Networks Ready To Upgrade Wireless Infrastructure
Posted on: Sunday, 25 October 2009, 06:05 CDT
The increased use of smartphones is causing excess strain for mobile users, but companies that make cell phone network equipment view the situation as a potential for new growth.
With more and more mobile subscribers upgrading their devices to smartphones like Apple’s iPhone, mobile networks are becoming more congested, causing network providers to upgrade cell towers.
This process is known as backhaul. Reuters cited information from research firm Infonetics to show that the market for backhaul equipment is expected to double from $4.6 billion in 2008 to $10.9 billion in 2013.
This process will be beneficial to network infrastructure providers such as Alcatel Lucent, Ciena, and Nokia Siemens.
"We're seeing at this show, really a lot of demand for optical backhaul capability," Nokia Siemens North American President Sue Spradley told Reuters during the Supercomm trade show in Chicago this week.
AT&T and Verizon Wireless, the top two networks in the US, are working to replace copper wires with fiber optic ones in networks where both wired and wireless networks exist.
Telecom companies Level 3 Communications and Qwest Communications International, as well as cable operator Cox Communications are scrambling to be first on the scene to have fiber optic connections on cell sites in order to gain a backhaul contract with wireless companies.
"If you have a really fast radio link and you don't have a large pipe you're slowing down the network," said Spradley.
On Tuesday, Qwest Communications’ Chief Technology Officer Pieter Poll said the company expects to spend more on fiber networks to support wireless services.
"The overall capex program for next year is going to be flat compared to this year," Poll told Reuters. "The percentage for fiber is going to increase."
Poll added that the company has seen inquiries from wireless operators about backhaul upgrades for about 7,500 of its 17,000 cell sites.
Poll said regions where it lands contracts would see high-speed residential services sooner than they would otherwise.
"For 4G, whether its WiMax or LTE, the backhaul will have to be fortified," Mark Wegleitner, a senior vice president for technology at Verizon, told Reuters this week.
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Source: RedOrbit Staff & Wire Reports
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