Massive MIMO Comes of Age in 2021 on the Back of 5G Rollout Momentum

Massive MIMO (multiple-in, multiple-out) antennas stand ready to deliver on the promise of cost-effective delivery of capacity density in LTE networks now and set the stage for 5G networks to come.  ABI Research, a market-foresight advisory firm providing strategic guidance on the most compelling transformative technologies, recently released a report which outlines the huge advantages in energy efficiency, spectral efficiency, and resistance to adverse fading in the channel offered by these massive MIMO antenna systems. The company also discusses the limitations of practical massive MIMO systems which restrict massive MIMO uptake to specific deployment scenarios.

 “The optimum massive MIMO system will balance these challenges with the promise of increased sector capacity, and improved radiated energy efficiency,” says Nick Marshall, Research Director at ABI Research. “We believe that the radio propagation characteristics in the sub-6 GHz bands remain the most favorable for massive MIMO today for many scenarios and that future 5G millimeter wave massive MIMO systems will become essential for unprecedented levels of spectral efficiency and capacity density.”

In 2017, Softbank (Japan), T-Mobile Netherland and Vodafone UK all have announced commercial deployments.  Also, major operators globally have started massive MIMO trials or limited deployments in 2017 and are planning commercial deployments in 2018. Among these operators are Sprint, Deutsche Telekom, China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, Singtel, T-Mobile Netherland, Vodafone Australia, Optus, and Telefónica.

Growing from a small number today, massive MIMO penetration for both LTE-Advanced Pro and 5G will reach almost 5% of the worldwide MIMO enabled antenna installed base by 2021. This is equivalent to nearly 500,000 installations with the Asia Pacific being the largest region followed by Western Europe and North America.

The massive MIMO vendor ecosystem includes major multi-national radio and antenna vendors such as CommScope, Ericsson, Huawei, Kathrein, Nokia, and ZTE. This ecosystem also comprises innovative start-up companies such as Anokiwave, Blue Danube, and Pivotal Commware.

These findings are from ABI Research’s The Rise of Massive MIMO report. This report is part of the company’s  Mobile Network Infrastructure research service, which includes research, data, and analyst insights.

About ABI Research

ABI Research provides strategic guidance for visionaries needing market foresight on the most compelling transformative technologies, which reshape workforces, identify holes in a market, create new business models and drive new revenue streams. ABI’s own research visionaries take stances early on those technologies, publishing groundbreaking studies often years ahead of other technology advisory firms. ABI analysts deliver their conclusions and recommendations in easily and quickly absorbed formats to ensure proper context. Our analysts strategically guide visionaries to take action now and inspire their business to realize a bigger picture. For more information about ABI Research’s forecasting, consulting and teardown services, visionaries can contact us at +1.516.624.2500 in the Americas, +44.203.326.0140 in Europe, +65.6592.0290 in Asia-Pacific or visit www.abiresearch.com.