Insight Research: Telecommunications capital expenditures to hit $224 billion by 2015
APRIL 6, 2010 -- Capital expenditures (CAPEX) by telecommunications service providers globally is expected to increase at a compounded rate of 2.4 percent, from $199.6 billion in 2010 to $224.5 billion in 2015, says a new market analysis report from The Insight Research Corp.
According to the new market study, CAPEX in the various global regions will be very uneven with major sectors slowing or declining. However, the global spending picture is expected to remain positive as continued strong demand for mobile services in developing countries offsets the lag in spending in developed countries.
"Telecommunications and Capital Investments 2010-2015: Looking Beyond the Financial Crisis" notes that CAPEX spending among fixed-line operators will continue to decline, but mobile operators in developing countries will continue increasing their capital outlays to meet the pent up demand for service. On the other hand, when mobile operator CAPEX spending in the developed countries does rebound, it will be sluggish.
"It was no surprise when our analysis showed that operator CAPEX in the US and the 27-member EU states dropped sharply in 2009, but somewhat less obvious is that while spending in these regions will subsequently recover, they will not recover to 2008 levels over our forecast period," says Insight's president Robert Rosenberg. "The recovery of operator post-2009 CAPEX spending cannot mask the secular trend of declining investments in developed countries. This is the result of principally three factors: completion of broadband rollout programs; mobile sector saturation and technology uncertainty; and operator margin pressure due to competition and the absence of a compelling service value proposition."
Capital spending forecasts are provided for the US, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Japan, China, and India. On a per country basis, CAPEX spending is provided for fixed lines, mobile, broadband, and video/IPTV services. Forecasts are also provided for CAPEX allocation by equipment types including Carrier Ethernet, Metro Ethernet, SONET/SDHD, WDM, optical equipment, CO Switching, and long haul network gear.