50World2000 World top telecom operatorsThe 1999 ranking of the world's top telecomsoperators gives the overall impression of a stillbooming industry, with a cumulated turnover ofclose to $600 billion. Apart from two exceptions(Germany's Deutsche Telekom and AmericanGTE), all have enjoyed growth rates of over 5%,with close to half posting increases of 10%. Theseresults are, evidently, linked in part with themarket's dynamic fostered by the spectaculardevelopments in mobile and Internet accessservice. It is also the fruit, in a number of cases, ofthe merger and acquisition frenzy that continues toshake up the sector. Such is the case of AT&T withits takeover of TCI, and that of SBC which, afterhaving "absorbed" Pacific Telesis, merged withAmeritech (the 8% growth has, however, beencalculated based on a proforma basis).Internationalisation, another factor which serves toexplain operator's great vitality, has now reachedphenomenal levels, with the share of revenuesderived from overseas activities representing over10% for three of Europe's top operators (Telefonica,France Telecom and BT).More specifically, principal shifts in the ranksconcern:- SBC which moves up three places following itsmerger with Ameritech,- MCI WorldCom, while maintaining fifth place,"passes" Bell Atlantic thanks to a healthygrowth in activities,- China Telecom (whose results are estimates)sustained by a highly ambitious equipmentplan in both the fixed and mobile sectors,- Telefonica which, like MCI WorldCom, whilestill in thirteenth place, is close on the heels ofBell South thanks to spectacular growth – dueessentially to increased internationaloperations,- DDI which has benefited from both escalatedactivity and the strength of the Yen(mechanical effect on the valuation of turnoverin dollars),- and, lastly, Vodafone – beefed up by its mergerwith AirTouch – is now ranked eighteenth butshould be moving up soon thanks to its unionwith Mannesmann. Top 25 telecom operators in the WorldRank Operator Country 1999 operation Growth 1998-1999 Employees Access lines (‘000)revenues(million $)1 NTT Japan 93 090 6.7% 224 000 55 3182 AT&T USA 62 391 17.2% 147 800 nm3 SBC USA 49 489 9.2% 204 530 60 6824 Deutsche Telekom Germany 37 790 0.9% 172 000 47 8005 MCI WorldCom USA 37 420 23.0% nd nm6 Bell Atlantic USA 33 174 5.1% 145 000 43 0007 BT UK 30 162 10.4% 136 800 28 4858 China Telecom China 29 837 24.0% na na9 France Telecom France 29 014 10.5% 174 262 34 10010 Telecom Italia Italy 27 928 7.3% 122 662 26 50211 GTE USA 25 336 -0.5% 99 000 26 06812 BellSouth USA 25 224 9.1% 96 162 44 85213 Telefonica Spain 24 459 31.4% 118 778 40 19914 Sprint USA 19 928 18.0% 77 600 na15 Cable & Wireless UK 14 829 15.8% 54 919 na16 DDI Japan 13 681 22.4% 2 586 na17 US West USA 13 182 6.3% 58 272 17 00918 Vodafone UK 12 689 134.3% 29 465 na19 Telstra Australia 11 661 5.9% 50 761 10 04020 Telmex Mexico 10 075 9.6% na 10 87821 Korea Telecom South Korea 9 914 15.8% 52 533 26 93022 Mannesmann Telecom Germany 9 660 94.8% 22 366 na23 BCE Canada 9 567 9.8% 55 000 11 57924 KPN Netherlands 8 630 8.3% 38 550 9 61025 Swisscom Switzerland 7 429 6.7% 21 777 4 700© IDATE www.idate.fr
51World2000 World top telecom operators Major operators’ positions after recent mergers17Cable & Wireless148BTVodafone57DeutscheTelekom12France TelecomOrange acquisition(+2)10Telecom ItaliaTelefonica113920Korea TelecomKDDIChina TelecomNTT11billion $10016BellSouthQwest15Sprint6MCIWorldcom19Telmex4SBC3AT&TVerizonBell Atlantic + GTE(+4)218Telstra© IDATE www.idate.fr
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