Telecommunications: Chokepoints and risks

Mobile, fibre, subsea cable and satellite operators carrying voice and data

Radio equipment is a near-oligopoly: five vendors held 96% of macro RAN in the first three quarters of 2025 and two held nearly two-thirds, while security bans narrow choice further²^,³.
Equipment spending is weak: the radio market lost about a fifth of its value in 2022-24 and is expected to be flat in 2026, squeezing vendors².
Operators carry heavy spectrum and licence costs, and a weak third player (as in India) concentrates the market further.
Subsea cables and landing stations are exposed to cuts and slow repair, and three non-Chinese system suppliers build most new cables⁵.
Networks need continuous power at hundreds of thousands of sites, so grid quality and diesel prices hit costs directly.