Infonetics: Yes, telecom capex, revenues have climbed in 2011

Despite macroeconomic turbulence that shows no signs of stopping, telecom carriers have continued to invest in their networks, according to Infonetics Research. The market research firm asserts in its newly released Service Provider Capex, Opex, ARPU, and Subscribers report that capital expenditures (capex) will have grown about 6% and revenues by 8% versus last year by the time 2011 concludes.

Wireless infrastructure has benefited from the greatest investment, according to the report.

"The near-6% increase in global telecom carrier capex we expect in 2011 over 2010 is due in large part to AT&T's ramping LTE deployments, HSPA+ upgrades, and investments in WiFi hotspots for traffic offload,” explains Stéphane Téral, principal analyst for mobile and FMC infrastructure at Infonetics. “This offsets Verizon Wireless' slowing mobile spending since their LTE rollout peaked earlier this year. In the EMEA region, a capex hike in Africa is partially offsetting delays in telecom investment in Greece, Italy, and Hungary; Asia Pacific remains stable; and in the Caribbean and Latin America (CALA), América Móvil and Telefónica, the two telecom giants that control 75% of mobile subscribers there, are preparing their infrastructure to host the soccer World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016."

Infonetics pegs global telecom carrier capex for 2011 at $310.8 billion, which would be a 5.8% bump versus 2010. Spending on every type of next-generation telecom equipment category is up so far this year, with the exception of TDM voice, the firm reports.

"We maintain our view that the sovereign debt crisis that is paralyzing Europe continues to have little impact on our telecom capex forecast,” Téral asserts. “As long as credit remains available to telecoms at a fair price, the ongoing sovereign debt crisis should have little impact on telecommunications equipment spending. Investment plans across world regions suggest mobile broadband and FTTx is the name of the game going forward."

Meanwhile, service provider revenues should continue to rise as well through at least 2015. Revenues this year should reach $1.86 trillion this year, says Infonetics, and $2.17 trillion in 2015, driven by mobile broadband.

Infonetics' capex reports track revenue, capex, capital intensities (capex-to-revenue ratios), opex, ARPU, subscribers, and access lines of public and semi-private/government-owned service providers in North America, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa), Asia Pacific, CALA, and worldwide.