Carrier-neutrals Hope To Ride The Genai Wave: 1H23 Update

Carrier-neutrals Hope To Ride The Genai Wave: 1H23 Update

This brief is focused on the carrier-neutral network operator (CNNO) sector. CNNOs sell independent, carrier-neutral access to network infrastructure, including bandwidth (fiber), data center and tower/small cell assets. The biggest CNNOs by revenues are China Tower, American Tower, Equinix, Crown Castle, Level 3 (a Lumen subsidiary), Digital Realty, Cellnex, NBN Australia, Indus Towers (ex-Bharti Infratel), and Zayo. In the most recent 12 months (3Q22-2Q23), the CNNO market represented $96.7 billion in revenues (+2.7% YoY), $34.8B in capex (+9.4% YoY), $8.8B in M&A spend (-68.9% YoY), and $251.1B of net plant (+2.3% YoY). CNNOs employed about 113.7K people at the end of June 2023, up 4.8% YoY.

For growth, we expect CNNOs to attack two important opportunities. First: support the telco need to densify their mobile networks; that means more small cell/DAS and metro fiber infra, but also more macro tower sites. Densification was required with 4G, but 5G requires even more in order to achieve its latency and speed goals. China Tower, as an example, expanded its in-building DAS coverage to 8,820 million square meters in 2Q23, up by 48% YoY. Second: support the tech sector’s explosion of interest in generative AI (“GenAI”), by building facilities and offering services that match these new needs.