small cells

Mobile data surge drives popularity of unlicensed spectrum and small cell tech

Findings from ABI Research have indicated more mobile operators are turning towards unlicensed spectrum and small cell technologies, to meet the growing demand for data.

Nokia announces portable RAN breakthrough, so do Vodafone and Ericsson

As telecoms operators and vendors seek to solve coverage and capacity issues on the mobile network, Nokia Networks and Vodafone have announced separate portable radio offerings.

Small Cell Forum maps out the 5G HetNet

The Small Cell Forum (SCF) has published the first components of Release 7, which is designed to provide the foundations for the 5G HetNet of the future.

Ericsson cheers Latin America wins as transformation continues

Swedish network giant Ericsson stressed the importance of transformation at its AGM this week and also managed to bank a couple of major deals in Mexico and Brazil.

Nokia partners with Comarch over IoT

Networking giant Nokia has commenced a technology partnership with Polish software vendor Comarch to develop IoT platforms aimed at key industries.

Verizon set to trial LTE-U via SpiderCloud small cells

Small cell provider SpiderCloud Wireless has announced that giant US operator Verizon will commence testing its LTE-U system to deliver in-building capacity.

KPN, Ericsson get LTE moving with C-RAN bus stop small cells

Dutch operator KPN has rolled out a suite of small cells based on C-RAN architecture after successful trials in Amsterdam and The Hague.

Small Cell Forum unveils new 5G initiatives

The Small Cell Forum has come up with six new development programmes designed to feed the carriers’ demand for more bandwidth as we head towards 5G

Nokia set to license brand to other handset makers

Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri put a stop to rumours suggesting it might re-enter the handset business. But speaking in London at the vendor’s first capital markets day in five years, Suri confirmed the Nokia brand is to be re-licensed to appear on other smartphone makers’ devices.

A Nokia Nokia Flexi Multiradio 10 base station

Nokia Networks bags Bharti Airtel 3G contract

Nokia Networks has announced it has bagged a 3G contract form Bharti Airtel in Mumbai, west Bengal and Bihar, which according to the Finnish infrastructure provider marks India’s first dual band, dual carrier 3G implementation.

Genesis Technical Systems claims copper enhancement is the way forward

Time to turn telecom copper into mobile gold, says Genesis

Broadband solution specialist Genesis Technical Systems claimed copper holds unrealised potential for both fixed and mobile operators, saying it is “time to tap into technologies that turn copper into mobile gold.” The Canadian firm claimed the economics of small cell deployments makes fibre less attractive than enhanced copper solutions.

Alcatel Lucent shares small cells vision

Networking vendor Alcatel Lucent opened up is campus at Villarceaux, just outside of Paris, to showcase some of the projects its R&D arm – Bell Labs – is working on. Principal among these is its focus on small cells, including new partnerships with Qualcomm, JC Decaux and Accenture.

Cloudberry is pushing the small-cells-as-a-service model

Small-cells-as-a-service to launch in Norway

Small-cells-as-a-service provider Cloudberry Mobile, this week revealed that it is just about ready to switch on what will be the world’s first carrier-neutral small cell network in Norway.

Big show in Barcelona focuses on small cells

The run up to MWC has seen several equipment vendors gearing up their small cell strategy as operators move on from plugging coverage gaps to boosting their service offerings with the technology.

The Dot is Ericsson's small cell offering

Ericsson to manage small cells as a service

Swedish vendor Ericsson will unveil a managed services business model later this month during MWC that will see it take ownership of small cell infrastructure on behalf of operators. The Small cell as a Service offering is designed for high capacity environments that also experience peaky demand, such as sport stadiums, allowing operators to ‘fill in’ for capacity needs without densifying the macro network.

T-Mo is using wifi to boost coverage at home

Small cells should be seen as business, not engineering solution

Too many operators still consider small cells an engineering-led solution for plugging network holes rather than a business-led solution for launching new services. This is the warning from small cell specialist ip.access, backed up by research commissioned by Yankee Group.

Data usage patterns support need for ‘personal’ cells

Heavy users of mobile data services are ten times more extreme in the LTE era than on 3G, with just 0.1 per cent of mobile users in both developed and emerging markets consuming over half the LTE downlink data. This compares to one per cent of 3G users consuming half the downlink data.

Tablet use drives need for small cells, says Weldon

Small cells are a vital part of the future broadband network, Alcatel Lucent corporate CTO Marcus Weldon told delegates at Broadband World Forum in his keynote address. Weldon noted that mobile computing is now the dominant form of computing due to the success of tablets, which introduced just a few years ago, are now processing more data globally than desktop PCs and laptops.

US operators to trial Ericsson small cell solution

US operators will begin trials of an indoor coverage solution provided by Ericsson in Q2 next year, based on a small cell product that weighs just 300 grams. While it has not officially named a first trial partner, a comment provided for the product’s launch release puts AT&T squarely in the frame. Sebastian Tolstoy, head of business development and strategy for Ericsson’s radio division told Telecoms.com: “As you can see from the release the first operators we’ll go to market with are American operators.”

The deal gives Megafon a substantial lead in the Russian LTE market.

Qualcomm outlines plans to provide 1000x more capacity

Silicon vendor Qualcomm has outlined plans to drastically increase capacity in mobile networks. The vendor believes that, by using its technology, operators will be able to provide a thousand times more bandwidth capacity than today, while also reducing costs.