Skip to main content

Global Telecom Service Provider Investment

Infonetics Research released the second edition of its 2009 telecom Service Provider Capex, Opex, ARPU, and Subscribers report, which features analysis on how current economic conditions are impacting telecommunications markets -- by region and equipment segment.

"Global telecom service provider capital expenditures hit a plateau in 2008, marking the end of a 5-year investment cycle and the beginning of a 3-year disinvestment cycle, albeit a less dramatic one than what followed the great telecom crash of 2000," predicts Stephane Teral, principal analyst at Infonetics.

Capex will bottom down in 2010 and a new investment cycle will start in 2011, driven by 3G rollouts in India and Central and Latin America, the start of 3G rollouts in Africa, and a ramp-up in LTE deployments in Australia, Brazil, Western Europe, Japan, and North America.

Highlights of the Infonetics market study include:

- Worldwide, service providers spent $305 billion in 2008 on capital expenditure projects, such as network infrastructure upgrades.

- Global capex is forecast to decline at most 6 percent in 2009, mainly due to a significant capex shakeout in the Middle East and Africa, a weakening U.S. dollar, expected declines in the Brazilian real and Mexican peso, and delays in U.S. broadband stimulus funding.

- Infonetics anticipates a year-end bump up in capex, which could bring the overall capex decline in 2009 to less than 6 percent.

- Optical network hardware is a bright spot in today's tightened capex environment, with decent single-digit percent spending growth expected in 2009, despite currency devaluations.

- Mainly due to currency effects, worldwide service provider revenue is forecast to decline only very slightly in 2009, to $1.67 trillion, driven by mobile communication services, as consumers continue to hold on to their mobile services during tough economic times.

- Mobile infrastructure will continue to dominate total global telecom and datacom spending, followed by voice equipment.

- The world's 10 largest service providers (ranked in order by 2008 revenue) are AT&T, NTT, Verizon, Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom, Vodafone, China Mobile, Telefonica, BT, and Sprint.

Popular posts from this blog

Global Rise of Domestic Payment Ecosystems

Alternative Payment Methods (APMs) – comprising digital wallets, instant payments, and QR payment systems – are experiencing explosive growth that's reshaping the global financial services marketplace. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research , the combined global transaction value for APMs is projected to reach $142 trillion by 2030. What's particularly fascinating is the underlying driver behind this trend: a growing desire for financial sovereignty, with nations developing domestic payment ecosystems rather than remaining dependent on international financial networks. Payment Ecosystem Market Development In 2024, approximately 45 percent of the global population used digital wallets – a remarkable adoption rate for a technology that barely existed a decade ago. China leads this transition, with 95 percent of its population using WeChat's payment functionality. WeChat exemplifies the "super app" phenomenon, where payment capabilities are in...