The increase in the number of smartphone subscribers around the world has led to a huge demand for data traffic, prompting network operators to upgrade their infrastructure. This trend, according to market research firm Technavio, will push the global next-generation mobile backhaul networks market to grow at a CAGR of over 10% by 2021.

"The mobile backhaul capacity needed per base station varies considerably, relying on target data rates and population density," said Jujhar Singh, a lead analyst from Technavio, specialising in research on embedded systems sector. "The market is calculated by considering the revenue of the vendors in the backhaul network service."