By Rahul Agarwal, senior Consultant, Information & Communication Technologies Practice, Frost & Sullivan

India has one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing telecommunication markets, with over 900 million mobile subscribers. The industry has witnessed staggering growth over the past decade. Although it recently went through a turbulent phase, which resulted in reduced sales and infrastructure spending, it is now poised for the next phase of growth, leaving the uncertain environment behind. The focus on network quality, the growing demand for wireless data services, the launch of 4G and broadband wireless access networks along with roll-outs in newer circles and rural expansion will result in increased opportunities.

The testing equipment and measurement market has grown over time, in tandem with the growth in the telecom sector. An increasing subscriber base, the deployment of next-generation technologies and unprecedented data traffic have resulted in increased network complexity, thereby necessitating the use of test equipment and measurement products to optimise the networks. Similarly, the increasing complexity of the devices being designed, produced and deployed in the industry demands expertise on the part of the suppliers and users of test equipment.

With the focus shifting towards improved connectivity and enhanced user experience, testing and measurement is increasingly becoming critical not only for ensuring the delivery of quality devices and services, but also for complying with industry standards. A number of other industries, like aerospace and defence, automotive, energy, medical, consumer electronics and semiconductors, also use testing and measurement equipment for designing, manufacturing and deploying products and services, as well as for ensuring a high level of customer satisfaction.

The evolving communication standards in the telecom industry are driving growth in the testing and measurement equipment market. This keeps testing equipment vendors on their toes, as they look to keep pace with evolving standards and stay ahead of the technology curve in order to provide cutting-edge testing equipment for the deployment of next-generation technologies. These next-generation technologies will also bring the internet of things to life, resulting in tremendous data offtake and creating unprecedented opportunities for testing equipment vendors, who will have to not only provide support for existing technologies, but also invest in research and development and explore appropriate test solutions for new and emerging technologies. This is significant, particularly in the Indian scenario, where service providers are struggling with low realisations and average revenue per user, making it difficult for them to invest significantly in testing and measurement solutions.

Another challenge faced by testing equipment vendors is reducing testing time, which would yield significant cost savings for original equipment manufacturers. The end-users of testing equipment are not only pushing for a reduction in testing time, but also for conducting more testing at a lower cost through innovation, because they have not been able to transfer the increasing costs to consumers.

One of the most important segments from the testing and measurement perspective is that of mobile devices, which will continue to grow at a healthy rate as the Indian and global markets witness increased penetration and adoption of these devices.

The proliferation of such data-hungry devices, coupled with the consumption of data-intensive applications, will result in a huge volume of data traffic, and lead to the adoption of next-generation technologies sooner than expected. In order to ensure an enhanced user experience, telecom infrastructure will be upgraded to adopt IP/Ethernet technologies. This will result in opportunities for the mobile backhaul testing equipment segment to help optimise the networks.

At the global level, telecom service providers are also concentrating on mobile traffic Wi-Fi offload strategies. As mobile data is offloaded to Wi-Fi networks, customer experience is liable to suffer and result in a churn, compelling service providers to invest in testing and monitoring solutions. In addition to this, service providers, both in India and across the world, will increasingly deploy Wi-Fi access points, resulting in an increased demand for testing equipment, as products and networks have to be tested at every stage of their life cycle, in order to avoid customer churn.