Telecommunication has seen a steady growth for the year with increasing penetration of services. With calls becoming unlimited & free, and data volumes surging, top telecom companies are in a growth phase. The highly growing telecommunications industry, consists of all Internet service providers and telecommunications/telephone companies. The list of Top telecom companies include AT&T, China Mobile, Vodafone, Verizon, Deutsche Telekom followed by Orange, Telefonica, America Móvil, China Telecom etc. All these compete in terms of network connectivity and customer satisfaction and high speed internet (4G, 5G). Here is a list of the top 10 telecom companies in world 2018.
Quick Glance :
Below are the biggest and top Telecom Companies in World 2018:
10th Place : Orange
For More details about rankings and parameters, read on.
Top Telecom Companies 2018 with Ranking Parameter (Revenue, Net Income):
10. Orange
Orange S.A. is a French multinational telecommunications corporation formerly known as France Telecom S.A.
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It was founded in 1994 and Orange has been their main brand across the offerings like mobile, landline, Internet and IPTV. Company was found in and is listed in Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index, and under the current leadership of Stephane Richard, Chairman & CEO Orange Group, company operates in 28 countries and operates as orange business services in 220 countries. Company is mainly focused in Europe, Africa and Middle East continents. Group continues to focus on the deployment of 4G and fiber in European countries and generates 70% of their consolidated revenues there with 45% in France alone. Company has set a target of 95% 4G coverage in Europe by 2018. Another major market for Orange groups includes the 20 countries of Middle East and Africa. With presence of 4G in 10 countries, they serve more than 120 millions customers. Orange group has the market capitalization of 37.16 Billion Euros.
Orange group inaugurated Open IoT lab, the first European lab dedicated to the LTE-M network and Internet of Things in 2017. Roll out of LTE-M technology brings the newer business use of Internet of things in terms of coverage, battery life and cost. Orange is in the leader position in the Green Quadrant® on Sustainable Telecoms in Europe for the third consecutive year in 2011. Orange Business Services was awarded for providing “World class” customer experience in 2012. According to the 13th edition of Ocean82 publication, the company has received world class perceived performance rating from its customers.
Revenue (in Million $): 50548.08
Net Income (in Million $): 2635.89
9. Telefonica
Telefonica telecom, a Spanish telecom organization was founded in 1947 by Mariano Ospina Perez and headquartered in Bogota D.C.
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It is the largest telecom company in Colombia owned by Telefonica and Colombian government. It extends its services to 346 million clients across 21 countries and has the employee base of 127000 professionals. In financial year January-December 2017 Telefonica had collected revenues worth 52,008 million euros and more than 21.4 million Internet and data accesses, 343.4 million total accesses, 271.7 million mobile phones accesses and 8.5 million pay TV accesses. Telefonica telecom is 100% listed company traded in some of the most important stock markets globally and have more than 1.3 million shareholders. The present market capitalization of Telefonica is 42.26 billions Euro It is mostly known by its commercial brands like movistar, O2 and vivo providing products and services ranging from mobile, landline, internet and televisions telecommunication service in several countries.
Telefonica has been the winner of the My World Communications Award by the United Nations in 2014. The selection committee has highlighted the company's efforts to promote the initiative My World in Spain. It has also won Great place to work award in 2010. Telefonica recently signs an agreement with Microsoft Azure to work on integration of Internet Of Things devices, which will enable the users to easily, securely and reliably connect their IoT devices to Azure IoT Hub. Telefonica and Huawei are in partnership to create a suite of big data products for businesses and to expedite the process of digital adoption in the SME market.
Revenue (in Million $): 52010
Net Income (in Million $): 3520
8. Xfinity
The American telecommunications conglomerate Comcast Corporation is one of the top telecom companies.
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The company is branded as Xfinity markets wireless service, Internet, telephone and consumer cable television provided by the company. Xfinity brand was introduced in 2010 with the leadership of Dave Watson, CEO and Brian L. Roberts, Chairman. Comcast provided mainly three services viz Xfinity TV for digital cable, Xfinity Voice for digital voice and Xfinity Internet for high speed Internet. In February 2000, Comcast rebranded its triple play service offerings under the brand Xfinity; Digital Voice, Digital Cable and High Speed Internet as "Xfinity Voice", "Xfinity TV", and Comcast and "Xfinity Internet" respectively. Comcast has 25.131 million high-speed Internet customers as of April 27 2017. Comcast has market capitalization of 158.47B USD on 6th April 2018. The biggest telecom and satellite TV restraining infrastructure by income, Comcast provides connectivity to U.S. private and business clients in 40 states and in the District of Columbia. The organization's home office is situated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As the proprietor of the global media organization NBC Universal since 2011, Comcast is a maker of TV programs and highlight movies planned for showy display and over-the-air and digital transmission.
Comcast NBCUniversal was holding tenth position in LinkedIn’s Top Companies List 2017. Frost and Sullivan also honored Comcast's Xfinity Home with its Company of the Year Award. According to a Fortune survey polling thousands of women at companies from across the country, Comcast NBCUniversal ranked #31 among the best places to work for women.
