Cisco Exits WiMAX Access Business to Focus on Network Core & Edge

Company confirms that it will discontinue designing and building new WiMAX base stations and will instead focus its mobility efforts on the IP core and network edge.

Cisco confirmed the change in its mobile strategy during a call last week.  "We have decided to focus our efforts on delivering value in the edge and core of the network, and direct future investments on the access side to femto and Wi-Fi technologies," says Sai Subramanian, Director of Product Marketing for Cisco's Wireless Business Group.  "We will discontinue building and designing new WiMAX base stations, but will continue shipping existing equipment and supporting existing customer networks."

Cisco entered the WiMAX RAN (radio access network) business through its $330 million acquisition of Dallas based Navini Networks in October 2007.  Navini was a pioneer of so called "beamforming technology" that provides additional quality and signal strength by concentrating radio signals in the direction of the receiver - providing additional coverage compared to non-beamforming solutions.  Recent studies have shown that beamforming enabled base stations can reduce the number of towers needed by half, providing significant cost savings to WiMAX operators. 

Beamforming technology is currently supported in the current mobile WiMAX 802.16e profile and will be included in future revisions of WiMAX (802.16m) as well as LTE.  While many vendors have plans to include the technology on their roadmaps, to date few vendors except Cisco have commercial equipment available.

Departing the WiMAX RAN business will allow Cisco to focus on the IP core and network edge where it's a more dominant player.  In October 2009, Cisco acquired Starent Networks which offers network agnostic mobile gateway solutions that support a broad range of access technologies including CDMA, GSM, UMTS, WiMAX, Wi-Fi and LTE among others.  Over the past few years, Starent has racked up an impressive list of customers including Vodafone, Verizon, Sprint, KDDI and China Unicom, and was selected to provide its technology in Verizon's upcoming LTE network.

While leaving the WiMAX RAN market, Cisco remains an important player in the WiMAX space in providing core and network edge equipment.  "We expect to continue to be a significant player in the WiMAX market," says Subramanian.  "We will continue to be big players in the WiMAX space, just not in the access part of the network."

Cisco is following a trend in the industry in which base stations are becoming a smaller percentage of the overall capital budget.  While costs are also coming down, the intelligence of the network is migrating into the core and edge of the network, and base stations are becoming "dumb radios" relative to other parts of the network.  Under this scenario, operators will leverage many different types of access technologies including WiMAX, LTE, Wi-FI, 3G depending on a number of factors including spectrum owned, subscriber density, devices, applications and business models.

While exiting the macro-level base station market, Cisco will continue to pursue smaller radio access technologies including femtocells and Wi-Fi.  Femtocells are essentially wireless access points used by mobile operators to improve network coverage in small areas and off-load data traffic from their network.  Femtocells can use a wide range of technologies and leverage a broadband connection to route the connection back to a carrier, bypassing the operator's macro-cell towers.  While femtocells could conceivably include WiMAX or LTE technology, no decisions have been made at this time according to the company.  "As we examine the market, we will certainly look at all different types of technologies required and where there is an area we can delivery significant value, rather that is WiMAX, LTE, 3G, etc.," says Subramanian.

While Cisco was not one of the top WiMAX RAN providers, its departure may none the less be seen as a psychological blow to the industry.  Cisco's exit leaves Motorola, Alvarion, Samsung and Huawei as the dominant WiMAX RAN vendors in the industry.  Cisco follows Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia Siemens Networks who also left the WiMAX market to focus on other access technologies such as LTE. 

While WiMAX detractors will surely use this as opportunity to show waning support for the technology, this is not un-similar to other telecommunications markets like CDMA, where a handful of infrastructure providers serve the market.  In some ways, industry consolidation is to be expected and is an indicator that the market is maturing.

While the WiMAX equipment market is projected to be $6-$8 billion over the next 3-5 years, it may have been too small relative to Cisco's other markets and opportunities.  Although it was involved in around 50 WiMAX networks from an access perspective, it was never in the top 3-4 vendors in the WiMAX RAN market and paled in comparison to its involvement in other parts of WiMAX networks.  The company is involved in most all WiMAX networks in some form and is the leading IP core provider for Clearwire's U.S.  nation-wide network build out. 

A number of factors may have attributed to the slow adoption of the Navini/Cisco WiMAX base stations.  Although fewer base stations are needed due to beamforming technology, the per-unit cost of the base stations were more expensive than competitors which often put them at a disadvantage in RFPs.  Although research showed that operators could actually lower total network costs by utilizing beamforming, many of the decision makers were looking for cheaper base stations, especially in the race to put up networks quickly.

Given their complexity and longer sales cycles, the WiMAX macro base stations may also have been more of a challenge for Cisco's channel partners, who are used to selling more established products such as Wi-Fi with higher margins and shorter sales cycles.  While many WiMAX networks today support advanced features such as MIMO (multiple-input, multiple-output) antenna technologies, few operators are using these capabilities.  Most operators will eventually utilize more advanced MIMO and beamforming technology, but it will take time to implement these capabilities.

