Telecom operator Capex is forecast is reach $277 billion in 2025 from $291 billion in 2019, according to MTN Consulting.

The decreased in Capex of telecom opreators reflects the marginal growth of revenue during the forecast period.

Telecom operator revenue is forecast to increase to $1,882 billion in 2025 from $1,819 billion in 2019.

Software is rising as a percent of total telco Capex, and that will continue. Telcos are in the process of revamping operations in order to automate whatever they can, relying both on software from traditional telco vendors and partnerships with the webscale sector.

Layoffs in the industry will accelerate, but so will hiring more costly engineers with software development skills.

The most expensive part of the network, the mobile RAN, will continue its gradual shift towards disaggregation. That will create new opportunities for small vendors but also create demand for integrators and support the telco trend towards consolidation.