The market for small cell backhaul equipment is likely to grow to over $5 billion in 2018 from a forecast $487 million for 2013 representing a 48 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR), said ABI Research.
Sub 6GHz technology will capture over 47 percent of small cell backhaul equipment revenue, or $2.4 billion with 31 percent of last mile links in 2018, while millimeter wave technology becomes the fastest growing technology over the forecast period, growing at 113 percent CAGR to reach a value of $668 million.
Traditional microwave equipment remains a top technology for small cell backhaul applications with 34 percent share of revenue or almost $1.8 billion and 25 percent share of links in 2018.
Thanks to its NLOS properties, sub 6GHz backhaul becomes the most popular backhaul technology for small cells by 2018. Millimeter wave bands from 60GHz to 80GHz will also prove compelling for small cell backhaul in many situations.
4G/LTE small cell solutions will again drive most of the microwave and fiber backhaul growth in metropolitan, urban, and suburban areas with backhaul for 4G/LTE small cells reaching a value of $3.1 billion in 2018, growing at 2X the rate for 3G and surpassing 3G in 2016.
editor@telecomlead.com
