Dell’Oro Group reported worldwide telecom capex rose 5% year-on-year in the first half of the year, exceeding expectations following several years of declining investments.

Despite the promising start to the year, Dell’Oro’s long-term outlook remained largely unchanged by forecasting telecom capex growth of up to 1% CAGR through 2030.

Telecom equipment performance continued to closely mirror capex trends. Combined vendor revenue from the six telecom equipment segments monitored by Dell’Oro, comprised of Broadband Access, Microwave Transmission, Optical Transport, Mobile Core Network (MCN), Radio Access Network (RAN), and High-End Router & Aggregation, also increased by about 5% over the same timeframe.

Dell’Oro VP Stefan Pongratz explained operators have greater capacity following the 5G and fibre investment cycles and are gradually redirecting spending from coverage to capacity, modernisation, automation and efficiency.

“At the same time, improving operator revenues are helping to reduce capital intensity ratios even as network investments remain flat,” he stated.

Capital intensity, which peaked at 18% in 2022, is forecast to decline to around 14% in 2028, ahead of increasing slightly as early 6G investment starts.

Overall, telecom equipment revenue is projected to grow at a 2% to 3% CAGR between 2025 and 2030, outpacing CSP capex, partly due to incremental demand from cloud providers.

The post Worldwide telecom capex surges in first half of 2026 appeared first on Mobile World Live.

AT&T, Global Infrastructure Partners and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board are creating a fibre joint venture (JV) by combining the Forged Fiber 37 and Gigapower assets, in a boost to the operator’s goal of providing connectivity to more than 60 million locations by 2030.

The JV will operate as a wholesale fibre commercial open access company. The operator stated it will utilise AT&T’s fibre assets and investor capital to expand fibre and 5G services across 16 states, enhancing customer experience with converged connectivity. The JV is expected to close in the first half of 2027.

Forged Fiber 37 is a wholly owned subsidiary created by AT&T to house the mass-markets fibre business, customer relationships, network assets, and build engine which AT&T acquired from Lumen Technologies.

Global Infrastructure Partners is a subsidiary of Black Rock. AT&T and Black Rock formed Gigapower, a wholesale open-access fibre network JV, in 2022.

AT&T will retain 50% ownership of the JV while GIP and CPP Investments will collectively hold the remaining stake.

AT&T CEO John Stankey is bullish on the convergence of fibre broadband and 5G services and has long held wherever it has fibre deployed “it wins”.

Stankey stated fibre is essential in an AI-driven world as demand for symmetrical, high-capacity and low-latency connectivity grows. He added the offering will extend reliable, high-speed fibre to more US consumers, increase AT&T’s scale and service reach and strengthen its position in converged fibre and 5G connectivity.

Last month the operator announced a multi-year fibre and cable deal valued at more than $3 billion with glass-specialist Corning to advance its converged strategy of mobile and broadband services.

The post AT&T forges fibre JV to expand reach across US appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Telus and AST SpaceMobile completed an initial integration test between the mobile operator’s terrestrial network and the satellite player’s space-based infrastructure ahead of enabling direct-to-device (D2D) calls and text messages.

Independent analyst Carlos Placido told Mobile World Live southern Canada should have better coverage than other regions due to the inclination of AST SpaceMobile’s satellites.

“They said they would have 45 to 60 satellites in orbit by year-end, but currently have only 12, making that target seem unlikely,” he said.

Canada has large rural areas where terrestrial connectivity is not available which makes D2D services more attractive.

Telus EVP and CTO Nazim Benhadid described the successful test with AST SpaceMobile as an important step towards extending mobile coverage to areas without service, supporting the operator’s goal of providing reliable connectivity to more Canadians.

AST SpaceMobile previously projected 45 to 60 of its next-generation satellites would launch this year but is now targeting having approximately 45 in orbit by early 2027.

The delay was revealed in a Securities and Exchange Commission regulatory filing tied to a $1 billion notes offering and follows a serious setback to one of its two main launch partners.

The post AST SpaceMobile, Telus advance D2D testing appeared first on Mobile World Live.