$3.3 Billion to Be Spent on LTE Base Stations in 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Christine Gallen | Tel: +1 516.624.2542 | Fax: 516-624-2501 | pr@abiresearch.com
To setup a briefing with an ABI Research analyst on this subject, click here.

NEW YORK - July 8, 2009 -

Wireless operators will spend about $3.3 billion building LTE (Long Term Evolution) base stations in 2011, according to the most recent study of LTE from ABI Research. That expenditure will have purchased some 142,000 base stations worldwide. LTE base station equipment spending is expected to rise sharply between 2011 and the end of 2012.

"Vendors will be shipping base station equipment in significant quantities in 2010 ahead of limited trials that typically last about a year, followed by full commercial launches," says senior analyst Nadine Manjaro. "Many operators have been talking about re-use of existing equipment, but ABI Research understands that while there may be sharing of masts and cabinets most of those 142,000 base stations will have completely new baseband and RF components, because operators will generally try to keep the new LTE networks separate from their legacy networks."

ABI Research vice president Jake Saunders also points out that, "Due to LTE's propagation characteristics and higher frequencies, operators will eventually have to deploy extra sites to iron out gaps in coverage."

That is good news for base station equipment vendors. Some contracts have already been announced: as noted previously, Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, and Starent are the winners of a major set of contracts from Verizon Wireless. In Japan, NTT-DOCOMO, in addition to tapping the world's largest network infrastructure supplier, Ericsson, is also supporting local vendors NEC and Fujitsu.

TeliaSonera has chosen Ericsson and Huawei, while its fellow Scandinavian operators Tele2 and Telenor are also thought likely to settle on Huawei, which is proving a formidable competitor.

"There may be a new opportunity here for Nokia Siemens Networks," notes Manjaro. "Nortel was early to market with LTE base station equipment, but its bankruptcy preempted that market push. With NSN's acquisition of Nortel's LTE assets, it is well placed to benefit from that early market presence."

"LTE - GSM Long Term Evolution" provides insight into a number of operators' strategies, vendor solutions, frequency bands used and latest development in the IPR analysis. A list of all operators with defined LTE plans is also included, along with potential CAPEX spending and a variety of forecasts.

The report  is part of the Mobile Networks Research Service.

ABI Research provides in-depth analysis and quantitative forecasting of emerging trends in global connectivity. From offices in North America, Europe and Asia, ABI Research's worldwide team of experts advise thousands of decision makers through research and advisory services in seven key practice areas. Est. 1990. For more information visit www.abiresearch.com, or call +1.516.624.2500.

NEW YORK

501 Seventh Avenue
Suite 205A
New York, NY 10018 USA
Tel: +1.516.624.2500
Fax: +1.516.624.2501

LONDON

29-30 High Holborn
London WC1V 6AZ
United Kingdom
Fax: +44.(0).203.326.0141
Sales & Client Relations:
+44.(0).203.326.0140
Media Relations:
+44.(0).203.326.0142

SINGAPORE

23 Lorong Telok
Unit 03-01
Singapore 049035
Tel: +65.6534.9329
Fax: +65.6438.6591