Operator Spending

Overview

This programme provides in-depth techno-economic analysis of the financial models that are emerging in the telecoms industry. It helps senior decision-makers within operators, as well as their suppliers, partners and investors, to understand the main patterns of financing and ownership in networks and platforms, based on detailed forecasting and analysis of capex and opex associated with telecoms networks and operations.

Themes

• Capex trends. The changing patterns of spending on telecoms between 2018 and 2030 by operators and other entities.
• Asset ownership. How investment profiles are evolving as some operators delayer, while others rely on third-party infrastructure such as public cloud.
• Opex. Exploring the main trends in telecoms opex, with analysis of efficiency strategies for areas including AI and automation.

Questions answered

• Capex. Will the end of 5G and FTTP deployments lead to a permanent decline in network capex intensity?
• Operator spending. If network capex declines permanently, what alternative investments will operators make?
• Asset ownership. Will operators continue to bear the full burden of network deployments and transformations, or will other entities such as cloud providers, pure-play infracos and government agencies play increasingly important roles?
• Delayering. As operators consider the separation of infrastructure and services businesses, what will be the impact of this strategy on their supply chains and spending profiles?
• Opex. Will operating costs rise or fall following structural and architectural changes? What will be the impact of technologies such as AI, virtualised networks and network-as-a-service on spending levels?