Total investment by the world’s telecoms carriers is forecast to reach USD310.8 billion this year, up 5.8% when compared to 2010, according to a new study published by Infonetics Research. The group concludes that WiMAX equipment is accounting for the fastest growth among telcos in terms of net spend in 2011 (+27.5%), followed by video infrastructure (+20.7%). Infonetics’ finding also suggest the largest investment areas remain non-telecom/datacom equipment (software, real estate, labour, etc.) and mobile infrastructure, global spending for which is growing 7.0% and 8.6%, respectively, in 2011 over 2010.
Stephane Teral, principal analyst for mobile and FMC infrastructure, is quoted as saying: ‘The near-6% increase in global telecom carrier CAPEX we expect in 2011 over 2010 is due in large part to AT&T’s ramping LTE deployments, HSPA+ upgrades, and investments in Wi-Fi hotspots for traffic offload. This offsets Verizon Wireless’ slowing mobile spending since their LTE rollout peaked earlier this year.’