But technologies such as netbooks, cloud computing, fibre optic networks and mobile phones were showing signs of thriving in the cash-strapped environment, said an International Telecommunications Union (ITU) report.

"Confronting the Crisis" warned that by early 2009 some telecoms operators had cut capital spending by 10 to 15 percent. And when scarce credit was available, financing costs were on average three to four percent higher than a year ago.

"Along with stimulus packages put together by governments, the ICT (information and communications technology) industry must continue to invest in infrastructure and the roll out of cost effective services, such as next generation networks," said ITU Secretary General Hamadoun Toure.

The ITU stressed that funding was likely to focus on reliable projects: "Players with sound business models, established demand and early projected cash flows."

That could delay investment in next-generation networks, which bring together voice, data and media services in one seamless package and underpin the industry's growth prospects.

It could also also diminish the role played by innovators, who have driven the information technology and computer industry in recent years.

But innovation was not drying up altogether, according to industry experts who contributed to the ITU report for the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, which opens Monday.

Analysts Paul Lee and Duncan Stewart of Deloitte identified four crisis-driven trends.

Sales of netbooks -- simplified but easily connected small laptop computers -- could reach 50 million this year, against zero in 2007, showing that "being cheaper helps," they said.

Service providers were giving away or subsidising smartphones, televisions and other devices to build up market share with cash-strapped consumers.

And more industry actors were sharing resources such as new fibre-optic networks or by cloud computing - computers networked over the Internet.

But mobile television services had failed to take off last year due to their cost, suggesting that "this is probably a bad time for new and expensive services," Lee and Stewart concluded.

The economic climate could nevertheless amplify the trend of mobile communications substituting fixed-line telephony, especially among private consumers suffering sharp cuts in income who have to choose between one or the other, analyst Rupert Wood said in the report.

By December 2008, the number of mobile phone users in the world exceeded four billion, growing by nearly 650 million in a year, largely due to developing countries, according to ITU data.

The ITU said the harsh financial climate for the private sector could add to the pressure for broader government investment in "backbone" telecoms infrastructure.

"Despite difficult times there are reasons to be optimistic," Toure added.

Several governments in industrialised nations have included spending on telecoms infrastructure in their planned economic stimulus packages. In the European Union they include high capacity broadband networks.

The ITU sets international technical standards for its government members and liaises with industry.

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