CAMPBELL, CA -- 07/07/08 --
Communications market research firm
Infonetics Research reports that
worldwide
service provider
capex (capital expenditures) totaled $248.8 billion in 2007, a 7%
increase from 2006.
Infonetics' report, Service
Provider Capex, Opex, ARPU, and Subscribers, projects a spike in
worldwide carrier capex in 2008, followed by a plateau in 2010 and a
decline in 2011, and emphasizes that the weak US dollar is inflating
current growth rates in Brazil, Canada, China, Europe, India, and Japan.
"Our capex analysis indicates we are in the fourth year of an investment
phase, and we may be reaching the plateau this year in both North America
and Europe, where large service providers' capital intensity (the ratio of
capex to revenue) will likely be as low as 12%. Meanwhile, China and India
will drive a significant jump in carrier capex in 2008 as a result of
network construction projects combined with currency appreciation against
the US dollar. Both countries are still posting double-digit revenue growth
in their native currencies, which, converted in US dollars creates a big
spike in worldwide carrier revenue as well," said Stéphane Téral,
principal analyst at Infonetics Research.
Other highlights from the report:
-- Telecom service providers earned a combined $1.5 trillion in annual
worldwide revenue in 2007, up 10% from 2006, with currency appreciation
making up the bulk of the growth, while the rest came from wireless
services
-- Carriers are increasingly investing in application software (vs.
hardware) for media rich applications such as content, storage, and
security for broadband based wireline and wireless services
-- Current investment drivers for carrier spending: convergence between
IT, media, Internet, and telecom, which is adding new competitive pressures
to carriers, and the shift from legacy TDM to next generation IP networks
-- The world's 10 largest service providers (ranked by 2007 revenue) are
AT&T, Verizon, NTT, Deutsche Telekom, France Télécom, Vodafone, Telefónica,
China Mobile, BT, and Sprint
-- The next largest service providers include Telecom Italia, Comcast,
and KDDI, which, according to their most recent growth rates, are poised to
join the top 10
-- The incumbent share of North American carrier capex jumped from 56% to
63% in 2007; MSOs are expected to increase their share of North American
carrier capex by 2011
-- The Asia Pacific telecom industry is squeezed between 2 opposite
market forces: a saturated market made of Australia, Hong Kong, Japan,
South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan characterized by flat to decreasing
capex, and a fast growing market driven by China and India, characterized
by double digit growth for both capex and revenue
-- Caribbean and Latin America (CALA) service provider revenue jumped 29%
between 2006 and 2007
-- Mobile infrastructure makes up the bulk of total equipment capex in
2007, accounting for about 20%, followed by voice infrastructure, optical
equipment, and broadband aggregation equipment
-- WiMAX equipment spending by service providers as a portion of total
carrier capex has roughly doubled each year since 2004, and will continue
to increase its share in the near term, driven by major WiMAX projects in
the US, India, and Latin America
Infonetics' report tracks revenue, capex, capex-to-revenue ratios, opex,
ARPU, subscribers, and access lines of 154 public and
semi-private/government-owned service providers. The report includes actual
data and forecasts, market drivers, analysis, service provider
demographics, and pivot tables for customizing analysis with data viewable
by service provider, service provider type, and equipment category.
Infonetics publishes capex reports for North America, Europe/Middle
East/Africa (EMEA), Asia Pacific, Caribbean/Latin America (CALA), and
Worldwide.
For report highlights, log
into Infonetics' online portal from www.infonetics.com (see Service
Provider Capex and Subscribers). For sales, contact Larry Howard, vice
president, at larry@infonetics.com or +1 (408) 583-3335.
Infonetics Research (www.infonetics.com) is an international communications
market research firm. Tracking emerging markets since 1990, Infonetics
covers a broad range of service provider, product manufacturer, and
enterprise and SMB markets. Services include
quarterly market share and forecasting, end-user survey research, service
provider survey research, service provider capex analysis, and custom
research and consulting.
Press Contact:
Stéphane Téral
Principal Analyst
Infonetics Research
408-583-3371
Email Contact
