Mobile Backhaul Equipment: On the Rise
No other segment in the networking industry can report as steep growth rates as mobile backhaul. Infonetics recently reported a 36% yearly growth rate for mobile backhaul equipment in 2009, and the market research firm expects this year to spike again.
While the industry had some debate last year on how to migrate to Ethernet-based backhaul, the transition is likely to be faster and simpler than anyone expected. Because challenges with packet-based synchronization services have been solved with PTP and Synchronous Ethernet, operators can now modernize networks quickly. Once all mobile traffic runs on IP/Ethernet, operators can stop spending on legacy equipment, and further cut operational expenses. According to Michael Howard, more than 100 operators are now deploying ‘a single IP-Ethernet backhaul.’
Infonetics’ findings are in line with what Xelerated sees in the market place. In China for example, the move to Packet Transport Networks (PTN) represents an even more aggressive backhaul investment than seen elsewhere. Here in Sweden, fiber is deployed to cell sites and Ethernet is the transport protocol for all services; they are now in the second phase of the roll-out.
I wonder: Will other markets learn from this model, and if so, what impact will we see on the market figures?
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