ABI: five years until Asia-Pacific hosts 40% of all cellular towers

Details: Category: Trends & Forecasts; 20 August 2009; 10141 views

The Asia-Pacific region will see huge numbers of cellular towers built over the next five years, with demand driven by the massive, rapid increase in mobile subscribers in China and India. By 2014, according to Cellular Base Station and Site Leasing Markets, a new study from ABI Research, the area will contain 39% of the world’s cell towers, in a Total Addressable Market worth nearly US$125 billion.

“China Mobile reports that 50% of its new subscribers live in rural areas,” says Senior Analyst Nadine Manjaro. “Extension of mobile services to rural regions requires many more cell towers and antennas than in urban areas, providing a growth engine for this segment.”

Although in much of the world mobile operators continue to build and operate cell towers themselves, a new trend toward outsourcing is emerging, primarily in North America and India. There, operators have been selling cell sites or outsourcing their operation to specialised tower companies which, increasingly, are also building new towers from scratch.

According to Nadine Manjaro, the cell tower build-out rate will start a slow decline some time after 2014: “Increasingly, operators are eager to reduce cell tower costs by means of passive and active infrastructure sharing. Many government regulators are actively encouraging this trend. In India, for example, operators that share towers can receive a reduction in the 5% of revenues they pay towards the country’s Universal Service Obligation fund.”

A similar eventual slowdown in antenna shipments (antennas are also covered extensively in the report) is expected as the migration to multi-band antennae reduces the total number needed. Cellular base station and site leasing markets provides an overview of the global market for cell towers, cabinets, and antennas. Analysis of each segment provides insight into the market shares of the primary players and discussion of their products. The cell tower segment includes a business case analysis and discussion of regulatory impacts on the cell tower business. Drivers and inhibitors are also explained, along with an assessment of the total addressable market.

* The report is part of the Mobile Networks Research Service. ABI Research provides in-depth analysis and quantitative forecasting of emerging trends in global connectivity. From offices in North America, Europe and Asia, its team advises decision-makers through research and advisory services in several key practice areas.

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