The global market for Wi-Fi Enabled LTE Small Cell Gateways is expected to spike by 28% in the year 2020 and continue to grow to reach 21 million units by the year 2027, trailing a CAGR of 18% over the analysis period 2020 through 2027. Wi-Fi enabled LTE small cell gateway refers to a network element that features an LTE interface towards the carrier network and a Wi-Fi interface towards the end user devices. With operators facing the challenge of achieving both capacity and coverage, adoption of LTE small cells is seen as an ideal, cost-effective and immediate way out. LTE small cells are required to possess certain characteristics, which include minimize capital expenditure as well as long-term operational expenditure; support indoor as well as outdoor deployments; low capacity, power and form factor for indoor and outdoor deployment; ability to exploit existing backhaul technologies such as GPON, xDSL, microwave and Ethernet for connecting to EPC; provide support to SON features to enable lower operational expenditure and quicker rollout; offer differentiated services thereby contributing to revenue growth; provide seamless coverage handover between small cell and macro cell coverage and ability to provide support to 3G/HSPA+ and other multiple mode access technologies from a single box.

The last decade has witnessed a major expansion of Wireless Broadband Networks (Wi-Fi, LTE) across the globe. Broadband networks enable high-speed mobile networking that supports a wide range of multimedia services (gaming, music and video streaming etc.). The demand for broadband networking facilities is forecast to continue on its exponential trajectory over the next decade. However, the existing broadband infrastructure is not equipped to handle the expected surge in demand. Wi-Fi technology is accessible, inexpensive, interoperable and standardized internationally. Wi-Fi technology is easily shared across multiple devices and users but declines in networking speeds in crowded residential or urban areas are issues, as are concerns over battery efficiency of Wi-Fi devices. The technology has been constantly evolving, with the latest generation promising better interference resistance and higher speeds. Wi-Fi technology is now typically part of most mobile devices and is deployed across the globe in public spaces. Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology is an alternative mobile broadband standard whose robustness, spectral-efficiency and speeds have made it a popular choice for networking on mobile devices. It is likely that the huge demand for Wi-Fi services will force mobile operators to provide near-seamless integration of both LTE and Wi-Fi networks on mobile devices. Over the years, mobile communications infrastructure has been experiencing tremendous transition globally driven by technological advances and rapid growth in data consumption and traffic. Growing data traffic is creating significant challenges to mobile operators without corresponding increase in average revenue per user.

Traditionally, operators relied on expansion of spectrum as a means to expand capacity and coverage, which is however an expensive endeavor. A practical way out of this challenge is to expand capacity and coverage through investments in less expensive equipment in order to support the deluge of data traffic expected in the years to come. High cost of spectrum and the threat of lower capacity to address growing data needs are compelling mobile operators worldwide to increasingly invest in smaller base stations or small cells, carrier Wi-Fi and other solutions that enhance coverage than erection of new towers or macro cells. Small cells are witnessing tremendous growth in investments from service providers, and form an alternative to Wi-Fi as an offloading option. Small cell networks include several miniaturized base stations which can be placed inside buildings or outside for enhancing network capacity and coverage. Although small cells can eliminate the need of additional WLAN access points, there is a growing trend to view small cells and Wi-Fi as complementary technologies. Small cells are an increasingly growing popular solution for mobile operators to address capacity and coverage issues in the backdrop of growing mobile data traffic. However, small cells make use of licensed spectrum and as a result its capacity is dependent upon spectrum availability. Additionally, small cells may face capacity degradation due to interference between cells, and so require considerable planning. In a bid to address this drawback, mobile operators began using Wi-Fi along with smart cells to augment capacity and performance of the latter. Given the unlicensed and free nature of Wi-Fi, operators are channeling significant resources on carrier Wi-Fi and secondarily on smart cells. However, with a potential saturation of the unlicensed spectrum and limitations of the technology, tremendous prospects lie ahead for smart cells with integrated Wi-Fi capabilities. Wi-Fi has already gained importance as a key component of small cells. Wi-Fi is being used in small cells for purposes such as authentication, billing and diverting applications to individual radio modes. Growing proliferation of embedded Wi-Fi capabilities in stationary as well as mobile devices in tandem with carrier investments into LTE infrastructure upgrades are driving many wireless network carriers to adopt Wi-Fi-enabled LTE small cell gateways.