Microwave Backhaul Equipment Market to Surpass US$ 11 Billion by 2016
New E-band solutions will grow in tandem with small cell proliferation
MONTREAL, Canada, and ATHENS, Greece, April 24, 2012 – The PtP microwave backhaul equipment market is expected to surpass US$11 billion by 2016, according to the third edition of Maravedis-Rethink “Wireless Backhaul Market from an All-IP Perspective” report.
During 2011, the PtP microwave backhaul market remained flat compared with 2010, at US$4.72 billion, although vendors experienced changes in market shares. Over the next five years, the Ethernet microwave market will continue to grow, mainly driven by the need for operators to deploy new base stations to provide good quality of experience over LTE networks.
Although there was also rising demand for hybrid traffic equipment in 2011, Maravedis-Rethink analysis showed that pure packet traffic reached double digits and will continue to grow over the next few years. “All vendors have already realized the need for pure packet outdoor radios, especially in the 60 GHz and 80 GHz bands. The solutions in the market are becoming very competitive both in price and added features to satisfy the upcoming demand for backhaul links to lampposts and the sides of buildings, where small cells will be installed,” said Elias Aravantinos, author of the report.
“Microwave specialists are now threatening the end-to-end integrators and big vendors, which are entering the E-band field in an effort to get a share of the small cell sector’s substantial revenues. The number of 60 GHz links that will backhaul small cells is estimated to grow by a CAGR of 70% between 2011 and 2016,” added Aravantinos.
The microwave market is now firmly poised for sustained growth, as evidenced by the proliferation of RFPs (Request for Proposals). However, extensive testing by operators and vendors is needed on new features such as G.8032 Ethernet resiliency or compression techniques in order to fulfill the mobile subscriber’s expectations for the 4G experience.
Key Findings
- CALA was the only region where microwave shipments increased in 2011, due to the high capacity needs in the region.
- 80 GHz gear forecast to grow at 63% CAGR over the next 5 years
- Shipments of hybrid packet/TDM radios accounted for 65% of the total shipments in 2011.
- Ericsson remained the market leader with almost 20% market share in 2011, but is losing ground to Huawei, which came in close second place, overtaking NEC for the first time. Clearwire’s deployment slowdown represents a challenge for its suppliers Dragonwave and Bridgewave, but that will soon be offset by other sources of growth in millimeter wave.
The “Wireless Backhaul Market from an All-IP Perspective” report provides a complete quantitative and qualitative analysis of the wireless backhaul market, including vendor SWOT analysis for Alcatel-Lucent, Aviat, BridgeWave, Ceragon, DragonWave, E-Band Communications, Ericsson, Exalt, Huawei, Intracom Telecom, NEC, Nokia Siemens and Siklu.
Maravedis-Rethink Research is a premier global provider of market intelligence and advisory services focusing on 4G and mobile cloud technologies, regulation and markets.
