Wholesale telecom has powered international connectivity for decades. Once built around revenue from cross-border voice calls and interconnect agreements, wholesale divisions now face an industry transformed by data, digital partnerships, and next-generation services. Are wholesale and interconnect revenues still growing or slipping into decline?<\/p>\n
Voice Revenue Decline \u2013 Wholesale\u2019s Old Pillar Fades<\/strong><\/p>\n Traditional interconnect revenues have plunged, with operators\u2019 voice revenue dropping around 80%<\/a> and SMS down 94% in the past decade. The rise of OTT platforms like WhatsApp and Zoom, offering low-cost messaging and calls, has radically shifted consumer habits.<\/p>\n As of 2025, OTT communication services account for over 60% of international person-to-person calls, decisively eroding wholesale voice margins. In many regions, voice revenues face double-digit annual declines and now contribute less than 10% of ARPU, down from more than 50% a decade ago. Interconnect settlements for voice, once a core revenue stream, have rapidly diminished, hitting operators who relied on inbound international traffic the hardest.<\/p>\n Wholesale\u2019s Transformation \u2013 A New Growth Engine<\/strong><\/p>\n Despite this grim picture for voice, wholesale telecom is expanding rapidly. The global wholesale market was valued at $470 billion in 2024 and is projected to hit $1.74 trillion by 2037, growing at an estimated 10.6% CAGR<\/a>. Data-driven services, cross-operator connectivity, and new business models are fuelling this shift.<\/p>\n Several factors support wholesale\u2019s continued relevance:<\/p>\n Wholesale roaming<\/a> is a bright spot, expected to double revenues between 2024 and 2028, driven by new 5G technology enabling real-time roaming analytics, better monetization, and improved subscriber experiences.<\/p>\n Diversification \u2013 Multi-Line of Business (LoB) Model<\/strong><\/p>\n Wholesale divisions are no longer limited to voice settlements. The scope now extends across new business lines:<\/p>\n These business lines can yield higher revenue per connection than traditional voice, transforming wholesale into a broader telecom growth engine.<\/p>\n Data & Digital \u2013 Wholesale\u2019s Modern Growth Drivers<\/strong><\/p>\n As voice shrinks, data dominates. Revenue share per user from data usage has grown over tenfold since 2013, and now makes up more than 85% of ARPU. Operators can monetize huge volumes of network capacity for cloud, fiber, and SD-WAN services, moving beyond traditional boundaries.<\/p>\n High-value enterprise connectivity and cloud services command premium pricing, and recurring revenue streams outperform legacy margins. Additionally, IoT connections are forecasted to generate $2 billion in roaming revenue by 2028 \u2013 a category that never existed in the old wholesale models.<\/p>\n The Digital Transformation Challenge<\/strong><\/p>\n Transforming from voice-centric to multi-LoB wholesale isn\u2019t easy:<\/p>\n These challenges highlight the urgent need for digital transformation in wholesale billing and operational systems.<\/p>\n Strategic Digital-First Responses<\/strong><\/p>\n Forward-looking telcos are modernizing rapidly by:<\/p>\n Modern billing introduces AI-powered anomaly detection for errors\/fraud and predictive analytics to optimize pricing and manage large partner ecosystems.<\/p>\n\n
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