Small Cell Backhaul Market on Track for US$4 Billion in 2020

​ABI Research expects the small cell backhaul equipment market to exceed US$4 billion in 2020. Millimeter wave technology, thanks to its large bandwidth, is the fastest growing technology in our forecast, outpacing the overall market with a very high growth through 2020. Sub 6GHz technology will capture the largest share of small cell backhaul “last mile” links, also outperforming the total market by 2020. Traditional microwave equipment remains a top technology for small cell backhaul applications with a leading share of revenue and one-fourth share of links in 2020.

“We believe that 4G / LTE small cell solutions will again drive most of the microwave, millimeter wave, and sub 6GHz backhaul growth in metropolitan, urban, and suburban areas with backhaul for 4G / LTE small cells growing at double-digit rates and surpassing 3G in this year,” says Nick Marshall, research director at ABI Research.

“The North American, European, and Asia-Pacific regions will all outperform the total market with double-digit growth between 2015 and 2020,” continues Marshall. Leading vendors such as Alcatel-Lucent, NEC, Ericsson, DragonWave, Ceragon, Aviat, CCS, Siklu, and Fastback / Sub10 are among the vendors that stand to benefit from this growth.

In a new market data ABI Research provides small cell backhaul forecasts by technology, region and population density (urban, suburban and rural). These findings are part of ABI Research’s Transport for HetNets, IoT and 5G Market Research.

ABI Research provides in-depth analysis and quantitative forecasting of trends in global connectivity and other emerging technologies. From offices in North America, Europe and Asia, ABI Research’s worldwide team of experts advises thousands of decision makers through 70+ research and advisory services. Est. 1990. For more information visit www.abiresearch.com, or call +1.516.624.2500.