Ovum has published its analysis of fourth-quarter 2007 revenue and capital spending by North American network operators. Fixed telecom revenues were largely flat to down among top-tier service providers, although AT&T and Bell Canada eked out small gains. Despite the poor revenue growth, wireline telecom operator capex increased by 12.4% versus the fourth quarter of 2006. Cable MSOs saw revenues increase 13.6%, while holding spending growth to just 8.6%. Mobile revenues remained on trend, growing nearly 10%, while mobile capex fell 11.4%.
4Q07 highlights for North American network operators:
"The fourth-quarter jump in wireline capex provided a year-end boost to 2007 equipment shipments," said John Lively, Vice President, Network Infrastructure, at Ovum. "North American switching and routing sales grew 23%, and optical networking grew 31% in the fourth quarter compared to last year. AT&T drove the growth in wireline capex, and Comcast was the big spender among cable MSOs. Mobile capex was held back by Sprint, which spent 37% less than a year ago, despite a 73% increase versus 3Q07.
Posted to the site on 4th March 2008