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Frost & Sullivan's recent analysis, Global Mobile Network Drive Test Equipment Growth Opportunities, finds that the rise of high-capacity networks with enhanced mobile broadband, massive machine communications, and ultra-reliable low-latency communications are fueling the demand for higher-quality 5G new radio (NR) drive testing. Driven by commercial 5G network deployments despite the pandemic, the global mobile network drive test equipment market is estimated to reach $522.5 million by 2025 from $253.2 million in 2020, expanding at a 15.6% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).
The Asia-Pacific region, led by China, is expected to be the fastest-growing market for mobile network drive test equipment as the region pushes initiatives for smart cities and deploying 5G technologies. Similarly, with the significant adoption of 5G drive test equipment across industries, the North American market is projected to have the second-fastest growth rate. In comparison, slow market growth is expected for Europe and the rest of the world (RoW) due to limited 5G deployment and 5G being in the infancy stage, respectively.
"Deployment of fifth-generation new radio (5G NR) is creating complex and new drive testing requirements. Today, most 5G networks are rolled out in the 3.5 GHz spectrum band, increasing the demand for drive testing and propagation model tuning," said Sujan Sami, Research Manager at Frost & Sullivan. "The future of drive testing is focused on predictive and proactive testing probes and full automation. The market will move from reactive testing to predictive and proactive testing probes due to an increase in 5G NR deployment and ML algorithm initiatives over the next two years."
Sami added: "Workflow automation and cloud analytics are new areas in which drive test solutions need to evolve to a higher level of market maturity. Also, more initiatives are in place to connect drive test solutions through the cloud, enabling immediate response and analysis via remote diagnostics streaming to a cloud-based orchestrated solution."
As the deployment of 5G NR networks inflates the demand for drive test equipment to support a wide range of test scenarios, market participants need to focus on the following to tap into the growth prospects:
- Innovative testing solutions: Vendors should develop 5G NR drive testing based on user-centric testing to address device performance challenges, including internal antenna positioning and interference.
- Cloud analytics: Test equipment suppliers should consider combining efficient cloud-based solutions with advanced intelligence solutions focused on artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML) root-cause analysis.
- Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based solutions and satellite navigation: Offering comprehensive drone-based solutions combined with ground-level drive testing can provide superior 3D accessibility, coverage, and horizontal and vertical data.
