Inside Towers spoke with Sitetracker VP Marketing Brett Chester about this morning’s release of the 2020 Telecom Infrastructure Provider Outlook. Sitetracker’s platform manages high-volume infrastructure projects including tower sites. Fittingly, Sitetracker surveyed hundreds of participants from around the world regarding their present-day sentiment of the telecom infrastructure industry. The survey posed 50+ questions centered around deployment and maintenance. Respondents ranged from full turnkey service providers (48%) to satellite services (5%).
The survey wrapped up in late February but re-opened in early March to address the impact of COVID-19. How will the pandemic affect workflow and process? Carriers were the most optimistic. With “WFH” on the rise, 44 percent of MNOs expect to see an increase in demand, while DAS providers aren’t so sure.
Chester said a prescient comment by a participant summed up the survey in light of the current landscape: “Keep calm and carry on.” The survey results, as a whole, provide some positive perspective in a troubling time. “There will be more need for 5G with remote working and telemedicine,” suggested one industry leader.
That doesn’t mean project timelines aren’t at risk. Another industry leader expressed concern, “As governmental agencies move into emergency management mode, many of their non-essential employees will be sent home to work. This decentralization will significantly slow the zoning and permitting of new facilities.”
The full Outlook includes:
- Growth in 2020: Promises and pitfalls
- Impacts from increased project volume
- The real cost of meetings and reporting
- COVID-19 industry insights
“This is an exciting and interesting time to be in telecom. Dependence on ubiquitous connectivity, 5G, and macro market factors, are dramatically changing the industry and creating new challenges,” said Sitetracker CEO Giuseppe Incitti. “But, with new challenges come new opportunities and industry experts have spoken clearly in this report that the telecom industry is heading into a period of unprecedented growth for years to come.”
This isn’t your average telecom-related survey, according to Chester. “Anyone in our industry will garner some useful insights in this first of its kind guide,” he said.
Click here to download the 2020 Outlook, and full results of the survey.
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