In this article, we will take a look at 15 most valuable telecom companies in the world. If you want to see more of the most valuable telecom companies in the world, go directly to 5 Most Valuable Telecom Companies In The World.
Telecom companies, otherwise known as telecommunication companies, are companies that allow their customers to communicate with each other through the phone or the internet.
To build their networks, telecom companies generally make huge capital investments that cost billions of dollars and several years. As a result, telecom companies have substantial barriers to entry.
History
The telecom industry began when in 1837 when the first commercial telegraph line went into service in 1937 in London. The industry then underwent a substantial change in 1876 when Alexander Graham Bell made his first phone call.
A few years later, an American company opened the first commercial telephone exchange in New Haven, Connecticut. The telecom industry in the United States evolved further in 1892 when AT&T began work on its ‘long lines’ network. As technology advanced, AT&T’s phone systems expanded throughout the United States.
In Europe, phone systems also expanded given the substantial demand.
In terms of ownership, however, the United States and Europe differed. Vonage explains the difference, “European countries chose nationalized telephone monopolies as a matter of policy but AT&T was a private monopoly. That piqued the interest of antitrust regulators. In 1913, AT&T and the U.S. Department of Justice struck a deal: AT&T would be allowed its monopoly so long as it fell under the regulation of the new Federal Communications Commission, sold its stake in Western Union, and allowed non-competing local providers to connect to its long-distance network. That gave AT&T the power to decide what telecoms meant and the vast income to invest in what would come next.”
As a result of the deal, AT&T dominated the telecom industry in the US until the 1980’s when the government decided to break the company up.
In the 2000’s, the telecom industry evolved due to the growth of smartphones and the internet and many telecom companies became internet service providers.
Since then, some telecom companies have tried to diversify to other areas such as content creation while others have focused on 5G and trying to get as many new subscribers as possible.
5G could be a substantial opportunity for telecom companies given that faster data speeds could create many new services that people want. As a result, more people might sign up for 5G phone plans to access those services or more existing people could upgrade from slower services to faster 5G services.
In terms of the future, satellite internet is also both an opportunity and competition for many telecoms as well.
The Most Valuable Telecom Companies
Given the billions of people who own smartphones and internet services, the most valuable telecom companies in the world are worth tens of billions of dollars.
Many companies are based in either the United States or in Japan given that the U.S has the largest economy in the world and Japan has the third largest economy in the world by nominal GDP.
2022 has been a challenging year for many sectors given the Federal Reserve has increased interest rates six times this year to fight inflation. As a result of the interest rate increases, the cost of variable debt has increased substantially and the cost of new debt is substantially higher as well. Given some telecoms might need debt financing to expand, some telecom stocks have not done well in 2022.
While there are some signs that inflation might be peaking in the United States, there is still potential for downside if economic data fails to meet expectations. As a result, it could be a good idea for long term investors to own a well diversified portfolio of stocks across many different sectors.
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Methodology
For our list of 15 Most Valuable Telecom Companies In The World, we took the top 15 companies by market capitalization from companiesmarketcap.com’s Largest telecommunication companies by market cap list. We ranked them based on market cap according to companiesmarketcap.com as of 11/28.
15 Most Valuable Telecom Companies In The World
15. China Telecom
Market Capitalization as of 11/28: $51.44 billion
With the rollout of 5G in China, China Telecom added over 18 million more mobile subscribers this year to reach 390.48 million subscribers. In terms of 5G, China Telecom is one of the leaders with a total subscriber base of over 237 million. As of 11/28, China Telecom has a market capitalization of $51.44 billion.
14. Crown Castle International Corp. (NYSE:CCI)
Market Capitalization as of 11/28: $59.55 billion
Crown Castle International Corp. (NYSE:CCI) is a REIT that provides shared communications infrastructure in the United States with a market capitalization of $59.55 billion. As of 2022, the company has around 5,000 employees, over 40,000 towers, and over 85,000 roue miles of fiber. In Q3 2022, Crown Castle International Corp. (NYSE:CCI)’s site rental revenues rose 8% year over year to $1.568 billion and its adjusted EBITDA rose 10% year over year to $1.077 billion. Q3 AFFO per share rose 5% year over year to $1.85.
13. Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR)
Market Capitalization as of 11/28: $59.85 billion
Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) is a leading broadband connectivity company and cable operator that serves over 32 million customers in 41 states. In 2021, Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) had $51.7 billion in annual revenue, 30.3 million broadband internet customers, 15 million video subscribers, 4.7 million mobile lines, and almost 800,000 miles on network infrastructure. In Q3, Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR)’s revenue rose 3.1% year over year to $13.6 billion and its adjusted EBITDA rose 2.4% year over year to $5.4 billion.
12. Bharti Airtel
Market Capitalization as of 11/28: $60.79 billion
Bharti Airtel, otherwise known as Airtel, is a leading telecom based in India. Given its businesses, Bharti Airtel has over 490 million costumers over 17 countries across Asia and Africa. In terms of its services, Bharti Airtel offers a wide spectrum of product offerings including 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G as well as high speed home broadband and digital TV. As of November 28, the telecom giant has a market capitalization of almost $61 billion.
11. América Móvil, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:AMX)
Market Capitalization as of 11/28: $63.32 billion
América Móvil, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:AMX) is a leading telecommunications provider in Latin America. Despite the macroeconomic headwinds, América Móvil, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:AMX) is growing as the company added 2.9 million wireless subscribers including 1.9 million postpaid clients in Q3 2022. Due to the additions, América Móvil, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:AMX) has 307.8 million wireless subscribers at the end of September, 9.6% more than a year before.
10. SoftBank
Market Capitalization as of 11/28: $64.29 billion
SoftBank is a Japanese multinational conglomerate that has a consumer segment that provides mobile and broadband services to individual customers in Japan, The company also sells mobile devices and offers fixed-line telecommunications. Although it is a telecom company, SoftBank is perhaps more known for its CEO Masayoshi Son, who has invested in a lot of internet companies globally.
9. KDDI
Market Capitalization as of 11/28: $64.94 billion
KDDI is a leading Japanese telecom that provides mobile and fixed line telecommunication services to individual customers. KDDI also offers cloud based services through its business segment. Given its scale, KDDI has 47,320 employees and a market capitalization of almost $65 billion.
8. NTT (Nippon Telegraph & Telephone)
Market Capitalization as of 11/28: $98.70 billion
NTT (Nippon Telegraph & Telephone) is a leading Japanese telecom with around 310,000 employees globally. In Japan, the company offers a range of services such as fixed-line and mobile phones to internet and system integration. In terms of the future, NTT (Nippon Telegraph & Telephone) has commented, “As an initiative for smart cities, 5G, and technological development, NTT is currently promoting the activities of the IOWN (Innovative Optical and Wireless Network) Global Forum along with related companies. Together, we work to envision our future society and act to realize the IOWN concept. NTT has made drastic changes to its business, including building up the telephone services that it has provided since its establishment, a shift to mobile services and broadband as the Internet came into wider use, and development in its global business that continues to grow to this day.” NTT (Nippon Telegraph & Telephone) ranks #8 on our list of 15 Most Valuable Telecom Companies In The World.
7. American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT)
Market Capitalization as of 11/28: $99.59 billion
American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) is one of the largest global REITS that’s an owner operator, and developer of communications real estate. Over the years, American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) has made multiple M&A deals that have given the company more scale. As a result of organic growth and M&A, American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) has around 223,000 communications sites including over 43,000 properties in the United States and Canada.
6. Deutsche Telekom
Market Capitalization as of 11/28: $101.44 billion
Deutsche Telekom is a German telecom company that’s the largest telecommunications provider in Europe by sales with FY2021 revenue of €108.8 billion. Given its revenues, Deutsche Telekom has substantial scale with 248 million mobile customers, 26 million fixed-network lines, and 22 million broadband lines. As of 11/28, Deutsche Telekom has a market capitalization of $101.44 billion.
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Disclosure: None. 15 Most Valuable Telecom Companies In The World is originally published on Insider Monkey.