industry in developing regions of the world. Indeed, players have reaped a large part of revenue gains from the demand in international mobile roaming.

The burgeoning number of mobile subscribers in emerging economies is a key driver for lucrative avenues in the roaming tariff market. In particular, countries in developing regions have witnessed surge in number of mobile cellular subscriptions. Additionally, the past few decades have witnessed rise in international travellers who opt for different plans under roaming to get access to voice services.

The slump in demand for international travellers due to the pandemic fears and governmental restrictions in some countries have hampered the prospects of the roaming tariff market. In recent months, the scenario has begun to change and will spur the market growth.

Roaming Tariff Market: Competitive Scenario

The roaming tariff market has witnessed changing competitive landscape after the onset of COVID-19. The pandemic led to severe curbs on international travel and massive impacted the tours and travel industry. The disruptions undoubtedly impacted the bottom-line of numerous companies operating in the roaming tariff market. As a fallout, some subscribers were hesitant but agreed to raise their charges. While some players looked for new revenue streams elsewhere, without burdening their ARPU.

The advent of 5G and implementation of the infrastructure in various developing and developed economies is likely to shape the future directions of the roaming tariff market. Indeed, a number of players have been quick to enter into strategic collaborations to reap competitive advantage from the launch of 5G in coming months. Their initiatives have stridently changed the focus on investments, thereby unlocking new prospects in the roaming tariff market.

Some of the key players likely to influence the forces of demand and supply in the roaming tariff market are Verizon Communications Inc., Vodafone Group plc., Telefonica SA, T-Mobile, Deutsche Telekom, China Mobile Ltd., and AT&T Inc.

Roaming Tariff Market: Regional Growth Dynamics

In recent years, across a nation, the roaming tariff for users in the same country has been significantly relaxed, reduced, or scrapped altogether by some prominent subscribers. The prevailing political and economic conditions have shaped the status of the global roaming tariff market. Surprisingly, this has led consumers in some countries suffer from dramatic increase in roaming charges. A glaring case in point is the change in roaming charges in the U.K. after it had decided to vote to leave the EU.

The Brexit as it is now commonly known has heavily impacted the existing tariff plans for the EU. Evidently, mobile subscribers had to bear the brunt of the soaring data costs if they want virtually limitless access to data during their holiday stays.

Asia Pacific on the other hand has emerged as a lucrative regional market for various mobile operators. Mobile subscribers and institutional subscribers have laid high hopes on the next-gen technology and are looking 5G network access with vast optimism. Indeed, this has attracted the attention of key players looking for new revenue streams in the Asia Pacific roaming tariff market.