--- title: How Do Wholesale Carriers Fit In the Global Traffic Picture? description: Broadly speaking, telecom service providers have two ways of connecting traffic to a destination telco. image: https://resources.telegeography.com/hubfs/2025/Blog%20Assets/AdobeStock_38531964-1.jpeg --- [![TG\_LOGO](https://resources.telegeography.com/hubfs/TeleGeography%20Hub%20Theme%20Nov%202025/images/TG_LOGO.svg)](https://www2.telegeography.com/) - [About](https://www2.telegeography.com/about-us) - [Research](https://www2.telegeography.com/our-research) - [Products](https://www2.telegeography.com/products) - [Solutions](https://www2.telegeography.com/solutions) - [Resources](https://resources.telegeography.com) [Log In](https://www.telegeography.com/login/login?service=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegeography.com%2Faccount%2Fhome%2Findex) [Contact](https://www2.telegeography.com/contact-us) ###### Data and Analysis Tools - [Cloud and WAN Research Service](https://www2.telegeography.com/cloud-and-wan-infrastructure) - [Data Center Research Service](https://www2.telegeography.com/data-center-research-service) - [GlobalComms Database](https://www2.telegeography.com/globalcomms-database-service) - [International Voice Report](https://www2.telegeography.com/telegeography-report-and-database) - [IP Networks Research Service](https://www2.telegeography.com/ip-networks-research-service) - [ISP Navigator](https://www2.telegeography.com/isp-navigatorisp-navigator) - [Transport Networks Research Service](https://www2.telegeography.com/transport-networks) - [Network Pricing Database](https://www2.telegeography.com/telegeography-pricing-database) - [WAN Cost Benchmark](https://www2.telegeography.com/wan-cost-benchmark) - [Product Passes](https://www2.telegeography.com/product-passes) ###### Consulting - [All Consulting Services](https://www2.telegeography.com/consulting) - [Submarine Cable Consulting](https://www2.telegeography.com/submarine-cable-consulting) ###### Maps - [All Map Services](https://www2.telegeography.com/map-services) - [Sponsor a Map](https://www2.telegeography.com/sponsor-a-map) - [License Map Data](https://www2.telegeography.com/license-geocoded-map-data) - [Cite a Map](https://www2.telegeography.com/cite-telegeography-map) - [Buy a Map](https://shop.telegeography.com/collections/telecom-maps/) ###### Industry - [Education](https://www2.telegeography.com/telegeography-for-education) - [Enterprise](https://www2.telegeography.com/enterprise) - [Tech](https://www2.telegeography.com/tech) - [Telecom](https://www2.telegeography.com/telecom) ###### Case Studies - [AI + Retail Telecom Data](https://www2.telegeography.com/where-to-get-global-telecom-data) - [EXA Infrastructure](https://www2.telegeography.com/exa-infrastructure-case-study) - [Orange Wholesale](https://www2.telegeography.com/orange-wholesale-case-study) - [The European Commission](https://www2.telegeography.com/the-european-commissions-data-backed-approach-to-international-policy) [Back to Resources](https://resources.telegeography.com) # How Do Wholesale Carriers Fit In the Global Traffic Picture? ##### By [Paul Brodsky,](https://resources.telegeography.com/author/paul-brodsky) Feb 06, 2026 [Voice](https://resources.telegeography.com/tag/voice) Broadly speaking, telecom service providers have two ways of connecting traffic to a destination telco. They can either connect directly with the destination carrier or route traffic to a wholesale carrier that connects to a destination telco. Many retail service providers, such as mobile operators, MVNOs, and cable broadband providers, rely heavily on wholesale carriers to transport and terminate their customers’ international calls. Wholesale carriers terminated approximately 217 billion minutes of traffic in 2024, down 8% from 2023. Let’s take a moment to dive in a bit and see what's going on. Wholesale revenues are down 25% from ten years ago. Let’s take a moment to dive in a bit and see what's going on. A few years ago, one could say that traffic to mobile phones in emerging markets had driven international wholesale