The Critical Role of Small Cells in Continuity of 4G and Evolution of 5G Drive Strong Growth for Heterogeneous Networks
Surging
mobile data traffic fueled by rapid proliferation of feature-rich and
data-hungry smartphones, limited spectrum availability, and growing consumer
requirement for ubiquitous network coverage are poised to drive the global
market for Heterogeneous Networks (HetNets) to exceed US$37 billion by 2024.
The
telecommunication industry has evolved from an operator-driven business into a
consumer-driven business. The ever-growing demand of mobile network users for
Quality of Service (QoS) and Quality of Experience (QoE) represent the main
underlying force driving the growth of all major telecom technologies,
including the small cell and HetNet phenomenon. Amid an overwhelming increase
in penetration and usage rates of smartphones, tablets and other mobile
computing devices, subscribers continue to demand ubiquitous and reliable
connectivity from their carriers. At the same time, mobile network operators
face a number of challenges including limited spectrum, declining voice-call
revenues, higher infrastructure costs, regulatory restrictions, and
difficulties in acquiring land for further deployment of tower base station,
among others. The conventional homogenous network architecture is not viable
for handling the deluge of present and future signal and data traffic. The
search for alternative cost-effective and efficient approaches led to the
conceptualization of the Heterogeneous Networks or ‘HetNets’. HetNets employ a
heterogeneous architecture with small cells of several sizes, including microcells,
picocells, and femtocells; other low power nodes such as relay nodes, Wi-Fi
access points, Distributed Antenna Systems (DASs), and remote radio heads/units
(RRHs/RRUs); Cloud
RAN; and Wi-Fi within a densified macrocellular overlay.
Strong
growth is projected for the market in the coming years driven by the urgent
need to build up capacities for meeting the fast increasing mobile data
traffic. By the end of 2020, the number of connected devices worldwide would
reach a whopping 50 billion triggering massive increase in mobile traffic,
which is anticipated to grow at an annual growth rate exceeding 80% over the
next few years. The pivotal role of small cells in densification of LTE
networks and as building blocks of 5G deployments of the future represents
another important growth driver. Small cells are expected to support 5G by
enabling robust capacity and broader coverage through efficient utilization of
licensed spectrum as well as offering access to unlicensed/shared spectrum.
Other factors benefiting market prospects in the near term include the shift in
focus of carriers and femtocell vendors from the residential consumer segment
to the lucrative enterprise femtocell market; increasing use of small cells in
outdoor and indoor public access environments; and the growing prominence of Software
Defined Networking (SDN) in the backhaul approach of mobile network
operators who are striving to sustain high QoE levels even amid rising wireless
data traffic rates. Also, the significant CAPEX/OPEX savings and energy savings
that Self Organizing Networks (SON) software delivers during deployment of new
RAN infrastructure, is attracting considerable interest and investment from
carriers across the world.
As
stated by the new market research report on HetNets,
Europe and the US represent the leading markets worldwide. Rapidly rising usage
levels of smart devices driving demand for mobile bandwidth sky-high; overall
consumption of wireless data expected to manifold from the current levels by
the turn of the decade; the nomadic nature of smartphone and tablet users leading
to the development of network choke points in indoor and outdoor environments
such as residential buildings, commercial high rises, restaurants, shopping
malls and transit stations and the resulting pressure on mobile networks represent
key factors driving HetNets deployments in these developed markets.
Major
players in the market include AirHop Communications, Inc., Airspan Networks
Inc., Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, American Tower Corp., Aricent Group, AT&T
Inc., Cambridge Broadband Networks Limited, Ceragon Networks Ltd., Cisco
Systems, Inc., CommScope Inc., Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., ip.access Limited,
Mobilitie, LLC, NEC Corporation, Nokia Networks, NXP Semiconductors N.V.,
Qualcomm Incorporated, Qucell, Inc., RadiSys Corporation, Ruckus Networks,
Samsung Networks Business, SpiderCloud Wireless, Inc., Telefonaktiebolaget L.
M. Ericsson, and ZTE Corporation, among others.
The
research report titled “Heterogeneous
Networks (HetNets): A Global Strategic Business Report” announced by Global Industry Analysts Inc., provides a
comprehensive review of market trends, issues, drivers, mergers, acquisitions
and other strategic industry activities of global companies. The report
provides market estimates and projections for major geographic regions
including the US, Canada, Japan, Europe, and Rest of World. End-use sectors
analyzed for the global market in terms of annual Installations of Small Cells
include Residential and Non-Residential (Urban, Rural/Remote, and Enterprise).
Architectures analyzed for the global market in terms of annual installations
of Small Cells in Non-Residential Sector include All-In-One, Virtualized
Controller, Distributed Radio Unit, and Small Cell with DAS.
For
enquiries e-mail us at rsd@strategyr.com or info411@strategyr.com.
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