Alcatel-Lucent will introduce new technology for wireless carriers to expand their network. The new technology is a new cell phone antenna system that puts together the technology in a small box, which can be mounted even on a lamp post. The Light Radio system from Alcatel Lucent will be ready for the trial of the carriers this year, allowing carriers to set up new cell sites faster and economically. The cell phone tower technology being shrunk fits more easily the budgets of the carriers. It is economically more viable to use a cell site which comes with an antenna.
The data processed, is expected to rise by 26 times of what it is now, by 2015, as per the reports from Cisco, on their forecast on the index for visual forecasting, conducted each year by them. Alcatel–Lucent has potentially changed the structure of the cellular network by reducing greenhouse emissions and bringing mobile broadband into new areas. Called Light Radio, the technology was showcased in London by Alcatel–Lucent’s partners Freescale and HP. It reduces the size of the technology from a filing cabinet to a small box. Apart from helping the industry reduces costs it would also reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
The way the carriers are gearing up for the increase in data is by adding more possible capacity to their networks to carry the traffic from radio towers to the Internet. The industry cannot provide more spectrum to carriers since there are limits to the amount of mobile data that can be transmitted on a given spectrum. One way that they can use to mobilize more spectrum is by deploying more cell sites in smaller sized area. Many carriers have already started using smaller sized cell sites and are also providing more bandwidth, for example providing personal cell sites for the home or business. To improve the indoor wireless coverage, cell sites are connected to a broadband connection to give leverage.
However, this task involves using new cell towers, which is expensive and not always feasible. This is where the Light Radio technology comes in from Alcatel-Lucent. It allows carriers to deploy smaller cell sites at less operational costs. They start with replacing larger towers with smaller cell sites. This way the carrier expenses on cell sites are cut to a bare minimum. Also, the connectivity provided to users is on broadband using cloud computing.
Therefore, with the Light Radio system, it is possible to create economies of scale; the antennas used are software configurable and reusable equipment even in the event of changing technologies like 2G, 3G, 4G etc., accessible from the same point of dispersion. This development will bring a change where carriers have to deploy and change hardware with every change in technology. The cell tower technology has been shrunk to fit the budgets of carriers and it is a major breakthrough in the technology of cell sites.
