Alcatel-Lucent, Huawei and Cisco Get Top Marks From Operators in Infonetics Mobile Backhaul Wireline Survey

CAMPBELL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Market research firm Infonetics Research released excerpts from its recent Mobile Backhaul Wireline Equipment Vendor Leadership: Global Service Provider Survey, which explores operators’ perceptions of mobile backhaul wireline equipment suppliers and includes carriers’ rankings of small cell backhaul equipment manufacturers.

ANALYST NOTE

“Alcatel-Lucent, Huawei, and Cisco have been the leaders in mobile backhaul router revenue market share for the past several years, and in our latest mobile backhaul survey, they’re also our operator respondents’ top picks for wireline mobile backhaul equipment supplier, besting the rest of the field in all 11 of the criteria that service providers use to select vendors,” notes Michael Howard, co-founder and principal analyst, carrier networks, at Infonetics Research.

“In the case of Alcatel-Lucent and Huawei, this is no doubt due to their status as ‘full service’ RAN and mobile backhaul suppliers,” adds Richard Webb, Infonetics’ directing analyst for mobile backhaul and small cells. (Hear Richard Webb speak on small cell backhaul at Mobile World Congress Feb. 26 -- http://www.mobileworldcongress.com/fastback/.)

MOBILE BACKHAUL SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS

• The most important criteria when choosing a wireline (non-microwave) backhaul supplier are related to squeezing the most value out of capex: total cost of ownership (TCO), pricing, and product reliability
• Infonetics estimates there were just over 6 million macrocell backhaul physical connections at 3 million cell sites around the world in 2013, with 45% using wireline backhaul technology, and 55% employing microwave
• For the first time in an Infonetics study, operators named the top 3 small cell backhaul equipment manufacturers: Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, and Huawei (listed in alphabetical order)
  • The outdoor small cell backhaul equipment segment is forecast by Infonetics to be a $3.6 billion cumulative market from 2013 to 2017 (see “Outdoor small cell backhaul equipment expected to reach critical mass in 2015”)

MOBILE BACKHAUL REPORT SYNOPSIS

For its 21-page mobile backhaul wireline survey, published in January 2014, Infonetics interviewed purchase-decision makers at 20 incumbent, independent wireless, competitive, and cable operators in Europe, Middle East, Africa; Asia Pacific; and North America about their perceptions of and criteria for choosing macrocell mobile backhaul wireline equipment suppliers. The survey features operator ratings of mobile backhaul wireline vendors Actelis, Adtran, Adva, Alcatel-Lucent, Ciena, Cisco, Ericsson, Huawei, Juniper, MRV, NSN, Overture, RAD, Tellabs, and ZTE on 11 criteria. The report also includes operators’ rankings of the top small cell backhaul equipment manufacturers.

Survey respondents represent 46% of worldwide public telecom capex and 41% of revenue; 80% are mobile operators who serve 2 billion mobile subscribers. To buy the survey, contact Infonetics: http://www.infonetics.com/contact.asp.

RELATED REPORT EXCERPTS

• Infonetics’ February Mobile research brief: http://bit.ly/MEjLuy
• Outdoor small cell challenges mount, stymieing deployments
• Major network changes underway, this time to 100GE and packet-optical
• Cisco, Juniper, Alcatel-Lucent, Huawei named top router/switch vendors by carriers
• Outdoor small cell backhaul equipment expected to reach critical mass in 2015
• LTE-Advanced, small cells to lift microwave equipment market; Huawei bounces back
• Service provider capex increasing 6% in 2013, ignited by BRIC countries; revenue to hit $2T

UPCOMING MARKET RESEARCH

Download Infonetics’ 2014 market research brochure, publication calendar, events brochure, report highlights, tables of contents, and more at http://www.infonetics.com/login.

• Microwave Equipment Market Share & Forecasts (Feb.)
• Service Provider Routers & Switches Market Share & Forecasts (March)
• Ethernet Access Devices Market Share & Forecasts (Mar.)
• SDN & NFV Strategies: Global Service Provider Survey (Mar.)
• Macrocell Mobile Backhaul Equipment & Services Market Share & Forecasts (April)
• Analyst Note: SDN Will Not Cause a Drop in Capex...Yet

INFONETICS WEBINARS

Visit https://www.infonetics.com/infonetics-events to register for upcoming webinars, view recent webinars on demand, or learn about sponsoring a webinar.

• Extending Copper Access Networks with Vectoring and G.Fast: (Mar. 11: Attend)
• SDN and NFV: The Nitty Gritty (Mar. 18: Attend)
• Managing and Monetizing APIs (Apr. 3: Attend)
• NFV: An Easier Initial Target Than SDN? (June 19: Sponsor)
• Making Your Network Run Hotter With SDN (Aug. 7: Sponsor)
• Multi-Vendor Service Provisioning for NFV (View on demand)
• Cashing in on Carrier Wi-Fi (View on-demand)
• Adding Value to the Network with Integrated Policy and Charging (View on-demand)
• 100G in the Metro: When and Where It Will Be Economical (View on-demand)

TO BUY REPORTS, CONTACT:

N. America (West), Asia Pacific: Larry Howard, [e-mail], [phone]
N. America (East, Midwest), L. America: Scott Coyne, [e-mail], [phone]
EMEA, India, Singapore: George Stojsavljevic, [e-mail], [phone]
Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan: http://www.infonetics.com/contact.asp

ABOUT INFONETICS

Infonetics Research (www.infonetics.com) is an international market research and consulting firm serving the communications industry since 1990. A leader in defining and tracking emerging and established technologies in all world regions, Infonetics helps clients plan, strategize, and compete effectively. View Infonetics’ About Us slides at http://bit.ly/QUrbrV.