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Mobile & Wireless
Infonetics: Mobile backhaul equipment market expected to jump 60% in 2009
Report predicts 1.6 billion new mobile subscribers by 2013 to feed backhaul needs
by TelecomEngine Newsdesk
Market research firm Infonetics Research released the second edition of its 2009 Mobile Backhaul Equipment and Services report, which tracks mobile backhaul equipment, connections, installed cell sites, and service charges. The report finds mobile backhaul equipment investments jumped a healthy 59% in 2008 to $3.7 billion worldwide, and forecasts another 60% jump in 2009 to $5.9 billion.
"We see no letup in the mobile backhaul equipment market, as service providers around the world continue to upgrade their networks to handle the rapidly growing number of mobile broadband subscribers and their bandwidth-heavy habits. More than 100 operators are now deploying HSPA, with a coming wave of HSPA+ upgrades, WiMAX, and LTE, all to handle the skyrocketing mobile data traffic. And the most cost-effective way to do that is to transition from TDM to packet IP/Ethernet, which is driving the mobile backhaul equipment market," explains Michael Howard, principal analyst for carrier and data center networks at Infonetics Research.
Infonetics experts expect more than 1.6 billion new mobile subscribers and about 700 thousand new mobile broadband subscribers between 2009 and 2013, which will require more base stations, more cell site connections, higher backhaul capacities and equipment for each cell site connection. The report notes that while Ericsson continues to lead the microwave mobile backhaul equipment market with about a quarter of worldwide revenue, there remains plenty of opportunity for smaller, more nimble players such as Harris-Stratex, Ceragon and DragonWave to drive innovation and eat into the market share of the larger players
"Ethernet-only microwave backhaul equipment is beginning to take off, particularly for WiMAX networks, which have no issues regarding voice timing and synchronization. Gigabit Ethernet 'LTE-ready' microwave backhaul products were launched this year, and more Ethernet-only microwave products are expected to launch in 2010 as mobile operators move to Ethernet-only products in preparation for HSPA+ and LTE, sparking an acceleration in the Ethernet microwave backhaul segment," adds Richard Webb, directing analyst for WiMAX, microwave, and mobile devices at Infonetics Research.
More on this topic:
Infonetics: Mobile subscribers to hit 5.9 billion in 2013
Visant Strategies: Carriers continue to need more backhaul capacity
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