Global telecoms industry growth is slowing, said Mark Newman, chief research officer at Informa Telecoms & Media.

Newman made the comment during his keynote address at AfricaCom, in Cape Town, on Wednesday.

He said the future of mobile operations could lie in delivering digital and innovative services, such as music, television programmes and video games, which have not traditionally formed a strong part of telcos’ offerings.

Telcos should expand their current business strategies to include digital services, he said. "Over the past year, there have been examples of regions such as Europe, Eastern Europe and North America that have adopted digital business units (DBUs) within their operations."

DBUs do not have much capital expenditure, said Newman, yet digital services make up less than 5% of revenue for most large European operator groups, such as Telenor, Orange and Deutsche Telekom.

"Only 3% to 4% of total revenues for mobile operators come from additional services," Newman stated.

While most African telecoms firms have yet to implement DBUs, said Newman, he believes this will soon change. Partnering with entertainment companies – such as music providers – could prove beneficial to the business.

"The second space for African telcos would be to provide digital services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)," he concluded.