Wireless network operators worldwide are under increasing competitive pressure to deliver new IP-based data and video services. In addition to transitioning their voice optimized 2G/2.5G networks to 3G networks that are more optimized for video and data traffic, wireless carriers are also increasingly deploying 4G access technologies such as WiMAX.

To support the rapid growth of these new high-bandwidth services, wireless carriers require additional backhaul capacity between cell sites and the core network. Because these new services are predominantly IP-based, wireless carriers who operate their own facilities as well as network operators who lease capacity to wireless carriers are also transitioning to more packet-optimized backhaul network architectures that will stand up to the test of time.