Leading market research experts, Mobile Experts, has released its comprehensive analysis of trends in small cell development, including 3G, 4G, and 5G. The report covers indoor and outdoor units in integrated, RRH, and distributed DRS. Residential, enterprise, and carrier segments are broken down in detail, and provide a forecast of 5G and Open RAN small cells deployed in sub-6 GHz bands.
According to the report, after a strong year in 2018 and a moderate 2019, 2020 will be a transition year for Small Cells as the industry progresses from LTE to 5G. The report has also taken a look at the uncertainty around COVID-19, which may slow down operator network plans, but overall they forecast that small cell unit shipments will trend steadily upward through 2025.
Mobile Experts reports that the enterprise segment will be a bright spot for Small Cells. Private LTE and Private 5G networks are on the rise, with new spectrum released recently in the USA, Germany, Japan, UK, and many other key countries considering a similar measure. While growth may be lackluster for a time due to COVID-19, growing interest in private LTE/5G wireless networking for industrial automation and other enterprise applications that require reliable, low-latency wireless links remains strong.
According to Principal Analyst Kyung Mun, carrier indoor small cells will continue to grow rapidly, as aggressive 5G network rollouts in China are driving a huge volume of distributed DRS solutions including Huawei's Lampsite, and ZTE's Qcell. Mobile Experts expect Carrier Indoor small cell unit shipments to represent a majority of the small cell equipment market value of $5.5 billion in 2025.
The report offers a comprehensive overall view of Small Cells, including information about technology and architectural evolution, spectrum trends, business model trends, and deployment by small cell customers. It illustrates the market share positions for each type of small cell, highlighting the large tier-one vendors and also some surprising new emerging stars.
Click here to view and download this report.
