Current methods of testing mobile backhaul require updates that reflect the ongoing shifts to new technologies and architectures, said analysts from Frost & Sullivan.
The 3G telecom industry is currently shifting to Long Term Evolution (LTE) and 4G technologies. At the same time, mobile backhaul is moving to new architectures like Internet protocol (IP) and Ethernet, with backhaul speed going from TDM to hit up to 10 GB at certain facilities.
Due to the recent, massive, and rapid proliferation of media-rich and bandwidth-intensive applications, network operators are reevaluating the mobile network infrastructure. Testing companies are also implementing certification programs that intend to ensure telecom-network standards are upheld. The certifications' homogenous network devices work together to implement OEM technologies across the networks.
According to Mariano Kimbara, a senior research analyst for Frost & Sullivan, these paradigm shifts are creating opportunities for mobile backhaul testing. This migration presents a number of key growth opportunities for test equipment vendors,” he told the Backhaul Bulletin.
Mr. Kimbara went on to explain that mobile backhaul test equipment vendors would find it profitable to develop solutions that ensure mobile backhaul testing can operate with multiple networks. Customers are looking for a one-stop-shop investment to get all test deployments from a single source,” he said.
Mr. Kimbara explained that one of the main factors driving demand for the mobile backhaul test equipment markets is the continuous replacement of time-division multiplexing (TDM) technologies into Ethernet and IP technologies. According to him, the industry is going through an unprecedented high growth in mobile traffic and data. The massive demand stresses the importance of a new set of dynamics and realignment for mobile backhaul.
Within this transition, it is crucial for IP and Carrier Ethernet to stay ahead of higher-bandwidth and quality-intensive service demands, such as data, voice and video services delivered over the network,” Mr. Kimbara said.
The change in the infrastructure architecture that delivers LTE services is opening up growth opportunities of testing. By 2011, there were approximately 30 commercial LTEs. And Mr. Kimbara expects that voice over LTE (VoLTE) will be first implemented in 2012.
For at least the next two to three years, the industry is expected to experience a combination of both E1/T1 (for voice) and Ethernet/IP (for data services) technologies in the mobile backhaul market,” he said.
Mr. Kimbara further said that the hybrid-network approach poses several key challenges to the industry, as such networks must be compatible with both legacy networks and new architectures. Carriers are thus forced to look for cost-efficient ways to sustain two separate, different networks. At the same time, the new architectures are attempting to match the standard set by TDM networks.
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