China will dominate 3G spending over the next few years, with three national operators planning $60 billion [b] of tenders after the government delayed the issuance of 3G licenses for several years. That figure includes TD-SCDMA (Time-Division Synchronous CDMA), a technology specific to China that Dell'Oro does not track, Siegler said. Beginning in 2011, Chinese carriers plan to start deploying 4G mobile data networks, with all three operators committed to LTE (Long-Term Evolution). Mobile phones still have less than 50 percent penetration in the world's most populous country, he said.

Foreign equipment vendors aren't being left out of the Chinese bidding, Siegler pointed out. In fact, until recently they dominated infrastructure buildouts at the national carriers, he said. Now both Huawei and ZTE, another Chinese vendor, are picking up steam at home as well as in other countries.

Despite network construction continuing in China and India, the twin juggernauts of the cellular world, equipment makers aren't bringing in as much money, according to Siegler.

"Competition is really driving down prices," Siegler said. Dell'Oro forecasts compound annual growth in revenue of just 1 percent between 2008 and 2013.