cracker 0 Report post Posted September 4, 2010 Bharti Airtel has choosen ip.access, a UK-based developer of picocell and femtocell solutions to supply nanoGSM picocells for deployment across India. Airtel is deploying the nanoGSM picocells to deliver extra mobile network coverage and capacity to its business customers. The nanoGSM picocell delivers in-building GSM services, which can be deployed for high value enterprise customers. It has lower capital and operating costs than other in-building coverage solutions, with all the backhaul traffic efficiently carried over an existing IP connection. Speaking to Telecom Yatra about the new deal, Mark Pittick, vice president, strategic accounts, ip.access, said, "We are supplying about 3,000 units to Airtel in the first phase of deployments initially in five circles, but eventually extending to all 24 circles.†The company said that Airtel has already started deploying nanoGSM picocells in Delhi and Bangalore. Pittick said that ip.access also has a contract with another Indian carrier and will announce the name soon. It is currently in talks with several other leading mobile operators in the country. He added, "Picocells are new in India, but have been used successfully in the US, Europe and other parts of the world. ip.access has 55 operator customers worldwide. We see great potential in the Indian market, where it's likely that the number of picocells could quickly overtake the number of outdoor cell sites in the carriers' networks.†ip.access has big plans for 3G. Pittick said, "We have already deployed 3G femtocells and picocells in other parts of the world, and we expect 3G to be important in India as well. We plan to use 3G picocell technology for enterprise coverage and 3G femtocell technology to provide coverage in homes.†The company's largest 3G deployment so far is in North America, where femtocell technology is the basis of AT&T's 3G MicroCell. Femtocells are used to provide coverage in homes, whereas picocells are more typically used for offices, shops and other public indoor locations. A picocell is a wireless communication system which covers small areas such as offices, shopping malls, train stations and residential complexes. A picocell is analogous to a Wi-Fi access point. The key benefits of picocells are that they provide a strong mobile phone signal inside buildings and other hard to reach places, and they add extra capacity to the network. Since picocells have very low power consumption, and can use any type of IP backhaul (including WiMax and satellite connections,) they can also be used to provide coverage in rural areas. http://telecomyatra.afaqs.com/news/index.html?sid=1731_Airtel+selects+ip.access+for+picocell+deployment http://www.financialexpress.com/news/ip.access-bring-picocells-to-india-with-bharti-airtel/676834/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