market growth. No longer. Wholesale Revenues by Market Type, 2014 and 2024 ![international voice Wholesale Revenues by Market Type, 2014 and 2024](https://resources.telegeography.com/hs-fs/hubfs/international%20voice%20Wholesale%20Revenues%20by%20Market%20Type%2c%202014%20and%202024.png?width=1388&height=592&name=international%20voice%20Wholesale%20Revenues%20by%20Market%20Type%2c%202014%20and%202024.png) Wholesale traffic declined at an average rate of 1.5% per year over the past ten years, compared to a -6% CAGR for overall traffic. Wholesale carriers terminated more than two-thirds (71%) of international traffic in 2024, essentially unchanged from the year before. Traffic to mobile phones in emerging markets has spurred expansion in wholesalers' share of the overall market. In 2024, wholesale carriers terminated over 86% of traffic to South America. In contrast, wholesale carriers terminated only 55% of traffic to western Europe. Wholesale Traffic by Market Type, 2014 and 2024 ![international voice Wholesale Traffic by Market Type, 2014 and 2024](https://resources.telegeography.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202026-02-11%20at%2010.09.00%20AM.png?width=1320&height=588&name=Screenshot%202026-02-11%20at%2010.09.00%20AM.png) *Notes: Advanced markets are defined as those of the upper 30th percentile of countries as ranked by GDP per capita in 2024. Emerging markets are those of countries in the lower 70th percentile. World and regional totals exclude countries with extremely low traffic volumes. Source: © 2025 TeleGeography* Compare the figures for revenue and traffic. It's plain as day that revenues to fixed lines in both advanced and emerging economies has collapsed. At the same time, you'll see that revenues from calls to mobiles in all markets has shrunk slightly over the past ten years, to about $10.1 billion. Who's carrying this traffic? Take a look at the figure below.  Traffic Volumes of Major Carriers ![international voice Traffic Volumes of Major Carriers](https://resources.telegeography.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202026-02-11%20at%2010.09.18%20AM.png?width=750&height=466&name=Screenshot%202026-02-11%20at%2010.09.18%20AM.png) *Notes: Pre-2013 data for Vodafone, which reflect the combined traffic of Vodafone and the former Cable & Wireless Communications, are not available. Source: © 2025 TeleGeography* This graph shows a ranking of some of the world’s largest international carriers. The top 8 operators in the figure carried 41% of all global traffic in 2024, about 125 billion minutes. Only one of the eight largest carriers in the world—BTS—terminated more traffic in 2024 than in 2023. Chew on that for a bit. ## International voice telecom data Get this data and analysis—and much more—in TeleGeography's [International Voice Report](https://www2.telegeography.com/telegeography-report-and-database) platform. It delivers comprehensive data on the international long-distance voice market. Benchmark services, traffic levels, and pricing and track trends and growth—all with the industry's most comprehensive international voice intelligence. [![See International Voice Report](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/594292/interactive-207378516012.png)](https://resources.telegeography.com/hs/cta/wi/redirect?encryptedPayload=AVxigLK3qinKOMiJONQecxXFG5I%2Bjqr1rqHZB7guQBPz5WZXkuPgjUFcuCyOcx6ogpG1RKP9%2F%2FxrBLcfk0T1Z3qAYO5iIZvP1aulFKqrkLk6wHKkWKZuxMhjKOol85lu8F4oZ12FNFkmSij%2BrP2YhNtV4NL%2FKpfCptbXCWBoiQhm5i81vhuM3YkLzp0Oq12mqbgB0lGbOoric5gU23jtrNylxyk9Hr9ypdxeXdsPoTGFlBFWgRXP1lE%3D&webInteractiveContentId=207378516012&portalId=594292)   ![Paul Brodsky](https://resources.telegeography.com/hubfs/Telegeography-Staff-Headshots/Headshot%20Archive/paul-brodsky-telegeography.png) #### Paul Brodsky Paul Brodsky is a Senior Research Manager at TeleGeography. He is part of the network, internet, cloud, and voice research team. His regional expertise includes Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. [View Paul Brodsky Work](https://resources.telegeography.com/author/paul-brodsky) ## Explore