Angola's Movicel Deploys 1.8 GHz FDD LTE with Huawei

Angola's Movicel announced the deployment of Africa's first commercial 1.8GHz Long Term Evolution (LTE) network in Cabinda province, the most productive crude oil region of the country. The network promises downlink speeds of up to 100 Mbps.


Huawei deployed this network for Movicel and was a close partner throughout the project.


Movicel plans to extend the mobile broadband service across the entire country over the next three years. In 2012, Movicel plans to expand LTE coverage to major cities, where economic development urges more information infrastructure.
http://www.huawei.com
http://www.movicel.co.ao/

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CTIA: U.S. Wireless Penetration at 104%, Data Traffic up 123% YoY

There were 21 million new mobile subscriptions in the U.S. during 2011, bringing the total number of mobile connections to 331.6 million, a 7% rise and reflecting a 104% penetration rate for the nation, according new figures released by CTIA.


"Americans' love for mobile products and services continue to grow. Our survey shows yet again that we are choosing to have more than one wireless device, including smartphones, tablets and e-readers, which is why the wireless penetration rate is almost 105 percent. Yet as the President, bipartisan members of Congress, FCC Chairman and Commissioners and other policymakers have repeatedly advocated, the U.S. wireless industry must have access to more spectrum so we can continue to improve our nation's economy and meet our consumers' demands. While the spectrum identified in the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation was a great start, there is much more work to be done," said Steve Largent, President and CEO of CTIA.

Some highlights of the report:

• Wireless network data traffic: 866.7 billion megabytes; Dec. 2010: 388 billion megabytes (123 percent increase)


• Active smartphones and wireless-enabled PDAs: 111.5 million; Dec. 2010: 78.2 million (43 percent increase)


• Number of active data-capable devices: 295.1 million; Dec. 2010: 270.5 million (9 percent increase)


• Wireless-enabled tablets, laptops and modems: 20.2 million; Dec. 2010: 13.6 million (49 percent increase)


• Minutes of Use (MOU): 2.296 trillion; Dec. 2010: 2.241 trillion (2 percent increase)


• SMS sent and received: 2.304 trillion; Dec. 2010: 2.052 trillion (12 percent increase)


• MMS sent and received: 52.8 billion; Dec. 2010: 56.6 billion


• Average local monthly wireless bill (includes voice and data service): $47.00; Dec. 2010: $47.21

http://www.ctia.org

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Infonetics: Mobile Backhaul Equipment Market Gets a 2011 Lift from Surge in China

The global mobile backhaul equipment market grew 8% to $7.4 billion in 2011, following a 10% increase the previous year, according to a new report from Infonetics Research. Infonetics forecasts a cumulative $39 billion will be spent on mobile backhaul equipment over the 5 years from 2012 to 2016.


“The nice bump up in the mobile backhaul market in 2011 was due in large part to a surge in Ethernet mobile backhaul router purchases in China,�? explains Michael Howard, principal analyst and co-founder of Infonetics Research. "We expect the China surge to subside in 2012, impacting the overall market; then slow, steady growth in this already-large market should resume in 2013."


Richard Webb, directing analyst for microwave at Infonetics, adds: “Roughly 55% of the world’s mobile backhaul physical connections are on microwave, and more than half of all mobile backhaul equipment revenue in 2011 came from dual TDM/Ethernet microwave and packet-only microwave equipment combined.


Some other items from the report:

• Ericsson maintained its lead in the mobile backhaul microwave radio market with 22% of global revenue in 2011; meanwhile, Huawei took the lead in quarterly revenue for the first time in 4Q11



• Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Huawei, Tellabs, and ZTE lead the fast-growing Ethernet mobile backhaul routers and gateways segment



• IP/Ethernet equipment makes up more than 90% of all mobile backhaul equipment spending, driven by operators looking to lower mobile data traffic costs, accommodate the 3G mobile broadband data transition, and move to IP as the basic technology of LTE (and WiMAX)



• About 150 mobile operators are actively deploying IP/Ethernet backhaul, up from 100 in 2010 and 25 in 2009.

http://www.infonetics.com

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Infonetics: Millimeter Wave Gear Forecast to Grow at 63% CAGR

While the overall microwave equipment market grew 4% in 4Q11 over 3Q11, to $1.35 billion worldwide, for the full year 2011, the microwave equipment market was down 6% to $5.3 billion, according to a newly published report from Infonetics Research. Unit shipments increased during 2011, but the market was dragged down by rapidly declining TDM equipment sales and price erosion in the hybrid TDM/Ethernet segment.


“Although the microwave equipment market ended down a bit in 2011 compared to the previous year, the market is poised to return to growth as LTE backhaul needs accelerate, particularly Ethernet microwave gear," expects Richard Webb, directing analyst for microwave at Infonetics Research. "Meanwhile, the millimeter wave
equipment space was characterized in 2011 by ‘the Clearwire effect’ as Clearwire shifted from their nationwide WiMAX rollout in the US—for which they heavily invested in millimeter wave in 2010 for short-distance backhaul—to prepare for a transition to LTE."


Infonetics remains bullish on this emerging market, forecasting a 63% compound annual growth rate for millimeter wave equipment revenue from 2011 to 2016. Some highlights:

• Huawei stole the microwave equipment market share lead in 4Q11, though leader Ericsson maintained its #1 position for annual revenue for the third consecutive year in 2011.


• Infonetics forecasts Ethernet-only microwave equipment to grow nearly 5-fold from 2011 to 2016


• The global microwave equipment market (including TDM, hybrid, and Ethernet-only equipment) is forecast by Infonetics to total $5.6 billion in 2016.


• As the proportion of small cells increases in 3G and 4G networks, microwave likely will establish itself as the primary backhaul solution for outdoor small cells, driving continued microwave unit shipment growth.

http://www.infonetics.com

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