There has been a decisive pivot in the global telecoms and data centre sectors towards sharper operational, regulatory and financial pressures, according to BDO Global’ 2025/26 Telecommunications Risk Factor Survey.
The findings align closely with BDO’s Global Risk Landscape 2025/26, which warns that a reactive, compliance-led approach to risk is no longer fit for purpose in today’s “permacrisis” environment, where overlapping systemic shocks have become the norm rather than the exception.
Based on disclosures from 69 organisations worldwide, including 60 telecommunications operators across EMEA, the Americas and APAC and 9 data centre operators, the 2025/26 survey shows a marked shift in priorities compared with 2023.
Previously, regulatory and tax-based risks dominated. In 2025/26, however, attention has swung decisively toward immediate operational risks that directly threaten business continuity and resilience.
Commenting on the findings, Carl Bosman of BDO South Africa says: “South Africa sits at the crossroads of many of the pressures highlighted in this global report. Our telecoms and digital infrastructure providers are dealing simultaneously with regulatory change, energy insecurity, climate-related disruption and fierce competition from digital-native and fintech players.
“South African operators can no longer treat risk as a compliance exercise. Resilience, from cyber to climate to capital structure, must be built into strategy, pricing and investment decisions if the sector is to support inclusive digital growth for the country and the continent.”
In the 2025/26 rankings, cyber-attacks, information or security breaches, and technology disruptions have surged to the top global risk, cited by 85% of operators. Intense competition (79.7%), natural disasters and extreme weather (76.7%), challenges from changing industry regulations (79.7%), and interest rate risk (76.7%) round out the top five.
By contrast, in 2023 the list was led by changes in tax laws and regulations and extensive governmental legislation and regulation, with cybersecurity only in third place. This shift underscores how the sector is moving from simply managing policy exposure to actively addressing tangible threats that can disrupt networks, damage infrastructure, and erode customer trust.
Supply-side fragility, driven by dependence on key vendors, is another defining theme for 2025/26. Dependence on key suppliers and vendors now ranks 6th globally (75.0%), reflecting concerns about equipment diversity, geopolitical exposure, and concentrated vendor ecosystems.
Industry-specific pressures are also evolving. 5G deployment and evolution risk, which appears in the Top 10 for the first time in 2025/26 (71.7%), is reshaping strategic outlooks as operators balance heavy capital requirements, spectrum commitments and uncertain monetisation models. Changes in technologies and business models (70.0%) further highlight the need to adapt quickly to cloud-native, AI-driven and platform-based competition.
Although climate change and other environmental concerns appear in tenth position in the 2025/26 ranking, a notably larger proportion of operators, around 70–71.7% of telecommunications providers and data centres, now cite it as a growing risk. In 2023, only 58.7% did so, showing a sharp uptick in concern.
This indicates that climate and environmental pressures are moving rapidly from long-range ESG debate to a core strategic concern. Operators are increasingly focused on physical exposure to extreme weather, energy price and availability risks, and scrutiny of water and land use, particularly in markets with constrained grids and rising regulatory expectations.
The 2025/26 report includes a new dedicated assessment of risks in the global data centre segment, revealing that financial and cyber vulnerabilities are often more acute than in telecoms:
- Financial fragility: All data centre operators surveyed highlighted dependence on suppliers, inflationary cost spikes and interest rate volatility as critical risks, underscoring the fragility of capital-intensive, power-dense facilities.
- Cybersecurity and digital threats: 88.9% cited AI-enhanced intrusions, hybrid cloud vulnerabilities and reputational exposure from data breaches as a major concern. These risks are shared with telcos but amplified by the scale of third-party data holdings.
- Climate and environmental fragility: 88.9% reported elevated exposure to extreme weather and ESG scrutiny on energy and water use, with impacts magnified by fixed, power-dense infrastructure.
- Macroeconomic volatility and investor concentration: Around 77.8% pointed to stock market swings, FX exposure, trade/geopolitical disruptions and revenue/investor concentration as significant risks, reflecting sensitivity to REIT valuations and capital markets sentiment.
Regionally, risk intensity differs, but a common pattern emerges:
- The Americas show the highest risk intensity, driven by legal and structural pressures, regulatory actions, and shifting tariff and trade policies.
- APAC faces elevated innovation volatility and climate disruption, balancing rapid 5G and AI adoption with physical and regulatory challenges.
- EMEA exhibits a balanced concern across digital, legal and financial challenges, with an emphasis on complex regulatory reform and energy transition dynamics.