backhaul

Major infrastructure vendors have taken a toolkit approach to small cell backhaul that blends a variety of approaches, but their shifting strategies are perplexing their operator customers, according to an advisory report from Current Analysis.

Backhaul demands are going to increase in the years ahead and carriers worldwide are collectively underfunding investment in backhaul, according to a Strategy Analytics study commissioned by network vendor Tellabs. The result? A backhaul funding gap of around $9.2 billion by 2017.

Small cell backhaul is quickly becoming a kind of low-hanging fruit in the wireless industry, with established vendors and brand new ones grabbing what they can of the nascent yet burgeoning market. The latest entrant is Tarana Wireless, which this week emerged from stealth mode.

Intracom Telecom unveiled StreetNode, an outdoor small-cell backhaul platform designed to deliver carrier-grade wireless backhaul network at street level and on wall surfaces or lamp posts.

The WiMAX Forum is working on the next generation of WiMAX technology, continuing its push into vertical business models and eyeing creation of a framework that would enable WiMAX's use for wireless carrier Ethernet services.

DragonWave announced a year-over-year trebling in revenue for the third-quarter of its fiscal year, but the company's quarterly loss grew by $5 million.