$8.5 bn to be spent on carrier wi-fi equipment over next five years

LONDON, UK: Market research firm Infonetics Research released excerpts from its latest Carrier WiFi Equipment report, which tracks WiFi equipment deployed by operators in public spaces for wireless internet access.

According to Richard Webb, directing analyst for microwave and carrier WiFi at Infonetics Research;"Over the 5 years from 2013 to 2017, operators will spend a cumulative $8.5 billion on carrier WiFi equipment, led by mobile operators using carrier WiFi for data offload.This strong growth will gain additional impetus from the proliferation of small cells with integrated WiFi over the coming years."

CARRIER WIFI EQUIPMENT MARKET

• Globally, revenue for carrier WiFi equipment, including carrier WiFi access points and WiFi hotspot controllers, totaled $338 million in the first half of 2013 (1H13)

• Carrier WiFi revenue has already surpassed 2/3 of total revenue for the prior year

• The majority of carrier WiFi access points are WiFi hotspots

North America has consistently dominated carrier WiFi revenue share since 2007, though by 2017 regional share shifts to Asia Pacific and EMEA

As the carrier WiFi market evolves and more operators launch carrier WiFi services, Infonetics expects fluctuations in market share, with the top 5 positions-currently held by Cisco, Ericsson, Huawei, Ruckus, and Alcatel-Lucent-potentially shuffled