Revenue (in Million $): 52520
Net Income (in Million $): 21170
7. America Movil
Found in 2000, the fourth largest mobile network operator in terms of equity subscribers América Móvil, is now one among the biggest firms in the world.
Image: company website
Headquartered in Mexican City, Mexico this Mexican telecommunications corporation is a Forbes Global 2000 company. This venture of Carlos Slim is the leading provider of integrated telecommunications services in Latin America. The company offers a portfolio of value added services and enhanced communications solutions in 25 countries in America and Europe through 363.1 million access lines, including 280.4 million wireless subscribers, 33.1 million landlines, 27.9 million broadband accesses and 21.7 million PayTV units as of September 30, 2017. The company operates under various brands: Telmex, Telcel and Claro In Latin America. In Mexico, the company has 65% of wireless market share with 91% wireless penetration. The current market capitalization for the company as of March 21, 2018 is 63.163B.
Since February 2016, América Móvil and its subsidiaries have joined the United Nations Global Compact, reiterating their commitment to respect and promote the Ten Principles and the Sustainability Management Model of the UN Global Compact, both internally and throughout our supply chain. Through Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA) América Móvil like many other mobile operators work together with government agencies and private corporates to increase business and give its socio-economical contribution in Americas in terms of Response to natural disasters, privacy, SMS control, child protection, environmental care, handset theft, digital inclusion etc.
Revenue (in Million $): 56000
Net Income (in Million $): 1610
6. China Telecom
Headquartered in Beijing, the Chinese state owned Telecommunications Company China Telecom was founded on 17th May 2000.
Image: Wikimedia
The company is a constituent of Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, the index for H share of state-controlled listed companies, which is traded in the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong since 15 November 2002. Even the company’s American Depositary Shares ("ADSs") are listed on the New York Stock Exchange respectively. After marketization of China, the state-owned enterprise China Telecommunications Corporation spin off the brand and China Telecom started operating as a subsidiary, being floated in the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. As at the end of 2016, the Company had mobile subscribers of about 215 million, wireline broadband subscribers of about 123 million and access lines in service of about 127 million. The market capitalization for the company is about 35.01B on March 5, 2018.
State-owned China Telecom Global has its sights set on expanding its data Centre business across the ‘One Belt, One Road’ region, after signing an agreement with UK data Centre owner Global Switch and Chinese data Centre operator Daily Tech. In the Financial Year 2017, the Operating Revenue stood at RMB 184118 million, as compared to RMB176828 million. EBITDA margin has decreased from 32.6% in 2016 to 31.6% in 2017. Earnings per share have increased from 0.144 RMB to 0.155 RMB and capital expenditure from RMB 40746 million to RMB 41117 million. The company now has assets of RMB 665491 million as compared to RMB 652368 million.
Revenue (in Million $): 58917.76
5. Vodafone
Vodafone, which predominantly operates services in various countries of Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania, is a British multinational telecommunications company founded in year 1991.
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Headquartered at London, this 26-year-old company owns networks in 26 countries and has partner networks in over 50 additional countries. Since making the first ever-mobile call on 1st January 1985 in UK, today the company has 500 million customers. The current market capitalization for the company as of April 03, 2018 is $73.83B. The company’s Global Enterprise division provides IT services and telecommunications to corporate clients in 150 countries. The company has primary listing on London Stock Exchange and secondary on NASDAQ. The company’s entry in the Internet of Things (IoT) consumer market was marked by the launch of “V by Vodafone”, hereby thus enabling consumers to connect millions of electronics and home products to the Group’s dedicated IoT network – the largest of its kind in the world.
Frost & Sullivan’s Company of the Year award went to Vodafone for the second consecutive year for its considerable accomplishments in the European contact centers and cloud communications market. Factors like development of visionary scenarios based on in-depth understanding of mega trends; ability to address unmet market needs; superior customer purchase experience; strong financial performance; price/performance value and brand equity has contributed to the company’s success. Vodafone India has been ranked as one of the best companies to work for in India. It has also been ranked as 20th in the LinkedIn Top Attractors 2017 Award- the only telecom service provider to be featured.
Revenue (in Million $): 66930
4. Deutsche Telekom
Headquartered at Bonn, Germany, Deutsche Telekom is a 22year old Denmark – originated German telecommunication company.
Image: Wikimedia
The company is driven with 14.5% of its stake with the German government and 17.4% with government bank KfW. The company is also a part of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index and the current market capitalization for the company as of March 09, 2018 is $77.66B. In Telecommunication industry, the company holds 9th rank in Fortune world’s most admired companies.
