Backhaul Helps Millimeter-Wave Come Into Its Own

"An increasing number of mobile operators are deploying millimeter-wave to augment their existing microwave macrocell backhaul deployments," notes Richard Webb, directing analyst/Microwave and Carrier Wi-Fi at Infonetics Research. "The enhanced capacities made possible by millimeter-wave are proving to be a viable solution for backhaul in metro areas where range limitations aren’t always problematic." Webb believes the market is on track to more than double this year, followed by continued healthy growth going forward, powered by the increased use of millimeter-wave for LTE macrocell backhaul and small cells (most of which use the unlicensed 60 GHz band). In addition, Webb predicts a marketshare shakeup in the next few months as major microwave vendors – including Aviat Networks, Ericsson, Fujitsu and Huawei – launch millimeter-wave products.