FALLS CHURCH, Va. -- WCDMA/HSPA infrastructure revenue will grow three times faster than the market and account for over 32 percent of the $68.5 billion vendor revenue to be generated in 2006, says Telecom Trends International in a report on next-generation mobile wireless networks.
According to the report, over 100 WCDMA/HSPA networks have been launched to-date, and the deployments rate of these networks continues to accelerate. HSPA is an upgrade to WCDMA that offers speeds of up to 14 Mb/s, and operators deploying WCDMA will switch to HSPA. By 2012, HSPA deployments will account for over 60 percent of mobile infrastructure revenue.
Ericsson, which led the mobile infrastructure market in 2005 with a share of 24 percent, is also a clear leader in WCDMA/HSPA deployments, the report says. Ericsson has supplied about half of the WCDMA networks launched so far.
HSPA is essentially the first mobile broadband technology that poses a serious challenge to fixed-line broadband technologies, said Naqi Jaffery, President and Chief Analyst with Telecom Trends International. “It provides high-speed Internet access, and enables a multitude of multimedia consumer applications,” he said.
The report cautions that Ericsson’s dominance in the mobile infrastructure market will be threatened by the merger of Alcatel and Lucent. The two companies’ combined share of the market in 2005 was 15.2 percent, putting them in the second place right behind Ericsson. The merger will give the combined company advantages of scale and scope, making it a serious contender in the mobile infrastructure market.
Telecom Trends International Inc.