Telecom operators eye M&A and partnerships in challenging economy

BOSTON, USA: With declining revenues and margins, operators in Italy should switch their strategic focus from price competition to increasing the value of their services through partnerships, according to a new report from Pyramid Research.

Italy: Telecom Operators Eye M&A and Partnerships in Challenging Economy offers a precise profile of the country's telecommunications, media and technology sectors based on proprietary data from Pyramid's research in the market. It provides a detailed competitive analysis of both the fixed and mobile sectors, tracks the market shares of technologies and services and monitors the introduction and spread of new technologies.

In 2012 total mobile service market revenue declined 6 per cent over 2011 in US dollar terms, in line with the regional level, notes Daniele Tricarico, Analyst at Pyramid Research. To boost growth, Telecom Italia and Vodafone are looking at converged offers combining 4G mobile broadband and fiber broadband. Operators should consider partnerships to rapidly expand their service portfolio, such as in the case of the partnerships between Sky respectively with Fastweb and Telecom Italia, he notes.