European market for wireless test equipment to grow

The proliferation of 4G technologies such as long-term evolution (LTE) and the new LTE-advanced will give a huge boost to the wireless test equipment market in Europe. LTE’s higher speed and data rate are expected to change the way mobile services are used, prompting innovations in broadband services and improvements in handset features such as screen resolution and battery technologies. New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, European Wireless Test Equipment Market, finds that the market earned revenues of EUR 582 million in 2010 and estimates this to reach EUR 1.23 billion in 2017. With the higher uptake of wireless data, service providers have to adopt novel test equipment that can help them manage their networks more intelligently. The market is also expected to gain from the rising popularity of smart mobile devices. These gadgets, with their higher backhaul traffic, are likely to change the traffic mix on networks. “European service providers remain focused on their ability to offer reliable network infrastructure, while becoming providers of an increasingly complex mobile experience,” says Frost & Sullivan Program Manager Olga Yashkova. “This requires organizational efforts, investments, and the creation of a new source of revenue to compete with the influx market participants from other markets.” Despite the market potential, service providers cannot simply nudge existing technologies out of the market with their new ones. They must ensure a positive quality of experience (QoE) and quality of service (QoS) by continuing to support the current technologies, while offering cutting-edge solutions. However, this may be easier said than done since maintaining robust support for existing technologies while moving forward with new technologies is a technical and operational challenge for test equipment vendors. “Staying ahead of the technology curve enables vendors to gain early access to innovative technology devices and trial networks to validate and test new products,” notes Yashkova. “Vendors can choose to either be trailblazers or compete in a commodity-type environment by producing low-end equipment that helps SPs deliver positive QoE and QoS.”