Millimeter wave backhaul adoption accelerating

SANTA CLARA, USA: BridgeWave Communications today announced the rapid acceleration in deployments of 60-70-80 GHz millimeter wave systems in 2009 and 2010.

According to EJL Wireless Research’s market report, “Global Digital PTP Radio Market Analysis and Forecast, 2009-2014” dated July 5, 2010, the overall 60-70-80 GHz market increased 46 percent globally from 2008 to 2009 even as the overall point-to-point (PTP) microwave radio market declined almost 11 percent.

Growth accelerated into 2010 as demonstrated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) 70/80 GHz registration data which increased over 400 percent compared to 2009. Together, these data points confirm the growing trend by both network operators and enterprise companies alike in leveraging the many benefits of millimeter wave systems to expand network capacity and coverage.

BridgeWave Communications maintained its place as the leading global supplier of 60-70-80 GHz millimeter wave systems for 2009, according to the EJL Wireless Research report. In the first half of 2010, BridgeWave’s market position expanded even further to 68 percent according to FCC 70/80 GHz registration data. BridgeWave credits this dominant market position to its products’ carrier-class feature set, industry leading performance, and high reliability as required by network operators.

“The evolution of mobile networks is a key driver for millimeter wave high capacity radios as operators and service providers look to enhance their networks to manage consumer demand for more bandwidth,” said Amir Makleff, president and CEO of BridgeWave. “Data-hungry devices such as smart phones and netbooks have highlighted the importance of high capacity backhaul as operators look to alleviate network congestion.”

“We noted in our report that the overall point-to-point (PTP) microwave radio market declined by 10.9 percent in 2009, however a bright spot in this segment was that shipments of 60-70-80 GHz millimeter wave radios increased by 46 percent, with BridgeWave leading that segment of the market for the third year in a row,” said Earl Lum, founder and president of EJL Wireless Research.

“As next generation networks require significant increases in backhaul capacity, we anticipate that mobile will be the largest application market for these 60-70-80 GHz products.”