Carrier spending on radio-access networks will grow only 3.4% this year to nearly $54 billion, ABI Research said today.
Also, the number of worldwide base stations will grow from 3.6 million in 2007 to 5.2 million in 2013, analysts said in the new report, Wireless Infrastructure Forecasts.
The current crop of data-heavy applications, such as music downloads and 3G mobile browsing, are combining with carriers’ preparations for 4G technologies such as LTE and WiMAX to boost sales in developed nations, ABI found. However, much of the industry still focuses its spending on traditional GSM and CDMA networking gear.
