While telecom operators are feeling the hurt from the economic recession, the pain isn’t as bad as that felt by their suppliers. According to an analysis of telecom-sector first-quarter earnings by Ovum, operating revenues from mobile operators grew 3.4% last quarter, while those of fixed-line operators dropped 3.2%–both lower than pre-recession levels. Though the declines were modest, those same operators slashed their capital expenditure budgets. Wireline operators cut capex by 16% in the first quarter, while mobile operators cut a whopping 27%.
Those capex reductions were clearly seen in the vendors earnings reports: Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) saw its revenue fall 21.5%, NSN (NYSE:NOK, NYSE:SI) was down 12.1% and Alactel-Lucent (NYSE:ALU) experienced a 6.9% fall-off, when exchange are were factored in. In Ovum’s sample the average revenue decline for equipment vendors was 15%; for components suppliers the decline was 20%.
The results in North America were particularly skewed by Sprint (NYSE:S), which saw a significant fall off in revenue and made sizable cuts to capex, though Sprint’s subscriber losses have started to stabalize. When Sprint’s results are removed from the equation, Ovum found that North American wireless operators grew their revenue by 8.7%. But even removing Sprint from the math, doesn’t significantly raise capex spending in North America. Operators like Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ, NYSE:VOD) performed well in the quarter, growing revenue by 9%, yet it cut capex by 7.4%, Ovum pointed out. Operators are weathering the recession well, it seems, but they’re being cautious nonetheless.