Cabling market to witness consolidation

The structured cabling industry remains influenced by a slew of aspects, such as evolution of the power over Ethernet (PoE) – an efficient power source for myriad applications – that has complemented growth strides of the telecommunication sector as a consequence. The study finds that fiber cables are fast replacing the copper cables in the telecommunication infrastructures worldwide.

The study finds that the structured cabling market is witnessing a significant transformation, wherein the focus on service offerings has become imperative among vendors and customers alike. As the labor costs apropos of structured cabling installations continue to surge worldwide, ripple effects of these are having a significant impact on the total cost of ownership, which in turn have led to a developmental surge in software and services.

According to the study, the labor expenses account for approximately 30% of the structured cabling installation costs, and it varies from country-to-country owing to diverse currency rates. Also, the availability of skilled labor with respect to the labor costs varies largely between the developed and developing markets. For instance, while the availability of skilled labor to that of labor cost is balanced in the U.S., the gap is significant in Mexico.

The study opines that end users continue to show a marked preference for optical fiber cables, with sales in 2018 estimated at approximately US$ 5.3 Bn. Multimode optical fiber cables are expected to be preferred over the single mode variants, in light of the former’s capacity to support higher bandwidth, which is expected to be a key requirement in the telecom sector with the impending proliferation of 5G technology worldwide.

Structured Cabling Installations Proliferate, While Maintenance & Support Emerges as a Key Focus Area

As more business adopt structured cabling solutions, the demand for installation services is one the rise – the study estimates gains in 2018 to exceed US$ 2.4 Bn. Companies providing structured cabling solutions are focusing on attractive service offerings, to tap opportunities in new research centers and datacenters, and help them determine best practices in network configurations and deployments.

Leading data-driven organizations are hosting certified training programs on structured cabling systems, to help the professionals better understand the concept and attain proficiency in implementation practices. Moreover, companies are recognizing the need for an integrated service that not only helps deliver the right services to consumers, but also minimizes the overall cost incurred on clients in assuring compatible hardware and customer-specific systems into a rack with structured cabling.  

Companies that offer effective technology support for maintenance of structured cabling-based infrastructure, and help clients manage networks in the long-run, are expected to witness promising growth in the foreseeable future. This will further result in a notable traction of maintenance & support services in the structured cabling market, with gains expected to record a relatively faster rate according to the study.

The study opines that the North America remains the leading market for structured cabling, influenced by a confluence of factors that range from the transformations in the telecommunication sector to proliferation in datacenters in the US. Gains are also expected to remain significant from the structured cabling market in Europe and Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), underpinned by the upward trend of digitalization vis-à-vis growing popularity of cloud and Big Data.

This report offers a long-term perspective of the structured cabling market for the period, 2018 to 2028. The structured cabling market is projected to record a CAGR of approximately 8% through 2028.