Mobile infrastructure capital expenditures to decrease in 2002 and 2003 by 8% and 1% respectively

Stuttgart, Germany - 9th September, 2002 - As most mobile operators in the world try to reduce their debts and costs, they have cut down on mobile infrastructure capital expenditures and in particular postponed their investments in 3G networks. Thus the market is expected to decrease by 8% to $54bn in 2002, followed by a decrease of 1% in 2003.

However wide country and region differences remain. Thus, Latin America as a whole will experience the heaviest reductions in 2002 (-16%); however this hides large differences within the region itself. At one extreme Argentina, due to its overall economic situation, will see dramatic decreases, while Mexico will record stable expenditures. Asia is also showing discrepancies with some more advanced countries like Japan seeing large decreases while developing countries such as Thailand, Malaysia or the Philippines are faring much better.

This market outlook is part of the findings of InfoCom's Mobile infrastructure CAPEX monitoring service. This service provides several indicators, some of them updated quarterly, such as suppliers' market shares, country and world regions forecasts and key operators' investment plans.

About InfoCom

InfoCom is a market research and consultancy company with over 15 years experience providing strategic planning assistance to stakeholders in the telecommunications and multimedia industry. InfoCom’s independent and fact-based perspective on the telecommunications and multimedia environment contributes to decision makers understanding of market dynamics, trends and opportunities in the key markets.