Related Content ![Eight Enterprise Products, Explained](https://resources.telegeography.com/hubfs/2023/Blog%20Assets/AdobeStock_306273830-1.jpeg) ###### Blog Aug 24, 2023 #### [Eight Enterprise Products, Explained](https://resources.telegeography.com/eight-enterprise-products-explained) The geographic coverage of carriers’ enterprise network services varies significantly. Not every carrier... [View More by Paul Brodsky](https://resources.telegeography.com/author/paul-brodsky) [Read Full Article](https://resources.telegeography.com/eight-enterprise-products-explained) ![Where Did the Minutes Go?](https://resources.telegeography.com/hubfs/2024/Blog%20Assets/AdobeStock_621466748-1.jpeg) ###### Blog Jan 4, 2024 #### [Where Did the Minutes Go?](https://resources.telegeography.com/where-did-the-minutes-go) The year 2014 represents the peak for international voice traffic. International call minutes declined... [View More by Paul Brodsky](https://resources.telegeography.com/author/paul-brodsky) [Read Full Article](https://resources.telegeography.com/where-did-the-minutes-go) ![What](https://resources.telegeography.com/hubfs/2023/Blog%20Assets/AdobeStock_175583981-1.jpeg) ###### Blog Feb 3, 2025 #### [What's the Difference Between Wholesale, Retail, & Direct Traffic?](https://resources.telegeography.com/traffic-talk-whats-the-difference-between-wholesale-retail-and-direct) If you’ve checked out our International Voice Report, you probably noticed that the data carefully... [View More by Paul Brodsky](https://resources.telegeography.com/author/paul-brodsky) [Read Full Article](https://resources.telegeography.com/traffic-talk-whats-the-difference-between-wholesale-retail-and-direct) [![TG\_LOGO\_color\_horizontal\_SIMPLIFIED 1](https://resources.telegeography.com/hubfs/TeleGeography%20Hub%20Theme%20Nov%202025/images/TG_LOGO_color_horizontal_SIMPLIFIED%201.svg)](https://www2.telegeography.com/) [Login](https://www.telegeography.com/login/login?service=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegeography.com%2Faccount%2Fhome%2Findex) [Contact Us](https://www2.telegeography.com/contact-us) ###### [About](https://www2.telegeography.com/about-us) - [Research](https://www2.telegeography.com/our-research) - [Products](https://www2.telegeography.com/products) - [Solutions](https://www2.telegeography.com/solutions) - [Demo](https://www2.telegeography.com/demo) ###### [Press](https://www2.telegeography.com/telegeography-press) - [Events](https://www2.telegeography.com/telecom-events) - [Careers](https://www2.telegeography.com/careers) ###### [Resources](https://resources.telegeography.com/) - [Podcast](https://www2.telegeography.com/telegeography-explains-the-internet-podcast) - [Newsletter](https://www2.telegeography.com/subscribe-to-telegeography-emails) - - All Rights Reserved 2026 - [Privacy Policy](https://www2.telegeography.com/privacy-policy) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Paul Brodsky", "url" : "https://resources.telegeography.com/author/paul-brodsky" }, "dateModified" : "2026-02-11T16:42:19.326Z", "datePublished" : "2026-02-06T19:00:00.000Z", "headline" : "How Do Wholesale Carriers Fit In the Global Traffic Picture?", "image" : [ "https://resources.telegeography.com/hubfs/2025/Blog%20Assets/AdobeStock_38531964-1.jpeg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://resources.telegeography.com/how-do-wholesale-carriers-fit-in-the-global-traffic-picture", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://resources.telegeography.com/hubfs/assets/telegeography/telegeography-logo-blog.png" }, "name" : "TeleGeography" } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org/", "@type" : "WebSite", "image" : "https://www2.telegeography.com/hubfs/Website/assets/logo/telegeography-logo.svg", "name" : "How Do Wholesale Carriers Fit In the Global Traffic Picture?", "potentialAction" : { "@type" : "SearchAction", "query-input" : "required name=search_term_string", "target" : "{search_term_string}" }, "url" : "https://resources.telegeography.com/how-do-wholesale-carriers-fit-in-the-global-traffic-picture" } ```