Mobile infrastructure Capex (capital investment) of global telecom operators will peak at $224 billion in 2017, said ABI Research.

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After 2017, mobile Capex will decline mainly driven by a slowdown in Capex deployment due to dip in wireless revenue.

“To reduce Capex intensity, mobile operators are now looking at software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV). This allows the mobile operators to transfer their hardware based network to software- and cloud-based solutions,” said Jake Saunders, VP and Practice Director of Core Forecasting.

Ovum forecasts

In a December 2014 note, Ovum said the global CSP Capex will be more than $2 trillion during 2014-2019. By 2019, telecom Capex will be nearly $354 billion, said Ovum.

The Capex in 2014 was $346 billion, with fixed telecoms accounting for 41 percent of the total and mobile the remainder.

Ovum had predicted flat Capex in 2015. In 2015, Mobile Capex growth will be flat, while Capex of fixed operators will decline. Capex in 2016 and 2017 are likely to be weak, for both the fixed and mobile segments. Ovum expects a modest recovery in 2018–19 as a new wave of fixed broadband, fixed cloud / data center, and mobile broadband upgrades start rolling out.

How North American telecoms invest?

ABI Research said North American mobile operators will invest towards Capex of $63 per subscription against $34 by service providers in Western Europe.

Telecoms in North America will spend 39 percent of the Capex on radio access networks and 26 percent on in-building wireless, which now handles 80 percent of the mobile traffic. The main focus of in-building wireless investment will be to improve network performance and wireless customer experience.

Baburajan K
[email protected]