Telco Opex Analyzer, 2016-22

Telco Opex Analyzer, 2016-22

This report examines opex trends in the telecommunications network operator (TNO, or telco) market. This new edition has expanded the sample telco group coverage from 30 to 33 companies, and added a year of data coverage (2022). This new edition is now based on sample of telcos which more closely mirrors the globe. The regional splits for the sample telco group of 33 companies is spread across major regions with Asia representing 43.8% (of 2022 revenue total by HQ region), Americas 26.3%, Europe 20.3%, and MEA at 9.6%.

Opex as a cost category is several times the size of capex and hence, provides ample opportunities for telco CxOs to reduce overall costs. The problem is that opex is a bit of a mystery due to complexities surrounding it – it’s hard to understand across companies, countries, and over time. Reporting categories, definitions, and accounting standards vary widely. This report solves the problem. We have created a taxonomy of opex categories, examined a broad cross-section of telcos, and calculated a detailed opex profile for both the individual companies and the overall telecommunications industry.

One of our many findings: Costs related to maintaining the network are one of the key opex elements for telcos. On average, network operations opex alone accounted for close to a fifth (17%) of total opex for telcos in the 2016-22 timeframe. This ratio has been rising over the years: network operations opex increased from 16.4% of total opex in 2016 to 17.5% in 2022. The upwards pressure is likely to continue. Further, network operations opex can vary noticeably across companies – 10 telcos spent over 20% of total opex on netops in our study, while at least one telco (Telkom Indonesia) spent over 30%.

The information contained in this report was obtained from both primary and secondary research, supplemented by the expertise of MTN Consulting's analyst team.

Please Note: This product is delivered as a Excel File.