When the former state-owned monopoly Deutsche Bundespost was privatized, the largest telecommunications provider (by revenue) in Europe, the Deutsche Telekom was formed. The company operates several subsidiaries worldwide, including T-Mobile- the mobile communications brand. The company owns substantial shares in other telecom companies, including Central European subsidiaries Magyar Telekom (Hungary), Slovak Telekom (Slovakia), Hellenic telecommunication operator OTE. Now the company has 156 m mobile, 18 m broadband and 29 m fixed- network customers thus paving the way for gigabit society. In the Financial Year 2017, the company earned revenue of 74.95 Billion Euros, Adjusted EBITDA stood at 22.45 billion euros, and free cash flow amounted to 5.5 billion euros and was up by 11.3% as compared to 2016. It has 218,341 employees worldwide (31st Dec. 2017 figures). The company was has received the national German Sustainability Award in the "large companies" category for the year 2017 The company is also one of the 112 enterprises worldwide that made it into the Climate A list.
Revenue (in Million $): 92184.810
Net Income (in Million $): 6827.73
3. China Mobile
China Mobile Communications Corporation, also known as China Mobile, is the world's largest mobile phone operator as of August 2017 with over 873 million subscribers.
Image: Wikimedia
China mobile is a Chinese state owned telecommunication corporation, which also operates China Mobile Hong Kong, a subsidiary mobile network in Hong Kong. The company purchased Paktel in Pakistan in 2007 and a year later launched Zong brand. The company is the largest mobile telecommunications corporation by market capitalization. It provides voice mobile and multimedia services through its nationwide mobile telecommunications network across Mai.
Born from the 1999 break-up of China Telecom, China Mobile has its 70% ownership with China Mobile (HK) Group Limited and 30% with public investors. China Mobile Communications Corporation (CMCC), a presumably government-owned holding company, owns 100 percent ownership of China Mobile (HK) Group Limited. China mobile historically has held a greater share of the rural market than it’s competitors. Having been listed on the NYSE and the Hong Kong stock exchanges, China Mobile holds 70% of the domestic market share in China with a penetration of 97% in China. It developed the China Mobile 13th Five-Year Plan for Network Information Security. With about 3 million+ mobile base stations, among which 1.79 million are 4G base stations, the company covers 12 million kilometers of transmission cables. It has close to 1 billion customers globally. The IoT connection of the company reached to 200 million users across China.
Revenue (in Million $): 117635.36
Net Income (in Million $): 42812.30
2. Verizon
Based at 1095 Avenue of the Americas in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, yet fused in Delaware, Verizon is an American multinational telecommunication conglomerate.
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It is also a corporate part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is dead-set on a digital & mobile future and has been investing in next-generation 5G wireless technologies as well as the multitrillion-dollar Internet of things opportunities it enables. In the Financial Year 2017, the company earned total revenue of $126034 million and a Net income of $30101 million. The company ranks 14 in Fortune 500 companies ranking 2017. In 2018, Verizon will be launching 5G residential services in up to five U.S. cities, starting with Sacramento, CA.
When an antitrust suit, alleging anticompetitive practices, was filed against AT&T by the U.S. Department of Justice, AT&T divested itself of the 22 local phone companies thus forming up the Bell System. Responding to the same, AT&T relinquished control of the local telephone services, creating seven independent Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs), also called “Baby Bells”. Bell Atlantic and NYNEX were two of them who in July 1995 merged to form Bell Atlantic Mobile, later known as Verizon Wireless. As of 2018, Verizon is one of three organizations that had their foundations in the previous Baby Bells, other two being Century Link and AT&T. The company is also a title sponsor of various performance and sports venues as well as a sponsor of several major sporting organizations like National Hockey league, Motorsports, National Football league.
Revenue (in Million $): 126034
Net Income (in Million $): 30101
1. AT&T
Headquartered at Whiteacre tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas, AT&T is the worlds leading telecom brand.
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American Telephone &Telegraph Company, is world leader in telecommunications, technology, and media and communications. In the Financial Year 2017, AT&T earned total revenue of $160,546 million and a Net income of $29,450 million. Being a Fortune 10 company, they have recorded 34 consecutive years of quarterly dividend growth. Begun as Southwestern Bell Telephone Company in the year 1983, it changed its name to SBC Communications Inc. in 1995. SBC acquired former parent AT&T Corporation and took on its branding, with the merged entity naming itself AT&T Inc. in 1995.
AT&T Communications serves U.S. Consumers with broadband, video and voice services. AT&T International includes DIRECTV Latin America and AT&T Mexico. Being the country’s fastest-growing wireless business, At & T Mexico serves both businesses and consumers. And DIRECTV is a pay-tv leader in 11 countries and territories in the Caribbean and Latin America. It’s new advertising and analytics startup is leading the way to premium video advertising. AT&T also focuses on various corporate social responsibilities like It can wait: a letter to drivers, smart city agreement with Mexico City, the power of giving, At&T Aspire, Piedra, Tijera, Papel etc. The company is recognized as Socially Responsible by the Mexican Center for Philanthropy and Alliance for CSR (AliaRSE). The company is also one of the Fortune 100 Best companies to work for 2018.
Revenue (in Million $): 2160546
Net Profit (in Million $): 29450
Ranking Methodology
Step 1: Top 20 telecom companies were shortlisted based on their revenues
Step 2: 3 parameters Revenues & Profits were checked
Step 3: Based on the rank of their revenues, ranking was done.