LTE Is Catalyst for Macro Base Station Market Growth, but Multi-Standard Capability Is Pre-Requisite, Says In-Stat

SCOTTSDALE, AZ -- (Marketwire) -- 01/27/11 -- While LTE is driving the deployment of new and refurbished base stations, support of multiple airlinks and radio bands has become the central driver in the macro base station market, a market that is projected to grow to nearly 7 million deployed base stations by 2014, according to In-Stat (www.in-stat.com). This new era of flexibility and programmability in base stations is driving more complex software-based QAM as well as MIMO antenna arrays.

"Mobile operators have a set of baseline expectations for BTS manufacturers. Support for multi-mode airlinks (GSM/CDMA/WCDMA/HSPA/LTE) is now requisite," says Chris Kissel, Industry Analyst. "Programmable support for multiple bands, 900-3600MHz, and other variations, is also a requirement. Multi-mode and multi-band standards will be ubiquitous and interchangeable in every base station moving forward."

Recent research found the following:

• WCDMA/HSPA/HSPA+ base stations remain the largest revenue segment through 2013.
• The transition between 2G to 3G, HSPA, and LTE airlinks will also require reconditioning or redeploying existing base stations.
• Base station revenue for WCDMA/HSPA/HSPA+ technology in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region will reach $3B by 2012.
• The average selling price for macro base stations will gradually decline.
• Downward pricing pressures in semiconductors will be offset by increasingly sophisticated software-based QAM, and increasingly more complicated MIMO antenna arrays.

New In-Stat research, Multiple Airlinks Simplify Macro Base Station Deployments: Five Year Analysis (#IN1004714GW) describes how improved semiconductor capabilities are transforming base stations. The report also tracks key region base station deployments and reviews vendor strategies in regard to macro base stations. All forecast are from 2008-2014.

The report also includes:

• Installed base stations by region and by airlink.
• Revenues from new base station deployments by region and by airlink.
• An estimate of base stations being converted to higher airlinks.
• Analysis on the evolution of semiconductors and how it will affect BTS development.
• Vendor profiles for: Airspan, Alcatel-Lucent, Alvarion, Ericsson, Huawei, NEC, Nokia Siemens Networks/Motorola, Motorola, Samsung, and ZTE.

For a free sample of the reports and more information, please contact Elaine Potter at: epotter@in-stat.com or (480) 483-4441.

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In-Stat's market intelligence combines technical, market and end-user research and database models to analyze the Mobile Internet and Digital Entertainment ecosystems. Our insights are derived from a deep understanding of technology impacts, nearly 30 years of history in research and consulting, and direct relationships with leading players in each of our core markets. In-Stat provides its research through reports, annual subscriptions, consulting and advisory services to inform critical decisions. Technology vendors, equipment manufacturers, service providers and media companies worldwide rely on In-Stat to support critical business, product and technology decisions.