Telecom Lead Europe: Vodafone UK is planning to increase Capex (capital expenditure) by more than £300 million in 2014, up from £600 million last year.
The focus of the Capex will be on 4G LTE, Single RAN and network sharing in the U.K.
FT on Sunday reported that Vodafone UK will reveal the budgeted hike in domestic capital expenditure this week.
Last month, Vodafone Group, the second largest mobile operator in the world, said its total Capex would be around £6.26 billion in FY 2014, maintaining Capex in the previous year.
In fact, Vodafone’s Capex decreased marginally to £6.26 billion in FY 2013 from £6.36 billion in FY 2012.
In Germany, Vodafone’s Capex rose 28 percent in FY 2013 to focus on both 3G and 4G networks.
In Europe, Vodafone’s Capex was £4.3 billion.
Vodafone’s Capex in the AMAP region was £2 billion. Vodafone has lowered its roll-out in India with increased 3G focus. In Australia, the focus was on network recovery (RAN and 850MHz). Vodafone spent on 4G LTE launch in South Africa and New Zealand and undertook network expansion in Vodacom’s international operations.
Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao had said its network strategy would focus on supporting higher speed data in both mature and emerging markets, and delivering a excellent data experience to its customers by deploying HSPA+, LTE and high capacity backhaul.
