According to a recent forecast report by Dell’Oro Group, the trusted source for market information about the telecommunications, security, networks, and data center industries, mobile backhaul transport is forecast to grow for the next three years due to 5G network expansion in geographies that favor wireless backhaul, reaching $5.3 billion by 2025. As a result, demand for microwave transmission equipment is expected to continue rising. 

“Demand for wireless backhaul is on the rise,” said Jimmy Yu, vice president of Dell’Oro Group. “Early in the 5G deployment cycle, the main backhaul technology used was fiber-based, resulting in five solid years of fiber backhaul revenue growth. Going forward, we expect more of the 5G deployments to take place in locations without accessibility to fiber as well as in countries that traditionally favor wireless backhaul systems, driving a lot more growth for microwave transmission equipment in the future,” added Yu.

Additional highlights from the Microwave Transmission & Mobile Backhaul 5-Year Forecast January 2023 Report:

• The microwave transmission market ended a market contraction in 2020 that was caused by declining 4G deployments. The next growth cycle driven by 5G started in 2021 and is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 4 percent until 2025.
• Approximately 75 percent of the microwave transmission market will be driven by mobile backhaul. The remainder will be from sales into vertical markets such as enterprises, utilities, and government.
• Due to the higher backhaul capacity requirement for 5G, E-/V-Band systems are forecast to be in much higher demand, growing approximately 20 percent annually for the next five years.