Infonetics: Mobile Backhaul - Ethernet vs. Microwave - Market Size

  
After seeing so much information on mobile data traffic growth in general and on the mobile backhaul network segment in particular, we see how it impacts backhaul equipment sales.

A recent research from Infonetics Research "Ethernet mobile backhaul equipment on track for big spike in 2010" (here) provides the numbers for one of the fast-growing technologies, used to accommodate the data explosion - Ethernet-based mobile backhaul.
 

"Last year Ethernet-based mobile backhaul equipment sales jumped 36% year-over-year, to $4.8 billion, representing 80% of total backhaul spend. We expect Ethernet spending to spike again in 2010 and growth to continue for many years .. about 100 operators around the world are now actively deploying a single IP-Ethernet backhaul to carry all traffic," explains Michael Howard, principal analyst and co-founder of Infonetics Research.

In addition, Infonetics finds that:

• Between 2010 and 2014, service providers are expected to spend a cumulative $36B worldwide on mobile backhaul equipment
   
• Infonetics expects revenue from microwave Ethernet mobile backhaul equipment to jump 367% in 2010 over 2009
   
• Ethernet cell site routers and gateways posted double- and triple-digit percent revenue increases in 2009 and are expected to continue growing year-over-year at least through 2014

In parallel, an Infonetics report on microwave equipment finds that ".. The current ‘pause for breath’ in the microwave equipment market will end as more operators upgrade their networks to HSPA+ and LTE, creating a need for enhanced mobile backhaul bandwidth, and in turn, for microwave equipment. We expect renewed year-on-year growth in the microwave market in 2011 through at least 2014," predicts Richard Webb, directing analyst for WiMAX, microwave, and mobile devices at Infonetics Research.

See "Microwave equipment market dips 4% in Q2; on track for steady growth 2011–on" - here.

Maybe of the following could be saved by implementing traffic management solutions such as intelligent policy-based cell congestion (here), or signaling reduction (here) solutions?