The global cellular industry balance sheet - Financial trends in developed and developing economies

The Global Cellular Industry Balance Sheet is now available for download:

Mobile operators in the BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India and China - are accounting for a rapidly growing share of global mobile revenue, and are on track to overtake the US in market size (revenue) by 2012. According to a new GSMA Intelligence study, The Global Cellular Industry Balance Sheet, BRIC operators have recorded the strongest revenue growth in recent years, generating total revenues of US$170 billion in 2010, an increase of US$30 billion since 2008. BRIC operators are expected to exceed US$200 billion in revenues in 2012.

The study forecasts that the total revenues generated by mobile operators worldwide will cross the US$1.1 trillion mark in 2012. Developing markets will be the primary engine of growth, contributing over 40 percent of global revenues by this point - up from 33 percent four years ago. Global operator revenues reached US$1.057 trillion in 2010, the study says, with operators investing around US$200 billion in capital expenditure (capex) during the year.