In a recently published report by Dell’Oro Group, a specialist in market information on the networking and telecommunications industries, mobile infrastructure market revenues increased 33 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010 to $11.2 billion. The report indicates that the market expansion was a result of continued strong WCDMA sales, as well as a pick up in the 2G market. In addition, vendors started recognizing significant LTE infrastructure revenues during the fourth quarter, it says.
“The demand for mobile broadband is spreading throughout the world, and we saw strong WCDMA performance in all regions as the massive growth in data traffic resulted in operators worldwide investing in their 3G networks,” commented Stefan Pongratz, Analyst of Mobile Infrastructure research at Dell’Oro Group. “The fourth quarter marked the first period of significant LTE revenues. While the U.S. operators led in terms of covered LTE population, it was the European vendors who took the lead in the LTE infrastructure market. Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia Siemens in particular, accounted for 80 percent of LTE infrastructure revenues during the quarter,” continued Pongratz.
The report indicates that the positive momentum seen during the fourth quarter will continue in 2011, as the total mobile infrastructure market is forecast to grow 5 percent next year, with the WCDMA and LTE markets forecast to show significant expansions.