Berg Insight forecasts small cell base stations to reach 40M units by 2018

Berg Insight has reported the installed base of small cell base stations increased to about 4.1 million units worldwide in 2012. Berg Insight has forecasted small cell base station market to grow at a CAGR of 46.2 percent, the installed base is forecasted to reach 40 million units by 2018. “Mobile operators worldwide are experiencing rapid growth in mobile data and signaling traffic”, said André Malm, Senior Analyst, Berg Insight. He adds that total mobile data traffic in cellular networks is likely to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 50 percent from 2012 until 2018. A combination of approaches can be used to meet the rising demand for data traffic. These include acquiring more spectrum, using more advanced radio air interfaces, making the macro layer denser by installing more base stations in traffic hotspots, as well as introducing heterogeneous networks (HetNets). HetNets are composed of multiple radio access technologies, architectures, backhaul solutions and base stations of varying transmission power. Examples of low power nodes include Remote Radio Units (RRUs) and Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS), as well as small cell base stations such as microcells, picocells and femtocells. Small cell solutions have been available for many years. Mobile operators have for instance deployed microcells to improve coverage in outdoor locations where ...