Telecom Capex Outlook Confirms Positive Equipment Momentum

“Even with some decoupling taking place between capex and equipment revenue growth trends in the first half, we expect the relationship to remain significant going forward,” said Stefan Pongratz, Vice President with the Dell’Oro Group. “More importantly, healthy end-user fundamental combined with the competitive dynamics and improving carrier revenue trends is spurring operators to ramp investments in multiple technologies and regions,” continued Pongratz.

Additional highlights from the September 2021 3-year Telecom Capex Forecast:

Total telecom capex projections have been revised upward—carrier capex is expected to advance at a 3 percent CAGR between 2020 and 2023, underpinned by strong growth in 2021.
The upward capex revision is primarily driven by the improved investment outlook in the US wireless market.
Even with the elevated 5G BTS baseline in China, total capex remains on track to advance at a double-digit rate in nominal USD terms in 2021, predicated on the assumption that the second half will account for 60 percent to 65 percent of the full-year capex in China.