LTE Gear Sales Start Eating Into 3G Revenues

Spending on Long-Term Evolution (LTE) base stations will top $12 billion this year as more countries, even developing nations, cut over their 4G systems, ABI Research says. “Operators in the developed markets are already taking steps to upgrade their networks to LTE-Advanced this year,” comments research associate Ying Kang Tan. “Going forward, amidst skyrocketing data traffic, they will also invest a larger proportion of their RAN spend on LTE small cells, which will yield significant savings on capex in addition to increased capacity for wireless operators.” In other markets, 3G equipment spending already has declined. “4G equipment spend is taking up some of the slack but there will still be a 6-percent drop this year,” adds Jake Saunders, vice president/practice director for Core Forecasting. “2014 should see rising wireless investment as 4G deployment and capacity buildup gain momentum.”