OREANDA-NEWS. April 23, 2015. With mounting data usage, shrinking mobile subscriber growth and increasing competition, profitability of telecom operators have come under increasing pressure. As a telecom market matures, users are migrating from using voice and SMS – billed per individual use – to veracious data use, straining networks and decreasing general QoE. Telecom operators need to look for ways invest smartly and determine how to improve returns on incremental CAPEX (ROIC). These issues are examined in the latest Roland Berger study: Building and Managing a Value-Centric Network, which highlights how telecom operators can prudently invest for best returns.

While continual investment into networks is an imperative, critical issues such as what to invest in and how much to invest to maximize ROIC is difficult to determine. Investing in the wrong areas within the network and the wrong technologies can have significantly adverse results. "The result we have seen at multiple telecom operators is shocking: despite an overall good EBITDA margin, 30-40% of their network sites are unprofitable," said Roland Berger Principal, Nitin Mahajan, one of the authors of the study.