Worldwide, the overall 2G and 3G mobile infrastructure market, including radio access network (RAN), mobile switching subsystem (MSS), packet core, and home location register (HLR) equipment, is down 9 per cent year-over-year (2008 to 2009), from US$50.9 billion to US$46.5 billion, reports Infonetics Research.
"In 2009, shifts in the mobile infrastructure market made it clear that the world continues to move to 3G and that 3G will be primarily W-CDMA-based, with revenue in all segments of the market declining except W-CDMA RAN and packet core equipment (up 59 pr cent and 7.4 per cent year-over-year, respectively). Asia carriers are ramping up their remote radio head gear, typified by NTT DoCoMo's recent shift toward LTE-ready, RRH-based, distributed W-CDMA architecture, adding even more fuel to the W-CDMA momentum. 3G is the main focus of the mobile arena, and is spreading fast across the GSM world," explains Stéphane Téral, Infonetics Research's principal analyst for mobile and FMC infrastructure.
The research firm also noted that sequential growth in the W-CDMA and mobile packet core segments kept the mobile infrastructure market from tanking in 4Q09, dropping just 1.6 per cent from 3Q09. Article