Page 35 - SAMENA Trends - March-April 2025

ARTICLE SAMENA TRENDS

ARTICLE

How Wholesale Telecom Can Drive the Next Wave of

Growth for Telecom Operators

As GCC telecom operators confront an become vital to the future growth of telecom
increasingly challenging environment, they operators.
are searching for their next growth engine.
Legacy markets are stagnating, competition To capture these opportunities, wholesalers
from Over-the-Top (OTT) platforms is should consider four key strategic moves.
intensifying, and regulations are becoming The first two are foundational, maximizing
more stringent. An unexpected candidate revenue from existing assets and networks.
has emerged to fill this role: wholesale The last two are more forward-looking,
telecom. Once considered a back-end creating new pathways for sustainable
function, wholesale is now positioned to play growth and business diversification.
a pivotal role in helping telecom operators
Imad Atwi survive and thrive. To unlock its full potential, First, wholesalers should unlock untapped
Partner however, wholesalers must evolve into the demand by prioritizing innovative
"third generation" of wholesale telecoms.
commercial models for their current assets
Once considered a back-end function, wholesale is now

positioned to play a pivotal role in helping telecom operators
survive and thrive. To unlock its full potential, however,
wholesalers must evolve into the "third generation" of
wholesale telecoms.

In the first generation, wholesale focused and customer base. These might include
Christian Massabni on supporting the telecom operator’s retail volume deals, take-or-pay contracts (which
Principal arms. In the second generation, wholesalers tie customers to a minimum amount of
capacity), and dynamic pricing for excess
shifted from cost centers to revenue
generators by leasing out surplus network capacity. Data analytics can play a critical
capacity. Now, a third-generation model is role, enabling wholesalers to assess network
emerging—one that embraces a broader utilization, optimize pricing, and identify
and more dynamic role, from diversifying areas for geographic expansion.
revenue streams to supporting digital
transformation across sectors. Wholesalers For example, Openreach introduced a five-
that successfully make this shift can create year deal that offered up to a 40% discount
a sustainable competitive advantage and on fiber lines through an innovative rebate

Haidar Haidar
Principal

35 MARCH-APRIL 2025