Millimeter Wave Radio Market Grows at 101% Rates

Some markets are almost certain to grow as gigabit connections, small cell architectures and millimeter wave networks become the foundation of access in many markets.

Point-to-point millimeter wave networks are one example.

“Although the millimeter wave market is still modest in scale at this point, the enhanced capacity capabilities delivered by this technology will be invaluable as a backhaul aggregation solution for small cell deployments as they scale up,” says Richard Webb, directing analyst for mobile backhaul and small cells at Infonetics Research. “We expect millimeter wave to play a significant role in outdoor small cell backhaul, which will become the primary long-term market driver.”

Infonetics projects the overall millimeter wave equipment market to grow to $755 million by 2018. The outdoor small cell backhaul segment of the millimeter wave equipment market is forecast by Infonetics to outpace all other segments of the market, growing at a 101 percent compound average growth rate  from 2013 to 2018.

Licensed E-band 70 GHz to 90 GHz equipment accounted for 93 percent of millimeter wave sales in the first half of 2014, with about 90 percent of equipment sales directly related to mobile backhaul applications.

Currently, the top 3 players in millimeter wave gear are E-Band Communications, NEC, and Siklu (in alphabetical order), Infonetics says.

Millimeter wave radios, as supplied by Siklu, have a range of about 3.5 miles (5.5 km) with reliability in the 99 percent range, in many geographies.