Friday, 30 May 2008

Study: Mobile Operators to Spend Nearly $850m on FMC & 4G in 2013

The growing use of mobile broadband services by handsets, laptops, MIDs, and mobile CE devices will place ever-increasing demands on 3G networks which will eventually lead to customers demanding 4G networks says ABI Research.

According to the research group, one way to reduce the stress on network capacity which the emergence of such network intensive technologies is through the use of fixed-mobile convergence (FMC), which routes traffic through customers’ wired broadband connections when they are at home.

The new data from ABI Research suggests that capital expenditure by mobile operators on 4G base station gateways and FMC-related carrier equipment will approach 850 million dollars in 2013.

“FMC is not just about relieving networks’ voice traffic congestion, but data too,” says principal analyst Philip Solis.

“3G handsets with Wi-Fi, laptops that often feature cellular connections, the new class of Mobile Internet Devices, and other mobile broadband-enabled consumer electronic products – all add to network load. Operators’ need for FMC and 4G equipment to meet that extra demand creates real opportunities for vendors.”

All these factors mean necessary changes to the mobile network landscape. FMC requires a well-integrated network incorporating unified cross-platform applications.

As femtocells are gradually introduced, they will up the ante as well, becoming embedded as a function in any number of customer premises equipment, from DSL gateways to set-top boxes.

The 850 million capital expenditures on the part of the network operators will be spread between FMC platforms, 4G base stations, and the 4G gateways that aggregate their traffic.