Microwave & Satellite Emerge As Strong Backhaul Options

As mobile network operators scramble for ways to backhaul growing volumes of traffic, microwave, millimeter, and satellite technologies are emerging as important alternatives to wireline options provided by local telcos, according to the latest report from Unstrung Insider.

"Backhaul is a big issue in telecom right now," says Danny Dicks, research analyst for Light Reading Insider. "Backhaul options need to be able to support an operator's specific mix - and that includes the 100 percent IP traffic of WiMax service providers."

Microwave, millimeter, and satellite technologies promise to deliver robust backhaul options for mobile networks, Dicks notes. "Some vendors claim that once the benefits of microwave are recognized in North America, new opportunities for out-of-region remote enterprise connection to fixed networks might take off," he says. "Some potential opportunities may open up for satellite with new cellular operators and in niche applications outside telecom services - but these are likely to be small in comparison with its existing markets, and millimeter wave technologies may offer very-high-capacity, point-to-point links in dense urban areas."

The report also noted that cellular operators are preparing for higher capacity requirements in the backhaul network, asking microwave vendors if equipment is "LTE ready" and how they support moves to all-IP networks; vendors are responding with detailed migration roadmaps.

North America may turn to microwave backhaul as the capacity requirements make leased-circuit backhaul too expensive to support. Millimeter wave (E-band) may have a role to play in dense urban settings, but vendors are struggling to deliver performance at an acceptable link cost.

Posted to the site on 21st July 2009