Long hyped but slower to arrive than some expected, the market for outdoor small cells really is ramping up this year, according to ABI Research. Equipment vendors can thank demand from operators such as AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T), Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ), Sprint (NYSE:S), Softbank, SK Telecom, Telefonica and Vodafone for growth in shipments of both outdoor and metrocell deployments. ABI said equipment revenue from outdoor small cells will enjoy a 33 percent year-on-year growth rate, reaching $1.8 billion in 2014.
The firm said small cell equipment revenue is expected to reach $10 billion in 2019, half of which will be attributable to LTE small cells. The Asia-Pacific region should represent 50 percent of the worldwide small cell equipment market by 2019, ABI added. For more, see this ABI release.