Juniper claims operators will make more than $10 billion in revenue through roaming data services next year which is an annual growth of 15 per cent. In 2023, they’ll earn $8.6 billion. Most of the cash comes from the rise in consumer demand, fueled by the deployment of 5G networks.

The market research warns companies that the will not be making much more on these sorts of deals. Competing mobility solutions, such as eSIM, should give telecoms’ a run for their money. By adopting a temporary local profile, consumers can avoid paying extra for mobile data when traveling internationally.

eSIMS, Juniper explains, are inbuilt Embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Cards (eUICCS), that are also operator-agnostic, which allows roaming subscribers to adopt local profiles through digital platforms. By the end of this year, the researchers argue, there will be more than 1.5 billion smartphones using eSIMs for cellular connectivity. By 2027, the number is expected to more than double, to 3.5 billion devices.

Operators should launch travel mobility services for long-term travelers, as well as those interested in becoming “permanent roamers”, they say. Furthermore, they should provide travel mobility services to subscribers roaming on their network. That should also include a user-facing digital platform which would allow subscribers to manage their own mobile subscriptions.

“As a result, this will lessen the reliance on the delivery of physical SIM cards that can increase the time for a travel mobility subscription to be created,” the researchers concluded.