Cisco will continue to be active in the WiMAX Forum and the WiMAX Open Patent Alliance according to the company."We are supportive of the WiMAX market and will continue to have WiMAX solutions and serve those customers," says Andy Capener, Director of Service Provider Marketing for Mobility at Cisco.  "We are just now going to now focus our efforts on where our expertise resides."

 

Monday, March 08, 2010 in Business  | Permalink |  Comments (1)

Wireless Innovations Improve Patient Care, Reduce Healthcare Costs

Wireless operators such as Sprint are leveraging the performance advantages of WiMAX technology in the Healthcare industry to provide better patient care while reducing delivery costs of services.

The Healthcare industry is clearly an area where Sprint sees big opportunities.  This week Sprint’s Dan Hesse spoke at the opening general session for the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference in Atlanta, becoming the first CEO of a national wireless carrier to speak at the event.  This year’s show featured nearly 900 exhibitors and more than 300 educational sessions and panel presentations.

One change in this year’s show was the growing emphasis on mobile and wireless Healthcare solutions.  As more connected devices and mobile applications are developed, it has become more important for those in the Healthcare industry to keep up with the latest technology and turn these advances into higher quality and more effective care for patients.

The HIMSS is a membership-based organization that is focused on the optimal use of information technology (IT) and management systems for the betterment of Healthcare.  Founded in 1961, HIMSS represents more than 23,000 individual members, 73% of whom work in patient care delivery settings.

During his keynote, Hesse emphasized the security of WiMAX networks using licensed spectrum compared to many Wi-Fi networks that utilize unlicensed spectrum.  Hesse also said that one of the most compelling reasons for Healthcare providers to adopt wireless broadband is that it enables them to provide remote Healthcare and telemedicine solutions to their patients.

"As the population ages, home Healthcare is growing dramatically," Hesse said.  "And we believe it can greatly benefit from mobile technologies."

A study released last year by ABI Research projected approximately 15 million wireless telehealth sensors by 2012, more than double the number of those in use today.  According to ABI, these systems will be used to monitor and track the status of patients, especially those with chronic conditions, providing early warning signs before they become dangerous.

Hesse also sees new applications and business models made possible by the innovation of an open, 4G wireless network.  "The smart applications aren't going to be developed by Sprint or our main competitors, they're going to be from people focused on wireless applications," he said.  "We work very hard to create tools that make it simple for operators to create applications on our networks."


Healthcare Industry Innovation

In the Healthcare industry, wireless technologies are being used in many innovative ways to provide consistent, reliable information to providers.  For patients suffering from hypertension, for example, sensors embedded in blood pressure monitors can send information wirelessly to a Healthcare provider’s database, comparing it with past data and charting the patient’s continued progress.

In another example, a company known as VITALITY™ has developed an ingenious way of helping patients remember when it’s time to take their medication.  Electronic caps that fit on top of prescription medication bottles known as GlowCaps™, use lights and sounds to signal to patients when it’s time to take their medication.  The caps are embedded with wireless chips and can sense when the bottle is opened, communicating that information with other sensors in the home as well as wirelessly over the internet to Vitality’s secure network. 


picture courtesy VITALITY

It’s the wireless connectivity that makes the product so effective and innovative.  With GlowCaps, if the bottle is not opened after two hours, the user is automatically reminded with a telephone call with specific instructions such as: “It’s time to take the pill in your green GlowCap.” Other family members or physicians can be notified via email or by telephone as well.  The device can even call with refill reminders and connect the patient to their pharmacy as pills are depleted.

While current generation Healthcare monitoring devices most likely use Wi-Fi for connectivity, the advantages of using wider-range wireless technologies such as WiMAX is that it does not rely on patients to connect to a local network or PC in the home.  What you don’t want to have is for a patient monitoring device to stop functioning because a Wi-Fi router became unplugged or their internet connection is down.  Technologies such as WiMAX provide the security and reliability of a carrier-grade solution over licensed spectrum.

Failure to take prescription medication is a serious problem and adherences to consistent medication schedules can result in significant cost savings, especially with chronic conditions such as diabetes, high cholesterol and hypertension. 

The increased use of wireless technologies in the Healthcare industry can have an enormous impact on the both the quality and cost of Healthcare.  The level of patient care can be increased dramatically though more consistent monitoring and better integration with Healthcare providers. 

Tuesday, March 02, 2010 in Applications  | Permalink |  Comments (0)

Clearwire Releases Year-End Results, Plans to Triple 4G WiMAX Customers in 2010

U.S. WiMAX operator Clearwire announces a strong finish in 2009, reporting record subscriber growth as it sets the stage for an ambitious market expansion into 2010.

The company ended the year with 688,000 subscribers, a 45% increase from the prior year, including 642,000 retail subscribers and 46,000 wholesale subscribers from partners Comcast, Sprint, and Time Warner Cable.  In the fourth quarter alone, the company added a record 87,000 subscribers, greater than the prior 3 quarters combined.

