Mobile Data Growth to Triple Backhaul Demand

The need for more mobile backhaul capacity will grow three-fold between 2009 and 2013, according to a recent report by In-Stat. The research firm forecast 90,000gbps of capacity in the last-mile backhaul network will be needed by the end of 2013 to support the world’s cellular and WiMAX networks.

Operators are deploying EV-DO 2000, HSPA/HSPA+, WiMAX and LTE to meet the growing demand for high-speed mobile data. In the process, the bottleneck affect of backhaul has become more prominent.

Traditionally, voice has dominated the traffic going across a mobile operator’s network. With voice as the primary traffic component, an operator could meet its backhaul requirements with a couple of T1s per base station. That has all changed with operators relying on data for revenue growth.

“Cellular and WiMAX backhaul provides that crucial link between the mobile operator’s radio access network and its core network,” noted In-Stat in a press statement. “It does an operator no good to install a base station with 7.2mbps capacity if the backhaul is limited to 4.5mbps.”

In-Stat found that WiMAX and LTE will require backhaul needs of 80-100mbps, increasing the need for new backhaul solutions. And, while microwave will remain the most common last-mile link medium, Ethernet is playing an increasing role in supporting backhaul needs for cellular and WiMAX networks.

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