Mobile operator capital expenditure is expected to grow 5% in 2011, to reach $119 billion. Radio Access Network equipment is still driving a respectable percentage of operators’ CAPEX. 56% of global operator CAPEX came from base station deployments, upgrades and swap-outs.
ABI Research vice president of forecasting Jake Saunders observes that, “Many operators are leaning towards small cell deployments (microcells, picocells and femtocells) to fill dead zones and boost coverage inside buildings. However operators are also still investing in improving the downlink and uplink performance of their networks, not just on LTE but also HSPA+. CDMA2000 networks are similarly continuing to upgrade.”
