Mobile Experts released it's annual Macro Base Station Transceiver Forecast with detailed analysis through 2026. The reports suggests that the pandemic did not hold back the 5G momentum. Identified as an essential service by most countries, deployments continued at a healthy pace in 2020.
This new report covers three major themes that will shape the future of 5G:
- China's continued drive for overall 5G deployment: This report provides detailed specifications and timing for the 700MHz ramp
- Upcoming C-Band deployment plans in the US; an
- The dramatic shift in transceiver mix, leading to lower transceiver shipments.
In 2021 there will be continued growth in the number of base stations, but with a twist. In China, there will be a concerted effort to deploy 5G at 700MHz. This will provide substantial coverage over the entire country but without the massive number of transceivers consumed in 2020.
Principal Analyst Dan McNamara commented that in spite of the pandemic, 2020 was a strong year with the base station growth to continue in 2021 and beyond. Unique to 2021, there will be a significant change in transceiver type, power level, and frequency as China shifts its deployment to a new frequency band and MIMO configuration.
According to the report, politics between the USA and China play a dramatic role in this year's forecast, causing unexpected changes in the ability of Huawei to deliver massive MIMO base stations. This year's forecast takes the political changes and the possibilities for a reversal of US policy into account and illustrates the profound impact on future base station deployment in China.
The forecast includes 2G through 5G macro base stations below 6GHz. Forecast details include breakdowns by frequency range, by MIMO configuration, by region, by OEM supplier, and by power level. The report also includes key details about ORAN adoption, Standalone (SA) network adoption, and capacity for 5G deployment. Small cells and mm-wave infrastructure are covered in separate reports because the dynamics for these products are very different from the macro market.
He also commented that the 5G activity is increasing everywhere. The US will get a lot of focus in 2021 as the C-Band auctions complete and the major operators rapidly roll out their new networks in the 3.7-3.98GHz band. All other regions continue to deploy 5G in progressively larger networks to serve the world's growing demand for mobile broadband.
Click here to know more about the Macro Base Station Transceivers 2021 report.
Click here for 5G frequency spectrum in China.
Click here for 5G frequency spectrum in US.
