Dell'Oro: Infrastructure market grew 15% in Q3, driven by LTE

The global mobile infrastructure market grew by 15 percent in the third quarter compared with the year-ago period, according to a new report from research firm Dell'Oro Group. The jump was driven in large part by a spike in LTE equipment sales, as 44 percent of the growth came from LTE infrastructure.

Dell'Oro's report looked at four key market segments, including Radio Access Network (RAN), Wireless Packet Core (WPC), Wireless Voice Core and Microwave Transmission, and the research firm reported double-digit mobile infrastructure market growth for the fourth consecutive quarter. The report highlighted several milestones from the quarter, including that LTE RAN spending posted its fastest sequential growth rate ever, at 68 percent, an indication that LTE network investment is picking up significantly. Additionally, "significant" Voice over LTE revenues were recognized for the first time ever in the quarter.

"The wireless industry is responding to changes in user behavior and accelerating data demand by shifting priorities towards Evolved Packet Core, VoLTE and LTE radio equipment," Dell'Oro analyst Chris DePuy said in a statement. "This urgency in spending is creating both opportunities and threats to existing and new equipment vendors."

Indeed, Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) and Alcatel-Lucent (NASDAQ:ALU) are outpacing other vendors in LTE market share, thanks in large part to aggressive rollouts by Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) and AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T), according to a November report from the Dell'Oro group.

The Dell'Oro report found that Ericsson maintained its overall market share lead in the third quarter, while Huawei and Nokia Siemens tied at second with around 18 percent market share.

For more:
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