“While its revenue growth rate is slowing, macrocell mobile backhaul equipment remains a huge market, with annual spending up in the $8 billion to $9 billion range over the next years,” notes Michael Howard, principal analyst/Carrier Networks and co-founder at Infonetics Research. These figures are way up from 2009, when the market was estimated at less than $5 billion. Howard adds, “When we add to the picture small-cell backhaul equipment, which we believe will total a cumulative $5 billion over five years, it becomes clear that the backhaul market is massive.” According to the research firm, key drivers include the growth of HSPA/HSPA+ and spiking global LTE deployments. Without packet backhaul, it cautions, “there’s no way to handle HSPA and HSPA+. Ethernet and microwave backhaul spending are fueling the whole market.” Huawei and Alcatel-Lucent are tied for first in the Ethernet access device/gateway and Ethernet router market, while Ericsson leads in mobile-backhaul microwave equipment.

The Daily

Subscribe
Monday–July 14

FCC Approvals Raise Speculation for More Mergers

The FCC’s approval of a trifecta of deals—T-Mobile-UScellular, Intelsat-SES and T-Mobile-Metronet—could open the floodgates for more consolidation

Read the Full Issue
The Skinny is delivered on Tuesday and focuses on the cable profession. You'll stay in the know on the headlines, topics and special issues you value most. Sign Up

Calendar

Sep 11
2025 Faxies Awards Faxies Nominations Open! Final deadline: 4/4/25
Full Calendar

Jobs

Seeking an INDUSTRY JOB or hiring for one?
VIEW JOBS

In conjunction with our sister brand, Cynopsis, we are offering hiring managers a deep pool of media-savvy, skilled candidates at a range of experience levels and sectors. The result will be an even more robust industry job board, to help both employers and job seekers.

Contact Carley Ashley, [email protected], for more information about posting a job on the website and our Jobs newsletter, sent twice weekly to 85,000 media professionals.