2025 Capex outlook: financing the 5G era
Access this insight with a Standard plan. Contact our sales team to get started.
GSMA Intelligence has expanded its coverage of operator capex, with a complete set of country-level capex projections now available from 2000 to 2025, available via our platform. The extended dataset incorporates our assumptions on the investment required to support the rollout of 5G networks, as well as continued spending on 4G, which will remain the dominant access technology globally over the forecast horizon.
We forecast that between 2019 and 2025 inclusive, mobile operators across the world will spend $1.3 trillion on capex, with more than three quarters of that 5G-related. We predict a more stable capex trend relative to previous generations across the seven-year forecast period, as operators will try to maintain the capex-to-revenue ratio below a certain threshold. 5G investment timing remains critical for those in the mobile industry. Our insight into the capex profile of each country over the next seven years, backed up by rigorous analysis of spectrum awards and planned commercial 5G launches, provides valuable insight for all those with a stake in the 5G ecosystem.
Report details
2025 Capex outlook: financing the 5G era
Report details
2025 Capex outlook: financing the 5G era
Related research
GSMA Open Gateway: State of the Market, H1 2026
This latest edition of the GSMA Open Gateway research series provides an update on the state of the market, recent developments and examples of Open Gateway in action. The market is increasingly moving away from operator-specific API exposure and towards platform-mediated distribution, where developers prefer a single integration point with global reach. This changes the commercial dynamic for the ecosystem.
Efficient operator scale in European mobile markets
European mobile markets are undergoing a structural shift: rising data usage, declining revenue per user, saturating subscriber penetration and sustained investment requirements have made operator scale increasingly important. Europe remains the least concentrated major mobile region in the world, with operators being structurally subscale compared to global peers. This gap has widened during precisely the period when scale matters most.
Fixing the middle mile in mobile networks: a multi-technology assessment for the 5G era
To aid operators that are evaluating middle-mile transport solutions, GSMA Intelligence has developed the TCO Calculator, based on research and analysis of existing and emerging middle-mile transport solutions across a number of deployment scenarios around the world. The rapid expansion of 5G networks is driving an unprecedented surge in mobile data consumption, which is placing immense pressure on the middle mile. As a result, operators must diversify their product/solution mix for middle-mile transport.
Authors
How to access this report
Annual subscription: Subscribe to our research modules for comprehensive access to more than 200 reports per year.
Enquire about subscriptionContact our research team
Get in touch with us to find out more about our research topics and analysis.
Contact our research teamMedia
To cite our research, please see our citation policy in our Terms of Use, or contact our Media team for more information.
Learn more- 200 reports a year
- 50 million data points
- Over 350 metrics
How can we support you?
Get in touch
Contact the GSMA Intelligence support team for help with your account, subscriptions, or access to reports and insights.
Newsletter
Subscribe to the GSMA Intelligence newsletter for the latest industry news and insights, delivered to your inbox.