Malaysia's telecoms market in 2015 "is undergoing a major revolution driven by the changes of user requirements,revenue drivers and new technologies", as Alfie Amir, Research Manager, Telecoms, International Data Corporation (IDC) Malaysia, told Cellular News earlier this year.

In that report IDC outlined their top 10 predictions for the telecommunications industry in Malaysia this year.  They are:

  1. The total spending on telecom services is expected to continue to grow but at slower rate, with only 2.8% YoY increase from RM34.3 billion in 2014 to RM35.3 billion in 2015
  2. Business Segment Will Continue To Dominate Fixed Line Market Accounting To 59% Of The Total Revenue
  3. Fixed Line Service Providers Will Expand Their Services To ICT Solutions And Triple The Addressable Market
  4. Fixed Line Service Providers Will Customize Their ICT Solutions Focusing On High Potential Verticals
  5. Managed Services Trend Will Begin To Rise In Telecom Market
  6. Mobile Voice Revenue Will Start To Decline For The First Time Ever
  7. Mobile Data Experience Will Be Enhanced With LTE-Advanced Carrier Aggregation
  8. Spectrum Strategy Will Be Redefined To Meet The Exponential Increase Of Mobile Data Demand
  9. Telecom Providers Will Begin Monetizing Their Data Internally And Externally
  10.                 Telecom Providers Will Expand Ecosystem Partners And Drive The Market As M2M Evolves To IoT

Looking forward

As a recent report by Budde.com.au details: "There has been strong growth in Malaysia's telecom sector over the last decade, but the growth has not been consistent across the sector. The number of fixed-line services, after growing rapidly at first, had been relatively static for around ten years; then we have seen clear evidence of a shrinking fixed subscriber base. In the meantime, the mobile operators are locked in close combat."

The report further explains how [Malaysia] has continued to allocate capital to invest in information technology and telecommunications infrastructure despite setbacks caused by periods of difficult regional and global economic conditions."

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