| Considerable hype surrounds LTE and, in particular, its | | | | Mobile-only players are more exposed to backhaul |
| capability to offer 100Mbps speeds wirelessly. If such | | | | cost pressure than incumbents or integrated operators |
| performance levels are offered to customers, mobile | | | | with large wireline footprint |
| operators would inevitably require significant backhaul | | | | Mobile-only players need to purchase capacity from |
| capabilities at the cell site. In this report we give | | | | wireline players, which may impact their P&L for mobile |
| examples of how a number of operators of different | | | | broadband |
| types (mobile-only operators, integrated players or | | | | To contain mobile backhaul costs, mobile-only players |
| wholesalers) position fibre as one way to address the | | | | can choose between different strategies |
| backhaul issues associated with mobile broadband. | | | | Enlarged fibre-based cellular backhaul business |
| Table of Contents : Executive summaryIn a nutshell | | | | opportunity for wholesalers |
| Ovum view | | | | Many wholesalers launched dedicated fibre-fed cellular |
| Key messages | | | | backhaul services |
| In dense areas, fibre has the shoulders to become the | | | | Examples of fibre Ethernet backhaul services |
| physical media of choice for cellular backhaul | | | | BT Wholesale in the UK |
| No ‘one-size-fits-all' solution: Fibre will not be the | | | | Many initiatives in the US |
| sole solution for cellular backhaul | | | | List of Tables |
| Fibre-based backhaul can leverage other operators' | | | | Table 1: Theoretical download speeds of mobile |
| fibre investment, generating interesting synergies | | | | broadband technologies |
| Fibre-based backhaul is an appealing market | | | | Table 2: Examples of fibre backhaul initiatives |
| opportunity for wholesalers | | | | Table 3: Selected fibre backhaul agreements of |
| Fibre is likely to play an increasingly important role for | | | | T-Mobile USA |
| mobile broadband backhaul | | | | Table 4: Examples of US wholesalers or backhaul |
| Why consider fibre for mobile backhaul? | | | | specialists offering fibre-based backhaul services |
| A simple rule: The higher the speed, the greater the | | | | List of FiguresFigure 1: Examples of mobile data traffic |
| impact on traffic generation | | | | evolution |
| Pros and cons of fibre for wireless backhaul | | | | Figure 2: Examples of solutions for mobile backhaul |
| Fibre is the physical media of choice but not the sole | | | | Figure 3: Example of GPON reuse for mobile backhaul |
| solution | | | | Figure 4: PCCW's ‘Next Gen' network programme |
| Many operators adopted fibre initiatives for cellular | | | | Figure 5: Verizon Wireless's mobile data traffic |
| backhaul | | | | forecasts |
| Examples of operators' fibre backhaul initiatives in all | | | | Figure 6: Mobile One's (M1) cost of sales (in S$ million) |
| geographies | | | | Figure 7: Vodafone's traffic growth in Europe |
| Potential synergies between FTTH and fibre backhaul | | | | (petabytes per quarter) |
| programs for integrated players | | | | Figure 8: FiberTower's backhaul service architecture |
| PCCW's ‘Next Gen' programme in Hong Kong | | | | For more information please visit: |
| Verizon Wireless in the US | | | | PH.NO. |
| Telecom New Zealand | | | | |