A method for predicting operational lifetime of a node in a communication network is disclosed. The method comprises obtaining an expected operational lifetime for the node (22), monitoring at least one of hardware identification data, operational data or operating environment data for the node (24), obtaining historical failure data for a subset of nodes in the communication network having monitored data corresponding to the monitored data of the node (26) and adjusting the expected operational lifetime for the node according to the obtained historical failure data (28). Also disclosed are a computer program product for carrying out the above method and a network element (500, 600) configured to carry out the above method.