VoIPX traffic to hit $2.1bn by year-end, reveals BICS
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VoIPX traffic to hit $2.1bn by year-end, reveals BICS

A BICS study into wholesale telecoms has found that that while traditional voice is declining, VoIPX traffic is expected to increase by more than 22%, reaching $2.1 billion in value by the year's end.

The first ‘BICS Report’, which leverages data and findings from BICS’ network infrastructure as well as data from the industry to evaluate the main trends and drivers in wholesale, found 4G traffic is tripling year-on-year. BICS claims this will peak in 2018, as the majority of mobile operators deploy next generation services to meet greater demand.

There will also be a surge in international voice over LTE services, which the report claims will grow by a compound annual growth rate of 99.3% over the next four years (source: HOT Telecom). Mobile data roaming traffic is expected to increase from 368.7PB in 2017 to 1,2228PB in 2020, with data as opposed to voice playing a central role in driving traffic volumes.

Internet of things devices are expected to surpass mobile phones as the largest category of connected devices in 2018, BICS found, driving even higher data usage.

BICS highlighted fraud as a key problem for the industry, with its own FraudGuard solution blocking more than 38.1 million fraud attempt calls in the last year, and saved €340 million in wholesale exposure.

The report claims the current climate in the wholesale industry will lead to diverse opportunities for innovation, with wholesalers likely to launch services and products in: 

Interconnection and hubbing (e.g. IPX and cloud interconnection services) 

• Fraud prevention and security (e.g. protection against bypass fraud) 

• Cloud services and hosting (e.g. cloud-based unified communications) 

• Internet of Things and machine-to-machine services (e.g. connected car services) 

• Mobility (e.g. hosted mobile VoIP, support for roaming, and mobile payments) 

• Putting more control in customers’ hands (e.g. customer APIs and portals)

BICS CEO Daniel Kurgan said: ““We’re excited to launch our first report, particularly at a period of great change in the telecoms industry. The traditional notion of ‘telecoms’ is no longer applicable, as the environment has been re-shaped by factors like the IoT, 5G, digital communications providers, the cloud, globalisation, smartphone penetration, and the growing risk of cyber-attack. 

“The telecoms industry of today offers opportunity in abundance, and the BICS Report offers a tool for those looking to strategise and monetise their business as we head into 2018.”

Capacity recently spoke with BICS CEO Daniel Kurgan about how the business is transforming. Check out the full interview here

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