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
As ABI points out, 4G/LTE has been the primary driver of small cell growth as
operators need to keep pace with user demand by bolstering their networks.
Small cells improve coverage and capacity, but also present security and timing
challenges. Cybersecurity has long been a concern of operators, but small cells
are typically installed in easy-to-reach areas and thus are at greater risk. Expect the IEEE 802.1AE security standard, also known as MACsec, to become increasingly important as operators look to conserve expenses while securing their network from end to end. Network timing, like security, can also become more difficult when small cells are included. Nanosecond-accurate LTE timing is often delivered via GPS, but microwave and millimeter wave connections are not particularly conducive to GPS, as they frequently lack the necessary line of sight. The accessibility of small cells also leaves them vulnerable to GPS jamming. Like 802.1AE, the IEEE 1588v2 precision time protocol will become increasingly important to operators. Addressing these two IEEE standards will be imperative for operators relying on small cells, in order to bring next-generation network performance to their users.