French telecoms equipment supplier Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) believes its upcoming LightRadio antenna technology is well suited for helping to address the principal challenges faced by Latin American mobile operators, Alcatel-Lucent’s president for Latin America, Osvaldo Di Campli, told BNamericas.

“In emerging markets, due to their architecture and size, we are attacking the most important challenges in Latin America, which are space, energy consumption and the capacity to reduce operational costs. Those are key elements that mean our technology can really help increase the concept of mobile broadband, which we’re going to see growing in the region,” Di Campli said.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week, Di Campli said the small size of the new antenna technology will also help avoid Nimby-related (“not in my back yard”) conflicts frequently seen in communities in Latin America where operators have to install new base stations.

The executive said LightRadio marks a paradigm shift in the way wireless networks are designed and implemented.

Operators that win licenses for 4G spectrum in Latin America and will have to invest in infrastructure anyway are likely to adopt LightRadio, he added. “In countries in Latin America that have already awarded 4G spectrum, those operators are most likely going to be the first to implement these types of networks.”

Alcatel-Lucent announced the development of LightRadio last week. The first product release is due to be ready for trials in September this year.

Pioneered by Alcatel-Lucent’s R&D firm Bell Labs, LightRadio represents a new architecture where the base station is broken into its components elements and then distributed into the antenna and throughout a cloud-like network. The clutter of antennas serving 2G, 3G, and LTE systems are combined and shrunk into a single cube that can be mounted on poles, sides of buildings or elsewhere where there is power and a broadband connection.

“It’s like applying the Lego concept to telecommunications in which you can begin with a cube, and when you need more capacity, you add more cubes instead of putting in place one big cell site,” Di Campli said.

LightRadio reduces energy consumption of mobile networks by up to 50% and total cost of ownership by 50%, according to the company.

SMALL CELLS

Alcatel-Lucent also announced this week an expansion of the capabilities of its 9360 Small Cells portfolio for indoor or outdoor high-traffic areas like shopping malls, airports and railway stations. It also unveiled its concept for the 9361 Home Cell X-Series, a range of USB-powered small cells able to deliver high-capacity data clear voice for up to eight users simultaneously.

“You can think of them like your own cell. It’s like a WiFi router. You can personalize the location, and automatically configure distances. It gives you great capacity if you live with your family with approximately 3-4 cell phones in the house,” Di Campli said.

There are no concrete deals yet for the technology in Latin America, but Alcatel-Lucent is working on trials with five operators.

Similar Posts:

Share