Regulatory opportunities

Governments around the world are getting smart about encouraging innovation in communications technology, and are taking steps to open up their markets to increased competition in the telecom sector. Mexico’s Congress passed groundbreaking legislation at the end of April to form an independent panel known as the Federal Institute of Telecommunications, and granted its seven members the ability to cancel operating licenses in an effort to hinder any company from controlling more than half of the telecom market. This means that the world’s richest man, Carlos Slim, is facing the possible breakup of his empire: the telecom billionaire owns América Móvil, which controls nearly 80 percent of Mexico’s landline business and 70 percent of its wireless market.

In India established CSPs like Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular are struggling with legacy network equipment and fighting with regulators over spectrum licenses, inadvertently making room for the new kid on the block, Reliance Jio. And in China the government is encouraging more mobile competition for its three existing CSPs, China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom, by allowing mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) to enter the market; ShanghaiDaily.com reports that any Chinese company with telecom experience and more than 50 employees can apply for a two-year MVNO trial. With regulatory restriction easing in China and signs of it easing elsewhere, such as the Middle East, the door is opening to an incredible market opportunity valued at over one billion subscribers.

Service providers, consumers and government interests all over the world recognize the need for communications to be able to move seamlessly across borders. The internet has given everyone a taste of “always on” connectedness, which provides truly limitless opportunities for innovation. Even at this moment CSPs are looking for ways to grab new customers and serve existing ones no matter where they are on the planet. It's not hard to imagine why that’s important—what’s hard is making the dream of global service a reality as quickly as possible.