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Current Issue: March 2008
Breaking the backhaul bottleneck
Wireless operators search for new alternatives
by Sean Buckley
When voice was the dominant application, wireless backhaul was pretty simple: When more capacity was needed, providers simply provisioned another leased T1 line from the local ILEC.
As wireless operators migrate to higher-speed services (i.e., HSDPA and LTE), however, throwing more T1 leased lines at the problem is not an optimal solution from either a cost or management perspective. According to some industry estimates, deployment of new 3G and 3.5G wireless networks will require two to four incremental T1s of traffic.
A study by ABI Research confirms wireless backhaul, which currently accounts for only US$14bn of a wireless operator’s capex budget, will reach $23bn by 2012. With that in mind, wireless operators are looking at ways to break the traditional T1 chokehold.
Take Sprint, one of the largest 3G and WiMAX players in the United States. Although T1 circuits remain its primary backhaul solution, the operator is finding other more flexible mediums that lower its reliance on traditional platforms.
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