In a fragmented and dynamic European enterprise telecoms market, alternative service providers, known as “altnets,” continue to grow even as competition intensifies, reveals GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Robert Pritchard, Principal Analyst for Enterprise Technology and Services at GlobalData, says: “In turbulent times like these, where former national telcos are largely focused on rolling out new 5G mobile and fiber networks while at the same time reducing costs, leading challenger altnets continue to grow revenues, recruit staff, and expand their portfolios.”

Market opportunity is driven by a combination of growing the customer base organically by expanding the portfolio, and cross- and up-selling services, as well as through acquisitions to extend network reach and fill in key proposition areas like security.

Pritchard observes: “Larger altnets can offer many of the same products as incumbents and benefit from being more agile, price-competitive, and have the confidence that comes with market momentum.”

GlobalData’s analysis found that, far from being a single market, countries in the European Union face a dichotomy where strategic issues (mergers and acquisitions, and data protection, for example) get reviewed centrally, but day-to-day regulation and license control remain within each national market.

Pritchard concludes: “Although market regulation is disjointed, it does not matter too much now as growth in enterprise telecoms is being driven by micro and small/medium-sized businesses, which tend to continue to be based within one country, maybe with some international reach out. The long overdue consolidation between incumbents means that dynamic challengers can expand without the same headache national telcos face with conflicting EU-wide and in-country regulation and government interference.”