Ericsson adds unlicensed spectrum support to small cells

Swedish network giant Ericsson continued its small cell crusade with the announcement of license assisted access (LAA) to its small cell portfolio. This LTE technology allows users to tap into unlicensed spectrum, typically used by wifi, to augment their cellular performance.

Telecoms.com spoke to  Christian Hedelin, Head of Strategy, Radio Business Unit at Ericsson. “We will allow consumers to benefit from the coverage, performance and quality of service aspect of licensed spectrum, but will add capacity and speed by also offering LTE capabilities over unlicensed spectrum,” he said. “There are still white spots in the user experience and performance, and those are typically in a high-density user environment. This solution will target that user demand.”

This LAA capability is another string to the Ericsson small cell bow, following the launch of the RBS 6402 picocell, focused on small office buildings, and the announcement of India’s Ozone as the first customer for its small cell as-a-service offering.

In the latter case Ericsson is taking on the inventory and implementation risk for its customer, typically an operator. In this case it’s rolling out 30,000 wifi access points across India on behalf of Ozone. “This is a new model where we can support operators,” Patrik Jacobson, Head of Network Sharing at Ericsson Global Services, told Telecoms.com. “Typically we take everything from planning, design, optimisation, maintenance and we provide the network.”

The LAA capability will be introduced into small cells such as the 6402, but won’t be making an appearance until later in the year. Among the operators that will be trialling it will be T-Mobile US. “There’s approximately 550 MHz of underutilized spectrum in the 5 GHz UNII band and LAA is one of the technologies we plan to develop and use in our continuing efforts to provide our customers with superior network performance,” said Neville Ray, CTO of T-Mobile US.

Ericsson is keen to stress that combining licensed and unlicensed spectrum is a key milestone on the road to 5G and has wasted little time in claiming first mover advantage. “One of the great things about LAA is its ‘rising tide’ effect, increasing system capacity and making way for better service to all users in the area, whether they have an LAA-enabled device, or are using Wi-Fi or cellular access,” said Ericsson Head of Radio Product Management, Thomas Norén.

Here’s a helpful video to further help you get your head around the concept.