Mobile Operators Turning to Packet Backhaul as Mobile Broadband Traffic Volumes Explode,...

Mobile Operators Turning to Packet Backhaul as Mobile Broadband Traffic
Volumes Explode, New Report Finds
Extensive, unprecedented Heavy Reading survey provides the first real insight
into what today's live packet backhaul network deployments really look like

NEW YORK, Aug. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- The transition from TDM to packet-based
backhaul networks is now underway around the world, and the latest report from
Heavy Reading (www.heavyreading.com) offers a clear, first-ever view of how
network operators and their technology suppliers are tackling this vital task,
by presenting and analyzing 50 different real-world packet backhaul
deployments, covering tens of thousands of cell sites worldwide.

Packet Backhaul: Carrier Strategies & Real-World Deployments provides the
first insight into what today's live packet backhaul deployments really look
like - where they are, what architecture they conform to, what technologies
they use, and, critically, how many cell sites were actually in live service
as of the second quarter of 2009. By presenting and analyzing this first large
and reliable sample of live packet backhaul deployments, the report provides a
unique and timely perspective on whether mobile operators are reducing their
backhaul costs at the rate they need to as they make the transition from
voice-centric service and revenue models to data-centric models.

For this report, Heavy Reading conducted the first survey of its kind among
equipment vendors active in the packet backhaul equipment space. Vendors were
asked to provide as many as three account references anywhere in world where
they have backhaul equipment deployed and where that equipment is in live
service with packet backhaul to the cell site. Vendors were also asked to
provide the following details about each packet backhaul deployment:

-- Region
-- Type of carrier (i.e., integrated, pure-play cellular, or pure-play
wireline)
-- Cellular technology or technologies supported
-- Whether the deployment is "hybrid" or "pure packet"
-- Whether the initial packet interface at the cell site is supported in
the base station itself or in a dedicated transport device serving as
a
cell site gateway
-- Layer 1 technologies involved in the deployment (fiber, copper, or
microwave)

-- Number of cell sites in live commercial service in packet mode as of
April 2009

For a list of technology suppliers included in the report, please see:
http://img.lightreading.com/heavyreading/pdf/hr20090827_vendors.pdf

"Carriers have been experimenting with different packet backhaul solutions for
three or four years now," says Patrick Donegan, Senior Analyst with Heavy
Reading and author of Packet Backhaul: Carrier Strategies & Real-World
Deployments. "With mobile broadband traffic volumes now increasing by a factor
of ten year-over-year in many cases, there is an urgent need for real-world
insight into just how much progress carriers - and by implication, their
vendor suppliers - are making in executing on this transition."

The pace of mobile broadband growth is likely to accelerate with the expected
commercial deployment of Long Term Evolution (LTE) within three years, Donegan
notes. "TDM circuits no longer provide the capacity, flexibility, and
crucially, the cost-per-bit metrics that are needed to enable the mobile
industry to make a profitable transition from a voice-dominated business model
to a data-dominated business model," he adds. "The big question now
confronting operators is whether packet-based technologies are ready to take
the place of TDM."

Key findings of Packet Backhaul: Carrier Strategies & Real-World Deployments
include the following:

The transition from TDM to packet backhaul is still in its infancy. As of the
end of April 2009, there were fewer than 55,000 2G or 3G cell sites in live
service with packet backhaul worldwide, out of a global total of 2.4 million
sites.

The average live packet backhaul deployment today consists of just over 700
cell sites. More than half of the live deployments referenced by vendors for
this report consist of fewer than 500 live cell sites. Only 18 percent of
deployments consist of more than 2,000 live cell sites.

Europe is the world's leading regional market for packet backhaul deployments.
Europe came first in terms of the number of live packet backhaul references,
as well as in terms of the live cell site count provided by the vendor
respondents. European operators BT and Vodafone Portugal also emerge at the
leading edge of packet backhaul of voice and data services in additional
carrier research undertaken to support this survey.

Central and Latin America is seeing significantly more traction in packet
backhaul than other emerging market regions. Several vendors provided
deployment references in this region. Deployments in this region are currently
more likely to leverage a packet transport interface in the base station
itself, rather than a dedicated cell site gateway, than deployments in
developed markets.

Two thirds of live packet backhaul deployments are by carriers that own a
mobile network. Mobile carriers are more likely to trust themselves or their
wireline parent to turn up hundreds of cell sites to packet backhaul service
at this stage of the market's development. Some integrated carriers are
deploying new packet backhaul networks as part of a converged transport
network buildout, providing packet transport services to various fixed and
mobile access networks out at the edge of the network.

Packet Backhaul: Carrier Strategies & Real-World Deployments is essential
reading for a wide range of industry participants, including the following:

-- Packet backhaul technology suppliers: How does your current deployment
base for packet backhaul compare with your competition? Are your
customers behind or ahead of the curve regarding the transition from
TDM
to packet backhaul? Is your company emerging as a market leader in
this
critical sector? In what regions and in what types of network
operators
is packet backhaul gaining the most traction right now?

-- Network operators: How does your strategy for transitioning from TDM
to
packet backhaul compare with other operators? Do your technology
choices
give you a clear competitive advantage in terms of packet backhaul
deployments, or are there better alternatives? Which technology
suppliers are in the best position to deliver the solutions you need
for
your packet backhaul plans?

-- Investors: Which suppliers are emerging as the leaders for deploying
packet backhaul products? Which regions are moving fastest to packet
backhaul, and how will this migration affect network operator revenues
and profitability in the coming months and years?

Packet Backhaul: Carrier Strategies & Real-World Deployments costs $3,995 and
is published in PDF format. The price includes an enterprise license covering
all of the employees at the purchaser's company.

For more information, or to request a free executive summary, contact:

Dave Williams
Sales Director, Heavy Reading
858-485-8870
dave.williams@heavyreading.com

Press/analyst contact:
Dennis Mendyk
Managing Director, Heavy Reading
201-587-2154
mendyk@heavyreading.com

About Heavy Reading
Heavy Reading is an independent market research organization offering
quantitative analysis of telecom technology to service providers, vendors, and
investors. Its mandate is to provide the comprehensive competitive analysis
needed today for the deployment of profitable networks based on
next-generation hardware and software.

About TechWeb
TechWeb (techweb.com/aboutus), the global leader in business technology media,
is an innovative business focused on serving the needs of technology
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and consumed media brands in the business technology market. Today, more than
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Reading, Intelligent Enterprise, InformationWeek.com, bMighty.com, and The
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InformationWeek, TechNet Magazine, MSDN Magazine, Wall Street & Technology
magazines. TechWeb also provides end-to-end services ranging from
next-generation performance marketing, integrated media, research, and analyst
services. TechWeb is a division of United Business Media, a global provider of
news distribution and specialist information services with a market
capitalization of more than $1.6 billion.
* 13.3 million business decision-makers: based on # of monthly connections

About United Business Media Limited
UBM (UBM.L) focuses on two principal activities: worldwide information
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SOURCE Heavy Reading

Dave Williams, Sales Director, Heavy Reading, +1-858-485-8870,
dave.williams@heavyreading.com; or Press/analyst contact, Dennis Mendyk,
Managing Director, Heavy Reading, +1-201-587-2154, mendyk@heavyreading.com