Global Telco Market Tracker, 2Q25: Capex Pullback Persists even as Revenues Surge 4.6% - Telco Revenues Surge 4.6% in 2Q25, Capex Restraint Signals Focus on Profitability

This report delivers a detailed analysis of the global telecommunications network operator (telco) industry, drilling down into performance for 140 telcos from 1Q11 through 2Q25. It captures revenue, labor, capex, opex, and profitability data with a focus on the most recent quarter (2Q25).

VISUALS

Key findings:

• Global telco revenues climbed 4.6% year-over-year (YoY) in 2Q25 to reach $456.8 billion (B), supported by broad-based recovery across major markets. On an annualized 2Q25 basis, revenues grew 1.7% YoY to $1.8 trillion (T). Airtel (20.0%), Etisalat (18.7%), SoftBank (7.3%), Deutsche Telekom (4.6%), and China Unicom (3.7%) led growth in the annualized 2Q25 period, while Vodafone (-11.6%) and Orange (-7.1%) declined sharply.
• Capex declined 2.1% YoY in 2Q25 to $67.5B, while the annualized total fell 2.6% to $292.9B. That's the lowest 12-month total since 2011, and the lowest capital intensity since 2013. China Mobile remained the largest investor with $24.4B in annualized capex (+7.8% YoY) in 2Q25, while America Movil (-24.5%), China Telecom (-22.9%), and China Unicom (-17.7%) made significant cutbacks. Telco tech spending continues to shift modestly towards software and services, which may be recorded as opex rather than capex, but telcos remain vigilant cost cutters across the board.
• Labor costs fell 1.3% YoY to $258.1B in the annualized 2Q25 period, with telco headcount shrinking to 4.36 million. Labor represented 21.7% of opex (excluding D&A) for the annualized 2Q25 period, down a bit from 22.2% in 2Q24.
• Profitability margin inched higher in the latest annualized period from a year ago, with EBITDA at 33.8%, suggesting stable operational efficiency despite cost pressures. EBIT margin also edged up a bit, from 14.9% in 2Q24 to 15.5% for the 12 months ended June 2025.
• Regionally, Asia maintained its lead with 36.8% of global telco revenues in 2Q25, slightly ahead of the Americas (36.3%). On the capex spending front, the Americas outspent all other regions, boosted by network spending from AT&T and Verizon.

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