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Infonetics Predicts C-RAN to Reach $10 billion by 2018

Infonetics Predicts C-RAN to Reach $10 billion by 2018 Image Credit: Infonetics

According to Infonetic's latest centralized RAN (C-RAN) report - C-RAN Architecture Equipment Market Outlook, the worldwide C-RAN equipment market is forecast to top $10 billion by 2018, up from about $4 billion in 2012, fueled by 4G RAN expansion in the West and the beginning of LTE Advanced rollouts in many parts of the world, especially in North America and Asia Pacific.

The C-RAN, which is also known as cloud-RAN covers decomposed RAN architectures including baseband units (BBUs) and remote radio heads (RRHs).

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According to Infonetics, baseband units (BBUs) account for 62% of overall C-RAN revenue, as they are the most expensive component of this type of architecture. Infonetics placed Ericsson, Nokia Networks, and Samsung as the leading vendors in the C-RAN space. Infonetics added that site engineering and antenna site simplification lead to smaller equipment, lower power consumption, better radio performance, LTE-Advanced readiness, and agile and flexible network topologies. These in turn are becoming the main drivers of C-RAN.

Stéphane Téral, principal analyst for mobile infrastructure and carrier economics at Infonetics Research
Centralized RAN (C-RAN) is a reality, but very localized in two Asian countries, Japan and South Korea, which share much in common: absence of 2G, high density, fiber ubiquity, and a strong appetite for innovation. If fiber is the barrier to C-RAN adoption in the West, wireless fronthaul is coming to the rescue. But we have yet to see commercial deployments. Orange in Europe and Sprint in North America are in the driver’s seat, and we expect to see adoption of C-RAN in these regions starting in 2015. C-RAN is emerging as the default 5G architecture and will eventually morph into cloud RAN as more and more mobile network functions are virtualized.

Author

Ray is a news editor at The Fast Mode, bringing with him more than 10 years of experience in the wireless industry.

For tips and feedback, email Ray at ray.sharma(at)thefastmode.com, or reach him on LinkedIn @raysharma10, Facebook @1RaySharma

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