The world's largest 40 telecoms operating companies enjoyed a better-than-average second quarter compared to other sectors, research from Informa Telecoms & Media has indicated.

Based on World Telecoms Financial Benchmarks service figures, the firm found that these operators increased revenues between April and June by 6.8 percent compared to a year earlier to reach a collective total of €246.7 billion, compared to a 1.8 percent growth for the rest of the economy.

According to the organisation, the impressive financial results indicate that despite difficult economic circumstances, consumers and businesses are still willing to spend money on telecoms services.

Milena Konecna, Informa Telecoms & Media financial data analyst, said: "This broadly impressive performance has taken place against the back-drop not just of weak growth in the global economy, but bruising competition from new entrants and MVNO players in conjunction with regulatory-led reductions in the amounts operators can charge each other for terminating traffic on their networks (MTRs), each of which has put considerable pressure on revenues, especially those generated by voice services."