As network gear becomes commoditised, services offer higher margins and long contracts, notes Mr Thelander.
AT&T's microcell is built by Cisco, a company with a reputation for solid network gear.
As well as making these unexpected forays away from selling network gear, Cisco is exploring other sidelines.
Globally, mobile data traffic is expected to double every year through 2013, according to Cisco Systems, which makes network gear.
Texas Instruments, which makes chips for about two-thirds of the world's cellphones, is trying to build sales to makers of cable modems and phone network gear.
Despite Cisco's reassurance, a number of industry executives and technologists said that the threat of secretly added circuitry intended to subvert computer and network gear is real.
In France, opposition to perceived Chinese dumping has sparked discussion — but no concrete proposal — in Parliament for government to begin "certifying" network gear for the French market.
WiMax's big supporters include Motorola, Nortel, Samsung, NEC and Fujitsu none of which is a big hitter in 3G network gear.
Nokia Siemens Networks, a maker of network gear, expects mobile-data traffic to grow 300-fold by 2015.But not everyone will be a winner.
Nokia and Ericsson reported better-than-expected financial results on Thursday, lifted by strong demand for cellphones and network gear in Asia, India and other emerging markets.
Best known for its founder's links to the Red Army – which has meant its network gear has been banned from the US over spying suspicions.
