Communications market research firm Infonetics Research reports that worldwide sales of radio access network (RAN) equipment dropped 14% sequentially to $10.1 billion in the first quarter of 2008.

 Infonetics' report, Mobile Network Infrastructure Equipment and Subscribers, shows worldwide RAN equipment revenue, while down in 1Q due to seasonality, is up 3% from the same quarter a year ago (1Q07), primarily driven by strong GSM deployments in India and China and sustained network upgrades in North America.

"Soft mobile switching centers (MSCs) and packet core are and will continue to be the two bright spots of the mobile infrastructure market. Service providers continue to deploy packet tandem architecture and seek opex reductions through IP transport, key drivers for these fast growing markets," said Stéphane Téral, principal analyst for mobile infrastructure at Infonetics.

Other highlights from the report:

- Despite a tough quarter, Ericsson increased its lead in overall RAN equipment revenue market share with close to a third of the worldwide market

- Nokia Siemens, Alcatel-Lucent, and Nortel hold the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th positions in worldwide RAN revenue share, respectively

- Sales of soft mobile switching centers (MSCs), which provide call control, signaling, and intelligence for mobile networks, will grow in the double digits annually through 2011

- Worldwide revenue from W-CDMA microcells is up 5% in 1Q08

- Sales of home location registers (HLRs) (centralized databases that store mobile subscriber information and profiles) are down 3% sequentially, but up 30% year-over-year, driven by network upgrades and new network deployments

- Strong RAN equipment activity in the Asia Pacific region helped increase its share of the worldwide RAN market to 41% in 1Q08; Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA) accounts for 28%, CALA 16%, North America 15%

Source:cellular-news