Ovum Plc - Ovum surveyed the majority of North America’s largest backhaul players to understand their strategies regarding media types used to supply cell-site backhaul. We found, as expected, that demand for wireless backhaul equipment in North America will continue to grow as mobile operators upgrade their networks to support higher-speed WiMAX and LTE networking technologies. The most common backhaul strategy for mobile operators in the region comprises leasing services over fiber combined with owning and operating microwave-based facilities; microwave has a distinct advantage over leased services over the long term due to the opex associated with leasing.

Table of content

Executive summary
In a nutshell
Ovum view
Key messages
A large portion of North American mobile backhaul bandwidth is leased
Fiber is considered the best choice for many but microwave provides the lowest total cost of ownership
Backhaul requirements will vary by site
LTE’s and WiMAX’s impact on North American backhaul requirements
Slow start but steady ramp on the way to 4G
Mobile network backhaul requirements on the rise
In a perfect world, fiber is the preferred medium for backhaul; however, the world is not perfect
100% fiber penetration unlikely in any scenario
Differentiation based on microwave backhaul
Ovum’s backhaul forecast shows continued growth of microwave applications
Comparative costs of backhaul media options
Leasing service versus owning backhaul
Media choice for backhaul is as much about long-term strategy as it is about short-term ROI

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