LTE mobile infrastructure revenue to reach $23.3bn

The global LTE mobile infrastructure revenue will reach US$23.3 billion in 2015 and then start to decline as a result of diminishing rollouts, predicts research firm IHS in its latest IHS Infonetics Mobile Infrastructure Equipment report.

“As we anticipated, we’re reaching the peak of LTE rollouts, and LTE is now set to perform at $6 billion a quarter for some time as operators complete their major remaining rollouts,” said Stéphane Téral, research director for mobile infrastructure and carrier economics at IHS.

LTE revenue totalled $6 billion worldwide in the first quarter of 2015 (1Q15) but the rollouts were not strong enough in 1Q15 to fully offset the abyssal year-over-year decline of 2G/3G spending, resulting in an 8% sequential decline for the global 2G/3G/4G mobile infrastructure market, which came to $11 billion.

On a year-over-year basis, the 2G/3G/4G mobile infrastructure market was up 4% in 1Q15, driven by unabated TDD LTE activity in China.

The quarterly IHS Infonetics Mobile Infrastructure Equipment market research report tracks more than 50 categories of equipment, software and subscribers based on all existing generations of wireless network technology, including radio access networks (RANs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), mobile softswitching, packet core equipment and E-UTRAN macrocells.