Telecom operators will spend a cumulative $8.5 billion on carrier Wi-Fi equipment during 2013 to 2017, said Infonetics Research.
The growth driver will be mobile operators’ willingness for using carrier Wi-Fi for data offload.
Richard Webb, directing analyst for microwave and carrier Wi-Fi at Infonetics Research, said this strong growth will gain additional impetus from the proliferation of small cells with integrated Wi-Fi over the coming years.
Revenue for carrier Wi-Fi equipment, including carrier Wi-Fi access points and Wi-Fi hotspot controllers totaled $338 million in the first half of 2013. Meanwhile, carrier Wi-Fi revenue has already surpassed 2/3 of total revenue for the prior year.
Infonetics says majority of carrier Wi-Fi access points are Wi-Fi hotspots.
North America has consistently dominated carrier Wi-Fi revenue share since 2007, though by 2017 regional share shifts to Asia Pacific and EMEA.
As the carrier Wi-Fi market evolves and more operators launch carrier Wi-Fi services, Infonetics expects fluctuations in market share, with the top 5 positions — currently held by Cisco, Ericsson, Huawei, Ruckus, and Alcatel-Lucent-potentially shuffled.
