Emerging markets: the greater opportunity

In some industries, emerging markets are thought of as having less potential for growth than their more developed counterparts. However, in the telecom segment, they represent both innovation and global dominance. According to Gartner these developing nations are adopting innovation and technology faster than mature markets. India, China, Africa and the Middle East, in particular, are creating a force that cannot be ignored by anyone.

In emerging markets, service providers are adopting leapfrog technologies. With freedom from legacy assets, in-region players or service providers with presence in emerging markets can commercialize technologies faster.

Additionally, in highly constrained markets, which often include poor infrastructure and restriction on capital, there is critical need for products that can serve the local market better, mobile phones for instance. Affordability and availability are driving adoption. To that end, there are 1.8 billion mobile subscribers in emerging markets and fewer than 400 million in the US and Japan.

They are also a force to be reckoned with, as they have the ambition to lead the IT industry with innovation at the core. To compete globally, emerging economies, especially India and China, are innovating both from a product/services perspective and with business models. Service providers are effectively leveraging and managing partnerships to deliver world-class capabilities.

About the author:

Christian Michaud
Senior Vice President, Product & Business Strategy
Christian Michaud is the Senior Vice-President of Marketing and Business Development in the Global Voice Solutions Business Unit at Tata Communications. Mr. Michaud is responsible for developing the Business Unit overall strategy as well as leading the product management and business development. Mr. Michaud has over twenty years of experience in international telecommunications, including twelve years with Teleglobe, which was acquired by VSNL in February 2006. Mr. Michaud holds graduate and undergraduate degrees in economics from the Université de Montréal