Mobile operators will spend more money on capital investments in 2012, according to “Mobile Operator CAPEX Market Data”, a new report released by ABI Research (News - Alert). ABI released highlights of the report in a press release, expecting CAPEX to grow nine percent in 2012.

Despite a weakened fourth quarter last year, mobile operators are starting to spend more on LTE and small cells. ABI attributes the growth to many mobile providers switching from LTE trials in 2011 to more commercial services in 2012. Confidence is growing among the mobile operator industry so far this year.

“Mobile capital expenditure is forecasted to grow nine percent to $111.1 billion in 2012, supported by renewed investment in radio access network (RAN) infrastructure and in-building wireless access,” Jake Saunders, VP of forecasting at ABI, said in the press release.

The report suggests operators plan to ramp up rooftop and street-level small cells to better handle the increased data transmission needs of businesses and consumers.

Asian companies, such as China Mobile (News - Alert), experience the greatest CAPEX growth. The company is spending 57 percent of its CAPEX budget on RAN and 18 percent on its backbone network and transmission. China Mobile currently has 900 TD-LTE stations in six cities but plans to increase this figure to 200,000 by 2013.

AT&T, Sprint (News - Alert) and Verizon create a stable CAPEX market in North American, although the ABI report states overall spending will soften 1.3 percent by the end of the year. AT&T (News - Alert) plans to add network capacity this year, as does Sprint, which allocates 86 percent of its CAPEX to increases in data capacity and overhauling its base stations.

Verizon (News - Alert) plans to invest in its fiber optic network this year, as well as improve its 4G LTE coverage and cloud-based services.

The European mobile market seems to be lagging behind Asian and North American CAPEX. “European CAPEX has been on the back foot relative to North America and Asia-Pacific due to weak macroeconomic factors and regulatory issues,” said Aditya Kaul, practice director of mobile networks for ABI. “However, by 2013 we expect to see some of the European CAPEX come back as LTE upgrades roll on Europe wide.”