In its latest research, Informa Telecoms & Media (News - Alert) has stated that the 40 leading telecom operating groups outperformed the global economy by 5 percentage points.

Through a number of measures, operators are trying to off-set these adverse economic and competitive forces. Emerging markets, which are fueling growth through the addition of new subscribers, have seen the presence of many of the 40 operators, such as China Mobile (News - Alert), India’s Bharti Airtel and South Africa’s MTN. Or, they have bought into developing markets to take advantage of growth opportunities like Spain’s Telefonica (News - Alert) and the UK’s Vodafone, the company stated in a press release.

“This broadly impressive performance has taken place against the back-drop not just of weak growth in the global economy, but bruising competition from new entrants and MVNO players in conjunction with regulatory-led reductions in the amounts operators can charge each other for terminating traffic on their networks (MTRs), each of which has put considerable pressure on revenues, especially those generated by voice services,” says, Milena Konecna, CFA, financial data analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media.

Encouraging them to increase the amount of money they spend on telecoms services and also the range and type of services operators sell directly to them, operators across the board are no longer preoccupied with growth but are focussed on retaining and acquiring valuable customers. Combined with the increasing availability of low-cost smartphones, operators are also benefitting from a societal shift underway that is seeing more and more people in developed and developing markets alike accessing the Internet while on the go.

Recently, the company announced details of the forthcoming CDN World Summit, taking place at the Hilton Paddington Hotel in London from October 25 - 28, 2011. In 2010, the CDN World Summit provided a forum that was pivotal for network operators looking to break into the content delivery network business. Now in its third year, the Company said the 2011 event will continue to deliver an essential insight for all with a stake in the future of the Net.