Mobile CAPEX More Than $131 Billion and Rising Despite Turbulent Economy, Says ABI Research

Global capital expenditure on mobile communications continues to rise due to greater emphasis on new data services, increased traffic load, and preparation for 4G deployments. With the US economy’s uncertain outlook in 2008, ABI Research expects North America’s CAPEX to remain flat this year, while other regions will increase their CAPEX commitments for new 2G/3G deployments or expansions, all-IP service discovery platform upgrades, SoftSwitch unified core systems, and preparations for 4G. ABI Research calculates that CAPEX investment in 2007 exceeded $131 billion, and will reach $163.5 billion in 2013.

The Asia-Pacific and North American regions are estimated to be the biggest spenders, according to research analyst Hwai Lin Khor. “Mobile industry spending in the Asia-Pacific area is primarily driven by the emerging markets that are expanding current 2G network footprints and new 3G rollouts; many nations in this region have yet to release their 3G licenses. Mature markets such as Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong will be spending on service delivery platforms, 4G base stations and related components, IMS, and in-building wireless systems. North American spending is primarily driven by 3G upgrades to HSDPA/HSPA for the WCDMA evolution and EVDO Rev A for the CDMA evolution, as well as activities around mobile WiMAX.”

Most current CAPEX is still directed to voice services and 2G networks expansion, as the majority of subscriber net adds in recent years are coming from emerging markets that are fairly contented with simple voice calls and messaging services. However, there is also increased awareness of the need for early investment to ensure that networks are ready to support the capacity demanded by higher bandwidth data services. Increased EDGE, 3G, and subsequently 4G deployments will mean higher CAPEX investment for data services and for the respective technologies.

“CAPEX for data services will surpass that for voice sometime in 2009 as 4G starts to arrive,” says Hwai Lin Khor. “ABI Research believes that by 2013, the percentage split will be 28% for voice, 67% for data, and 5% for mobile TV.”

ABI Research’s “Mobile Operator Capital Expenditure Analysis” (http://www.abiresearch.com/products/market_research/Wireless_ Infrastructure_CAPEX_and_Base_Station_Spending) highlights the latest trends influencing capital expenditure (CAPEX) investments by mobile operators worldwide. This study provides the historical and forecast CAPEX based on regions, mobile technologies, mobile services and network infrastructure components from 2003 to 2013. It is a component of two ABI Research Services: Mobile Networks (http://www.abiresearch.com/products/service/Wireless_Infrastructure _Research_Service) and Consumer Mobility (http://www.abiresearch.com/products/service/Consumer_Mobility_ Research_Service).

(Long URLs in this release may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser’s address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.)

ABI Research is a leading market research firm focused on the impact of emerging technologies on global consumer and business markets. Utilizing a unique blend of market intelligence, primary research, and expert assessment from its worldwide team of industry analysts, ABI Research assists hundreds of clients each year with their strategic growth initiatives. For information, visit www.abiresearch.com, or call +1.516.624.2500.
Contacts

ABI Research
Nicole Fabris, +44.20.7096.1594
pr {at} abiresearch(.)com