U.S. Wireless CapEx -Who’s Spending What?

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Accompanying Charts also included in the 2022 Volume 2 Intelligence™ Report:
U.S. Wireless CapEx, 2019-2025e, 1Q22 View
U.S. Wireless CapEx, QTQ, By MNO, 2022e
U.S Wireless Retail Connections, By MNO, 1Q22
U.S. Tier 1 MNO, Service Revenues, 2019-2022
U.S. Wireless CapEx, MNO Allocations, 1Q22

U.S. MNO capital expenditures for 2022 is expected to reach a record $48 billion. This aggregate figure comprises investments related to spectrum license activations, population coverage deadlines, and planned 5G buildouts.

AT&T Mobility capex for 2022 is $14 billion consisting of business as usual (BAU) capex and an incremental $5 billion for C-band and 3.45 GHz deployments but excludes vendor financing. The company expects to spend a similar level in 2023.

Of its $16.5-17.5 billion BAU capex guidance for 2022, Verizon will spend over $11 billion in wireless. The company will invest an incremental $5-6 billion for C-band in 2022, for a total of $16.6 billion.

T-Mobile, a pure play wireless company, raised its capex guidance to $13.2-13.5 billion for 2022. C-band related capex already is baked into its guidance.

DISH Network expects to cover 75 percent of the U.S. population by 2025 for a total of $10 billion using Open RAN 5G technology. Its 2022 capex is an estimated at $2.4 billion and likely will stay on that pace through 2025.

UScellular, the largest regional wireless carrier, is upgrading its network to 5G. Its capex peaked at $940 million in 2020 and dropped to $779 million in 2021. The company’s 2022 guidance is $700-800 million.

Several dozen regional wireless carriers such as C Spire, Carolina West Wireless, Pioneer Cellular and Union Wireless serve nearly 6 million subscribers in Tier2, Tier3 and rural markets across the country. Collectively, these companies invest $500-600 million a year in their networks.

Roughly 2,800 wireless internet service providers (WISPs) serve another 6 million subscribers in urban, suburban, and rural areas with fixed wireless access services. WISP annual capex is $300-400 million.

This piece is an excerpt from a detailed analysis titled, “U.S. Wireless CapEx in a High Cycle” presented in Intelligence 2022 Volume 2.

For more information, and to subscribe, visit: https://insidetowers.com/intelligence/

By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor

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