Market insights

MTN Consulting’s published research covers a wide range of market issues. Each quarter, our three market segment trackers assess the growth and development of telco, webscale, and carrier-neutral network operators. Other market insight reports focus on telco labor costs and layoffs; investment bubble risk in webscale/data center; connected car ecosystems; smart cities (aka surveillance cities); and, policy & regulatory issues (with a focus on US-China relations).

Products

Webscale Market Tracker, 1Q25: AI FOMO pushes 12 month capex to $340B, passing telco market

By Matt Walker published on June 11, 2025 Big tech’s webscale buildout keeps breaking records. In 1Q25, the 22 companies in our Webscale Tracker, including new entrant CoreWeave, generated $652 billion (B) in revenue (+9.2% YoY), spe... read more

US telco capex fading as AI giants take center stage

By Matt Walker published on June 4, 2025 This brief examines the near-term outlook for telecom capital expenditures (capex) in the US, based on the 1Q25 earnings of key operators, including AT&T, Verizon, Charter, Comcast, T-Mobil... read more

India capex starts to ease in 1Q25 after 3 big years

By Matt Walker published on June 2, 2025 This brief examines the near-term outlook for telecom capital expenditures (capex) in India, based on the 1Q25 earnings of key operators: Airtel, BSNL, Jio Platforms, and Vodafone Idea (Vi). It... read more

Carrier-neutral operator market review, 4Q24: GenAI hype speeds up private equity’s push into sector

By Matt Walker published on May 12, 2025 This report reviews the growth and development of the carrier-neutral network operator (CNNO) market. The report tracks a wide range of financial stats for 47 CNNOs across the globe, from 1Q11 ... read more

India’s Quantum Communication Journey: Insights from the International Quantum Communication Conclave 2025

By Arun Menon published on May 7, 2025 This brief outlines the strategic initiatives, innovations, and milestones showcased at the International Quantum Communication Conclave 2025 that are steering India’s progress toward future-... read more

Telecom’s biggest vendors, 4Q24: Vendor market upturn breaks nine-quarter decline

By Arun Menon published on April 7, 2025 Telco NI vendor revenues were $57.6B in 4Q24 and $206.9B for the 2024 year overall, up 2.2% and down 3.0% on a YoY basis, respectively. Huawei, which lifted the market in the first half of 2024... read more

Greener networks: Telcos power up traffic efficiency

By Matt Walker published on March 25, 2025 The group of 30 telcos included in this analysis represent about 55% of the global market, based on revenues. Our data verify the well-known revenue-traffic conundrum, where tr... read more

Webscale Market Review, 4Q24: Annual capex breaks the $300B mark

By Matt Walker published on March 20, 2025 In 4Q24, webscale capex grew an astounding 78% YoY, to push the annual total just over the $300B benchmark. Webscale capex also grew around 70% YoY for two quarters in 2018, so the growth rate ... read more

Vendor sustainability: Ciena leads the green charge among NEPs; chip, fiber, and Chinese vendors lag

By Matt Walker published on February 6, 2025 This brief report addresses energy consumption, use of renewables, and carbon emissions among key vendors to the telecommunications operator (telco) sector.  read more

Telecom’s biggest vendors – 3Q24 edition

By Arun Menon published on February 5, 2025 Telco NI vendor revenues were $49.6B in 3Q24 and $205.7B for the annualized 3Q24 period overall, up 0.3% and down 5.6% on a YoY basis, respectively. Huawei lifted the market: excluding Huawei, ... read more