Global Telco Market Tracker, 3Q25: Annualized Revenues Break $1.8T as Capex Stays Disciplined - Telco Revenues Rise 3.7% in 3Q25 but Capex Remains Disciplined, Margins Rise to Multi-year High

This report delivers a detailed financial and operational snapshot of 140 telecommunications network operators (telcos) worldwide, tracking performance from 1Q11 through 3Q25. It captures revenue, labor, capex, opex, and profitability data with a focus on the most recent quarter (3Q25).

Key findings:

• Global telco revenues climbed 3.7% year-over-year (YoY) in 3Q25 to reach $458.9 billion (B), supported by broad-based recovery across major markets. On an annualized 3Q25 basis, revenues grew 2.4% YoY to $1.81 trillion (T). At the operator level, five of the top 20 best performing telcos by topline growth in 3Q25 on an annualized basis were Etisalat (24.0%), Airtel (22.4%), SoftBank (8.6%), Deutsche Telekom (5.5%), and KDDI (4.0%). The worst telco growth came from Telefonica (-5.5%), Orange (-3.6%), Vodafone (-3.5%), and America Movil (-0.5%) during the same period.
• Capex rose 2.9% YoY in 3Q25 to $72.7B, but the annualized total dipped 0.3% to $294.8B, remaining below $300B and near multi-year lows. At the operator level, strong annualized capex growth rates were recorded by Etisalat (66.9%), SoftBank (31.4%), Airtel (17.9%), Deutsche Telekom (8.0%), and BT (7.3%). The worst capex growth came from America Movil (-20.6%), China Unicom (-16.9%), Reliance Jio (-12.7%), Telefonica (-10.3%), and China Telecom (-8.5%) during the same period. 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 remained broadly flat YoY at $260.2B in the annualized 3Q25 period, even as global telco headcount declined to 4.33 million. Labor accounted for 21.9% of opex (excluding D&A), unchanged from 3Q24. More details are available in our separately published "Telco Talent Tracker."
• Profitability strengthened in 3Q25, with annualized EBIT margins rising to 16.1%, reflecting operating leverage from automation, cloud migration, and tighter cost controls. EBITDA margins remained broadly stable, underscoring continued efficiency gains despite wage and input cost pressures.
• Regionally, the Americas moved ahead in 3Q25, capturing 36.1% of global revenues, narrowly surpassing Asia (36.0%). On the investment side, the Americas also led capex, supported by measured spending increases at AT&T and Verizon, while parts of Asia, particularly China, where operators are moderating traditional network capex and reallocating spending toward AI and cloud infrastructure.

Operator coverage:

• A1 Telekom Austria
• BCE
• Cequel Communications
• Cogeco
• Dish TV India Limited
• Globe Telecom
• LG Uplus
• MTN Group
• Proximus
• Singtel
• SureWest Communications
• Telecom Italia
• Time Warner
• Vodafone
• Masmovil Masorange
• Advanced Info Service (AIS)
• Bezeq Israel
• Charter Communications
• Com Hem Holding AB
• DNA Ltd.
• Grupo Clarin
• Liberty Global
• MTNL
• Quebecor Telecommunications
• SITI Networks Limited
• Swisscom
• Telefonica
• Time Warner Cable
• Vodafone Idea Limited
• Airtel
• Bouygues Telecom
• China Broadcasting Network
• Comcast
• Du
• Grupo Televisa
• M1
• NTT
• Rakuten
• SK Telecom
• Taiwan Mobile
• Telekom Malaysia Berhad
• TPG Telecom Limited
• VodafoneZiggo
• Altice Europe
• BSNL
• China Mobile
• Consolidated Communications
• EE
• Hathway Cable & Datacom Limited
• Manitoba Telecom Services
• Oi
• Reliance Communications Limited
• Sky plc
• Tata Communications
• Telenor
• True Corp
• Wind Tre
• Altice USA
• BT
• China Telecom
• Cyfrowy Polsat
• Elisa
• Idea Cellular Limited
• Maroc Telecom
• Omantel
• Reliance Jio
• SmarTone
• Tata Teleservices
• Telia
• Turk Telekom
• Windstream
• America Movil
• Cable ONE, Inc.
• China Unicom
• DEN Networks Limited
• Entel
• Iliad SA
• Maxis Berhad
• Ono
• Rogers
• SoftBank
• TDC
• Telkom Indonesia
• Turkcell
• Zain
• AT&T
• Cablevision
• Chunghwa Telecom
• Deutsche Telekom
• Etisalat
• KDDI
• Megafon
• Ooredoo
• Rostelecom
• Spark New Zealand Limited
• TDS
• Telkom SA
• Veon
• Zain KSA
• Axiata
• Cell C
• Cincinatti Bell
• Digi Communications
• Fairpoint Communications
• KPN
• MetroPCS Communications
• Orange
• Safaricom Limited
• Sprint
• Tele2 AB
• Telstra
• Verizon
• Ziggo
• Axtel
• Cellcom Israel
• CK Hutchison
• DirecTV
• Far EasTone Telecommunications Co., Ltd.
• KT
• Millicom
• PCCW
• Sasktel
• StarHub
• Telecom Argentina
• Telus
• Virgin Media
• Batelco
• CenturyLink
• Clearwire
• Dish Network
• Frontier Communications
• Leap Wireless
• Mobile Telesystems
• PLDT
• Shaw
• STC (Saudi Telecom)
• Telecom Egypt
• Thaicom
• Vivendi

Regional coverage:

• Asia
• Americas
• Europe
• MEA