North American wireline capex grew 7% in 3Q07, says Ovum RHK

Mobile operator capex takes a dive

For immediate release, 14 November 2007. Ovum RHK today posted its analysis of third-quarter 2007 revenues and capital spending by North American network operators. Wireline operators increased capital spending by 7% versus the third quarter of 2006, while mobile operator capital spending plummeted 18%. Revenues remained on trend, with mobile revenues growing nearly 10% and fixed revenues basically flat versus last year.

"Third-quarter growth in wireline capex provided welcome relief to equipment vendors, which experienced strong growth in the optical networking and switching and routing segments," said John Lively, Vice President, Forecasting, at Ovum RHK. "Mobile capex hit a real pothole, led by Sprint Nextel. With mobile capital intensity at a seven-year low, however, there is room for a rebound in 4Q07."

3Q07 highlights for North American network operators:

• Wireline revenues = $43.8 billion, up 0.5% versus 3Q06
• Wireline capex = $7.4 billion, up 7.4% versus 3Q06
• Mobile revenues = $37.9 billion, up 9.6% versus 3Q06
• Mobile capex = $4.7 billion, down 18.2% versus 3Q06

Ovum RHK's global forecast of service provider capital spending will be updated in December.

- Ends -

More information:

Ovum RHK's Global Capex service provides consistent quarterly analysis and detailed annual forecasts of revenue and capital spending for North American, European and Asian network operators.

Details of the 3Q07 results and additional analysis have been published by Ovum RHK's Global Capex service. For further details or to speak with John Lively about this research, please contact prteam@ovum.com or contact a member of our global PR team listed below.

About Ovum RHK

Ovum RHK provides market research advisory services to telecom equipment and component vendors and service providers alike. Ovum RHK is a part of Ovum, advising on the commercial impact of technology and market changes in telecoms, with offices in London, Paris, Cologne, Boston, Melbourne, Seoul and San Jose.

About Ovum

Ovum's primary activity is providing value-added advisory services and consulting to retained and project clients. The company acts as a well-respected and trusted source of industry data, knowledge and expertise on the commercial impact of technology, regulatory and market changes. Ovum engages in continuous research and industry analysis to determine market dynamics in its specialist sectors.

Ovum has developed long-standing relationships with many of its corporate clients, which include major international blue-chip companies such as Alcatel-Lucent, AT&T, BT, Cable & Wireless, Cisco Systems, Deutsche Telekom, Fujitsu, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Telstra and Vodafone.

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