According to the latest Microwave Transmission & Mobile Backhaul 5-year Forecast Report from Dell'Oro Group, the microwave transmission and mobile backhaul markets will continue to contract for another two years before returning to growth in 2019.
Dell'Oro expects that from 2019 market growth will be driven by the increasing use of outdoor small cells and the ramp of large-scale 5G mobile radio deployments.
Further highlights from Dell'Oro's microwave transmission and mobile backhaul forecast report include:
1. Due to the demands of small cell deployments and the capacity requirements of 5G mobile radios fibre and copper will account for a higher share of the market for backhaul links in the future.2. The overall market for small cell backhaul equipment utilising fibre, copper or wireless technologies is forecast to reach $1.6 billion by 2021.
3. The microwave transmission market is projected to total $3.8 billion by 2021, with mobile backhaul constituting approximately 70% of this revenue.
Regarding the report, Jimmy Yu, VP at Dell'Oro Group, commented, "It will likely continue to be a difficult environment for mobile backhaul equipment sales for the next two years… however, I see light at the end of the tunnel, and if (this forecast is) correct and the mobile backhaul market resumes growth in 2019, I believe that market revenue can rise to at least $5.5 billion by 2021".
