According to the information released by HOT TELECOM (www.hottelecom.com) in the 6th edition of its “Global Telecom Consulting Market report 2011”, the economic downturn caught up with the industry in 2009 when the sector’s revenue decreased by as much as 9.1%. Nevertheless, the recovery started to be felt in most regions in the second half of 2010, with emerging markets in Latin America, Asia and MEA returning to growth.

We expect telecom consulting revenue to have increased by 3.2% in 2011 and the return to 2008 pre-recession levels in terms of revenue is not expected before 2012, when the world’s telecom consulting revenue is forecasted to grow by 5.4%. Even so, at that time, Western Europe will still lag behind and will not have recuperated its recession loss, with telecom consulting revenue still below 2008 levels.

‘With many global telecom operators still suffering from slowing revenue growth and with saturation increasing in most countries and segments, we are not anticipating for global telecom consulting revenue spend to return to double-digit levels for the foreseeable future’ HOT TELECOM’s president Isabelle Paradis said. Telecom consulting revenue is therefore forecasted to grow by a CAGR of 5.7% over the next 5 years.

On a regional basis, most regions have been impacted by the economic crisis, however some have recovered faster than others. Latin America, MEA and Asia are and will continue to be the fastest growing regions in terms of telecom consulting over the next 5 years, while regions such as North America and Western Europe have yet to return to pre-recession levels.

North America continues to be the largest telecom consulting revenue region, on the other hand, Western Europe has lost its place to Asia as the world’s second largest telecom consulting market in 2010 and this trend is accelerating. In terms of growth, Latin America and MEA have performed better than more developed regions during the recession. With the exception of the growth blip caused by political instability in the MEA region, we anticipate that this region will continue to be the fastest growing over the next 5 years. We expect the current Eurozone crisis to have a significant impact on Western Europe into 2012, which could diminish telecom consulting revenue growth in that year.

Find out about the current status of the telecom consulting sector and its potential for recovery in HOT TELECOM’s new global report, which can be purchased online through HOT TELECOM: http://www.hottelecom.com/reports/telecom-consulting-report.html