3.2. The Changing Face of Financing – Is Government Back? Infonetics projects that mobile operator capex will continue to dominate total global telecommunica-tion and data communications spending, while the consultancy A. T. Kearney forecasts that the mobile industry alone will invest US$ 800 billion over the next fi ve years. After two decades of privatization and greater private sector participation in the industry (Figure 6), one of the most lasting consequences of stimu-lus However, operators cannot postpone investment in traffi c-burdened networks to maintain high-quality service indefi nitely, as they risk losing customers to competitors. Infonetics Research predicts a fl at 2010 and slow return to growth in 2011 with the start of a new investment cycle. Another survey by Infonet-ics plans for the ICT industry could be the return of greater state involvement in the funding of ICT infrastructure. The lack of readily available fi nanc-ing, higher fi nancing costs and lower risk thresholds for many operators relative to the size and scale of long-term fi nancing needed to fund network roll-out is making corporate fi nancing increasingly diffi cult and there are calls for government to assist in investments in next-generation networks. Research for North America suggests that North American companies expect to maintain their voice communications expenses and may not slash their budgets, as feared by many in the industry.52 Infonetics Research projects that global service provider capital expenditure (capex) peaked in 2008 at US$ 298 billion, but will decline sharply by 2.8% in 2009, with service providers signifi cantly reducing equipment spending.51 They foresee a better second half to 2009, pulled along by resilient service provider demand and increased competi-tion. However, service providers that have not made investments during good economic times are less likely to do so during an economic slowdown. Fur-thermore, local or regional authorities may lack the fi nancial or human resources to make investments in broadband infrastructure. The World Bank notes that there is not enough public sector money to solve the global crisis,53 so recovery strategies are needed that encourage private business and fi nancing as well. Global service provider revenue is expected to weather the economic storm and grow from US$ 1.7 trillion in 2008 to US$ 2 trillion in 2013. 48 Confronting the Crisis: ICT Stimulus Plans for Economic Growth