Carrier Wi-Fi Market Size, Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook, Growth Potential, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2020 - 2026

Carrier Wi-Fi Market size is growing at a fast rate due to the increasing adoption of IoT and 5G applications along with the rising advent of smart cities. Carrier Wi-Fi provides a better user experience to the end users by delivering an easy access to Wi-Fi with enhanced service quality. It also enables service providers to manage a large network of access points, supporting thousands of nodes. There is an increase in the amount of data generated from various electronic devices such as tablets, smartphones, and laptops in numerous developed and developing countries. The amount of mobile data generated in 2014 was around 2 exabytes and reached around 8 exabytes by 2017. Hence, the deployment of carrier Wi-Fi solutions assists operators to cope with the growing data by enabling them to offload traffic onto the fixed networks in high-traffic areas such as city areas or at major events. This method permits the operators to move the data transmission to a Wi-Fi-based network, reducing the traffic and increasing the efficiency.
 

Carrier Wi-Fi technology is also being used by the operators worldwide to enable cloud-based applications and meet the high bandwidth requirements driving the market growth. It delivers various features such as scalability, wide area mobility, network management, carrier-grade security, and fewer service interruptions, driving its adoption in the market. It is also considered as a cost-effective solution in deploying public hotspots in various restaurants, public places, and university campuses, accelerating the internet penetration rate in developing nations.
 

The emergence of LTE and 5G has resulted in the carrier Wi-Fi becoming an integral part of the network architecture. The industry is witnessing a huge shift in network planning and strategy with innovations in fiber-optics, IP-based core networks, and self-organizing & heterogeneous networks, driving the market demand. Various companies also anticipated to increase their carrier Wi-Fi investments by 2020, in terms of 5G network development, driving the market growth. Furthermore, security has always been a concern for the open Wi-Fi networks as unprotected Wi-Fis can hamper the user and organizational data, leading to huge loses. Carrier Wi-Fi delivers enhanced security by hardening the Wi-Fi network and in turn protecting it from security threats such as spam, spoofing, and viruses, motivating the demand for the carrier Wi-Fi market.
 

Despite the strong inclination of the operators toward the carrier Wi-Fi market, there are still certain issues, which may limit their growth. There are a set of crucial technologies such as enhanced tools for managing Wi-Fi hotspots that are considered as a key requirement for the high-volume deployments of this solutions. A shortage of these tools acts as a critical parameter, hampering the market growth.
 

The carrier Wi-Fi market has penetration into software such as network management, network monitoring & intrusion prevention, and network performance analytics. The network management software is projected to hold the highest market share as it offers various benefits to the mobile operators such as reduced power usage, service flexibility, and enhanced service environment including location-based & data analytics services, accelerating the market demand. 
 

The carrier Wi-Fi market solutions are adopted in various application verticals including BFSI, IT & telecom, healthcare, energy, government, education, and transportation. The market is witnessing a huge adoption rate from the IT & telecom and financial service sectors due to a growth in the SIM-based Wi-Fi access points that provide a closer integration between the mobile network and Wi-Fi. Companies operating in these industries are also innovating advanced solutions to deliver an enhanced customer experience and gain a competitive edge in the market. For instance, in October 2017, Nokia introduced a new carrier Wi-Fi for in-home solutions. This new solution will provide gigabyte coverage to the entire home, eliminating the interfaces and dead zones.
 

Asia Pacific is considered the strongest region of growth in the carrier Wi-Fi market due to an increase in the number of mobile subscriptions in countries including India and China. There is also a rise in the demand for smartphones in this region, paving new growth opportunities for the telecom operators. The rate of requests for proposals from various mobile operators is increasing with countries including China, Indonesia, and India, driving the growth. Furthermore, the government has also taken strategic steps such as digitalization and smart cities initiative, which has a positive effect on the market growth. The U.S. is also projected to grow at a fast rate due to the growth in data and the fluctuating network traffic in this region.
 

The carrier Wi-Fi market is fragmented with the existence of a substantial number of players. Some of the major players present in the market are Airspan, Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco Systems, Aruba Networks, ADTRAN, BelAir Networks, Ericsson, Hewlett-Packard, Motorola Solutions, and Ruckus Wireless. These players are making huge investments in R&D and bringing about strategic business collaborations to expand their presence in the competitive carrier Wi-Fi market.

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