Wireless carriers experienced a wild 2021 with revenue growth reaching a 10-year high and the ratio of capex to revenues surging to a six-year high, according to MTN Consulting.

Mobile network operators generated $1.89 trillion in revenue worldwide during 2021, up 5.5% from 2020, but capex also surged 10.1% to $325 billion, Matt Walker, chief analyst at MTN Consulting, wrote in a new report.

“The ratio of capex to revenues, or capital intensity, reached 17.2% in 2021, the highest level since 2015,” he wrote.

Projects delayed by COVID-19 in 2020, 5G’s spread into more countries, 5G standalone cores scaling up in multiple networks, and increased fiber deployments all contributed to the network spending surge in 2021, according to Walker. 

Operators also have a smaller set of suppliers to choose from than previous years, due in large part to sanctions imposed by many countries on Huawei. This results in less competition during the bidding process for new network equipment contracts, he added. 

Excluding operators based in China and Hong Kong, which haven’t yet reported 2021 figures, the top 10 biggest capex spenders in 2021 include: AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, Verizon, NTT DoCoMo, Comcast, Vodafone, Orange, Charter, América Móvil, and Telefónica.

Some of those operators and others notched the biggest capex gains in 2021. Mexico’s América Móvil spent an additional $2.54 billion on capex in 2021 compared to 2020, followed by Telecom Italia at an additional $2.49 billion. Verizon boosted annual capex by $2.09 billion, followed by AT&T at $1.93 billion, Deutsche Telekom at $1.74 billion, BT Group at $1.63 billion, and Rakuten Mobile at $1.47 billion.

MTN Consulting expects global carrier annual capex to come in at $328 billion in 2022, reflecting a slight increase from 2021’s rise.