2013/10/30 Macrocell mobile backhaul market growth decelerating

Campbell, CALIFORNIA, October 29, 2013—Market research firm Infonetics Research released excerpts from its latest Macrocell Mobile Backhaul Equipment and Services report, which ranks mobile backhaul equipment vendors, identifies market growth areas, and provides analysis of equipment, connections, cell sites, and service charges.

“Though it’ll be slow growth ahead for the macrocell mobile backhaul equipment market, this is still a huge market, one for which we expect operators to spend a cumulative $43 billion over the five years from 2013 to 2017,” notes Michael Howard, principal analyst for carrier networks and co-founder of Infonetics Research.

“Looking at the big picture, microwave TDM spending is declining, but the IP packet parts are gaining,” Howard adds. “We look for microwave revenue to dip slightly this year, while Ethernet microwave grows through 2017. IP edge routers will peak this year and then rumble along slightly downhill, with the strongest downward pull from Asia Pacific, countering the worldwide microwave momentum.”

• Infonetics expects global macrocell backhaul equipment revenue to inch to $8.1 billion in 2013, an increase of just 1% from 2012
• IP/Ethernet is the clear driver of the macrocell backhaul market, performing the heavy lifting for ever-growing mobile bandwidth usage
  • 94% of macrocell backhaul equipment spending in 2013 will be on IP/Ethernet gear
• Fiber is making up an increasing share of mobile backhaul installed connections, growing to 43% in 2017
• Ethernet microwave radio is forecast by Infonetics to grow at a 36% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2012 to 2017, the highest of any equipment segment