Carrier Ethernet Industry Voices

The shift to carrier Ethernet backhaul technologies will gather pace in the coming two years as carriers implement data-heavy 3G and 4G networks, and Asia-Pacific will set the pace. By 2012, according to IDC, there will be three million base stations and 1.8m cell sites in place in this region, up 24% and 10.7% respectively on 2008 figures, and half of these sites will be backhauled by Carrier Ethernet.

[Ethernet Academy note to users:  The Ethernet Academy offers a discussion Group on Mobile Backhaul for registered members.  click here to register and then go to the Ethernet Academy Club button on left (visible only when login) and click on the Groups tab, select Mobile Backhaul.]

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The research projects that nearly all urban 3G base stations will be linked to fiber by 2011, with urban WiMAX and LTE sites following suit by 2012. Where fiber is not available, the main backhaul systems will be wireless - non-line of sight microwave and fixed WiMAX.