Although protocol analyzers and network monitoring systems market has reached maturity, LTE deployment is expected to push prospects forward from 2010 to 2016 according to Frost & Sullivan. New analysis from Frost & Sullivan World Wireless Protocol Analyzers and Network Monitoring Systems Market finds that the market earned $575.3 million in 2009 and estimates this to reach $850.6 million in 2016.

"With the exponential growth of smart phones, mobile data revenues are expected to continue contributing more to total mobile services revenues," said Frost & Sullivan program manager Olga Yashkova. "Operators now require more sophisticated information relating to the nature, location and timing of traffic because it drives growth for network and service troubleshooting and management and optimization solutions."

Many wireless operators experience significant increases in data traffic; however, currently, that does not translate into significant increases in revenues. Exponential increases in traffic put tremendous strain on mobile networks and the success of flat-rate wireless Internet access leads to unique requirements for network and service troubleshooting tools and protocol analysis-based optimization.

Growing mobile data usage creates more traffic on the network, thus leading to increased demand for quality of service (QoS) and quality of experience (QoE) testing. With increased mobile data usage, there comes a technology change related to the transmission pipeline, for instance, conversion from the copper to optical technologies. Such transition creates new opportunities for testing one gigabit (Gb) per second, 10Gb, 40Gb and 100Gb pipelines for vendors.

The availability of freeware analyzer tools in the market presents a challenge. Vendors expect this bottleneck to continue influencing end-user purchasing behavior, especially with LTE technology coming onboard. In the early stages of a technology, testing is rather simple due to a limited number of network signals and just a few functionalities in those network elements.

"During the initial stages of technology development, a NEM or NO often has access to a free tool for basic testing activities, such as verifying if a limited number messages are being uploaded," said Yashkova.