Telecom service provider capital expenditures (Capex) rose 2.9 percent to $352 billion in 2014, said IHS.
Telecommunications operators’ service revenue grew 0.4 percent to $1.997 trillion in 2014.
Expenditures for every type of equipment except TDM voice slowly grew or stayed flat.
Europe posted 3.3 percent growth in carrier Capex, mainly fuelled by Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone.
Telecoms’ Capex growth in Asia Pacific was to 4.2 percent in 2014. The highlight of telecom Capex in Asia Pacific was that China more than offset spending declines in Japan and South Korea.
World Cup hangover slowed telecom spending in Latin America.
IHS forecasts worldwide telecom Capex will be a cumulative US$1.8 trillion in the 5 years from 2015 to 2019.
“We’re entering a new era of desynchronized cycles in telecom spending. Regions and economic powers have their own investment agendas and pace, and this will result in overall flat-to-low-single-digit Capex growth through 2019 unless a major event occurs,” said Stephane Teral, research director for mobile infrastructure and carrier economics at IHS.
editor@telecomlead.com
