Western Europe mobile Capex

Western Europe mobile Capex

It is an evidence saying WE mobile market is close saturation and the network infrastructure capex is mainly driven by replacement equipment and migration to 3G and NGN core networks. This translates into a relatively strong capex slowdown over the next five years, according to Pyramid Research. Mobile operators are expected to invest some $27bn on network equipment over next five years, a 31% decline over the past five years. UMTS network capex would account for $14bn, while EDGE networks will receive $500m. GSM/GPRS capex would account for $10bn and remaining $2,5bn would be spent on NGN core networks. Three countries (Germany, France and the UK) will invest 51% of cumulative infrastructure spending over the next five years.

It could be an optimist market view, as price pressure, building of pan-European networks, and operator consolidation could reduce WE capex in coming years.