“Critical mass” in the outdoor small cell market...

"Critical mass” in the outdoor small cell market will occur slightly later than previously forecast, about “two years out from now,” Infonetics said Thursday. That will in turn affect the small cell backhaul market, which grows parallel to the outdoor small cell market, Infonetics said. “We still believe the outdoor small cell market will happen, but judging by the speed at which things moved -- or didn’t move -- in 2013, it’s just going to take a little longer to get off the runway,” said Richard Webb, Infonetics directing analyst-microwave and carrier Wi-Fi, in a news release. Outdoor small cell deployments will be driven “largely by mobile operators’ need to enhance saturated macrocellular networks in urban, high-traffic areas and improve the mobile broadband experience,” Infonetics said. Outdoor small cell backhaul connections are forecast to reach 656,000 by 2017 (http://bit.ly/1dT8LBc).