Telecom operators to lose $2.1 billion in roaming revenue by 2026: Juniper Research

Telecom operators are expected to lose $2.1 billion in roaming revenue by 2026, exacerbated due to the inability to distinguish between 4G and 5G data traffic using current standards and as the travel industry returns to pre-pandemic levels, and 5G adoption rises, according to findings by Juniper Research.

This year, operators will lose around $484 million in roaming revenue, it said.

The issue of misidentifying roaming data will be further fueled by the growth of 5G subscribers roaming internationally.

The findings showed that there will be more than 200 million 5G roaming connections by 2026, rising from 5 million in 2021.

It suggested the use of BCE (Billing & Charging Evolution) protocol as a key strategy for plugging the leakage of roaming revenue. Additionally, it urges operators to leverage machine learning in roaming analytics tools to assess roaming behavior and data usage.

In addition, the report found to effectively mitigate the growing complexity of clearing processes arising from increased demand for data when roaming, operators must move away from established roaming clearing practices in favor of BCE.

“By combining BCE with AI-enabled roaming analytics suites, operators will be ideally positioned to deal with the rise in roaming data. Separating roaming traffic by network connectivity is essential to allow operators to charge roaming partners based on latency and download speed, and maximize overall 5G roaming revenue,” said research author Scarlett Woodford.