The size of the Carrier Wi-Fi solutions market will be $8 billion by 2019, said ABI Research.
Growth drivers include the recent move for standardization, updates on Hotspot 2.0 and commercial Next Generation Hotspot deployments counting more than 12 networks worldwide.
Main Carrier Wi-Fi equipment players include Cisco, Ruckus, Alcatel-Lucent, Nokia Networks, and Ericsson. Last week, Ericsson India said it will supply 30,000 carrier-grade Wi-Fi access points to Ozone Networks, a public neutral Wi-Fi provider in the country for its national telecom project.
Asia Pacific is the top region in number of installed Wi-Fi hotspots, while Europe and North America continue to grow their networks through the use of community hotspots.
The global Carrier Wi-Fi equipment market will reach $3.9 billion by 2017, said Infonetics Research in a report in June 2013.
ABI Research said MSOs like BT, Liberty Global, and Comcast are focusing on public hotspots, thanks to switching on the dual-access feature in their massive home gateway deployments.
“This is a cost-effective way to increase public network coverage and add value for customers while also market a bigger network to attract new businesses and customers,” said Ahmed Ali, research analyst at ABI Research.
Mobile operators have started turning to Wi-Fi for voice support in addition to data which further increases the value of public hotspots. Examples include AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and EE which are either currently offering Wi-Fi calling services or planning to do so in 2015.
Wi-Fi CPE market
ABI Research in a October 2014 telecom analysis report said the Wi-Fi customer premises equipment (CPE) market is expected to grow 11 percent in 2014. Shipments of Wi-Fi access points, routers, and residential gateways are set to surpass 176 million units by the end of 2014.
D-Link and NETGEAR lead 802.11ac access point shipments in consumer Wi-Fi equipment market. The combined shipments of the two companies represented more than 20 percent of worldwide 802.11ac shipments in Q1 2014.
ABI Research expects that nearly 32 million 802.11ac access points will be shipped in 2014.
Image source: Alcatel-Lucent
