Mobile fronthaul transceiver market 15X greater than mobile backhaul says LightCounting

With remote radio head shipments forecasted to exceed 6 million units annually by 2019, optical transceiver revenues derived from mobile fronthaul links will grow to 15X that of mobile backhaul. So says market research firm LightCounting in its new "Mobile Fronthaul Optics" report and forecast.

The roll out of LTE and the need for additional capacity will drive the need for more than 10 million fronthaul links, the report states. That will lead to $900 million in optical transceiver revenues in 2019, LightCounting believes.

"Gigabit-speed fiber-optic fronthaul systems are a key ingredient of high-performance mobile broadband networks," said John Lively, principal analyst at LightCounting. "Our research shows that fronthaul will consume more than 14 million optical transceivers in 2014, with a market value of $530 million. Transceiver suppliers will need to be nimble to capitalize on this opportunity, however, because product mix will change considerably over the next five years."

That change will include a shift toward colored optics with the adoption of WDM fronthaul architectures, according to the report.

LightCounting's "Mobile Fronthaul Optics" report addresses current and future fronthaul architectures, service provider deployment strategies and trends, component requirements, and current and expected future products. The report also includes profiles of leading technology vendors as well as historical transceiver shipment data. A companion wireless optics forecast spreadsheet contains a five-year forecast of fronthaul transceiver shipments, prices, and revenues, broken down by five speeds, three reaches, and grey versus colored optics. A backhaul transceiver forecast with similar detail is also included.

For more information on optical transceivers and suppliers visit the Lightwave Buyer's Guide.