Clearwire's wholesale partners is clearly an area that the company wants to leverage and grow.  CEO Bill Morrow told investors on the earnings call that he plans to expand the wholesale channels by adding other types of partners including ISPs, fixed-line operators, retailers and consumer electronics companies.

"Over the past year, Clearwire established its leadership in 4G mobile broadband services by building the largest 4G network in North America, raising additional financing to fuel our growth, supporting the 4G wholesale service launches for three of the most prominent communications companies in the U.S., and delivering solid financial results in a challenging economic environment," Morrow said. 

"Our all-IP network and unmatched spectrum holdings have truly enabled us to become the 4G 'network of networks.' We now provide the underlying capability to Comcast, Sprint, and Time Warner Cable to serve the growing demand for mobile broadband services, and we are well positioned to expand our wholesale business even further.  When coupled with the success of our own CLEAR retail brand, record subscriber growth, and our extensive market build plans for this year, we are confident that we remain on a strong growth trajectory for 2010."

At the end of 2009, Clearwire was operating 27 Markets Across the U.S.  Covering 34 Million People, including Chicago, Dallas-Ft.Worth, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Seattle and Honolulu.  The company plans to begin offering commercial service in Houston, Texas in the coming weeks along with coverage in New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., Houston, the San Francisco Bay Area, Denver, Minneapolis, and Kansas City later this year.  In total, the company plans to provide coverage to 120 million people by the end 2010, a four-fold increase from 2009.





For 2010, the company plans to triple its 438,000 WiMAX subscribers at the end of 2009 which would put it on pace to add approximately 1.3 million WiMAX subscribers in 2010 *.  To keep pace with this growth, the company will increasing their number of towers from 5,000 to nearly 20,0000 according to Clearwire's CTO John Saw.

* Editor's Note:  According to Reuters, Clearwire subsequently issued a correction to say it expects its total subscriber base of 688,000 to triple, instead of its WiMAX subscriber base of 438,000, which would imply a projected 2.0 million total subscribers in 2010.

From a financial perspective, the company still has some challenges ahead.  While increasing revenue 19% for the year to $274.5 million, the company reported a larger net loss than analysts had predicted ($0.55 per share compared to $0.45 per share).  The higher net loss was likely influenced by increases in SG&A expenses and a higher customer acquisition costs driven by the new markets launched in the fourth quarter.  Clearwire expects new markets to become EBITDA profitable after aground 18 months, so we should start to see some signs of improvement around the end of 2010.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010 in Business  | Permalink |  Comments (2)

U.S. Broadband Stimulus Round Two & Implications for WiMAX Operators

Despite confusion and delays around the first round of the process, improvements and clarification on rules in the second round of the U.S. Broadband Stimulus Program should provide better opportunities for WiMAX operators and last mile projects.

Wireless Broadband Perspectives - WiMAX.com Weekly Series Sponsored By: For the next several months, WiMAX.com and Cisco will be featuring weekly topics and perspectives from the WiMAX & wireless broadband industries.    This week we talked with Mark Pagon, CEO of WiMAX service provider Xanadoo Networks on the latest developments with the U.S. Broadband Stimulus Program.

When announced in early 2009, the U.S.  Broadband Stimulus Program was seen as a potential boon for WiMAX and broadband wireless access (BWA) providers.  With both licensed and unlicensed equipment readily available, WiMAX was seen as the perfect solution for providing low cost broadband connectivity quickly and efficiently, and reportedly made up 25% of the last mile proposals submitted in the first round of the process.  Overall, the U.S. Broadband Stimulus Program was so popular that over 2,200 applications totaling $28B were submitted during the first round, nearly 4 times the combined $7.2B funding allocated for the programs.  The agencies were also flooded with over 11,000 public comments and challenges, many from entrenched incumbents looking to block potential new entrants into markets already served.

With the exception of announcements in the last few weeks, very little funds have been awarded under either program and little, if any, have been awarded to wireless or WiMAX projects.  Of the $7.2B in the combined programs, one year later only $900M has been awarded under the programs.  Furthermore, most of the awards had been given to a hand-full of "Middle Mile" programs consisting of high-speed fiber initiatives connecting the national internet backbone into community anchor institutions such as schools, libraries, community colleges and other institutions of higher education. 

But first a little history of the program.  The U.S. Broadband Stimulus Program was created from the Obama administration's American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 which designated $7.2B in stimulus funding to be disbursed by two government organizations - the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Rural Utilities Service (RUS).  Being a stimulus program, the goal of the program was to quickly create tens of thousands of jobs and connect millions of rural communities to broadband - providing additional economic development, healthcare and educational benefits.

In the original statute, the NTIA was allocated $4.7B for the Broadband Technologies Opportunity Program (BTOP) to support the deployment of broadband infrastructure, enhance and expand public computer centers, and encourage sustainable adoption of broadband services.  The RUS was allocated $2.5B for the Broadband Initiative Program (BIP) to support broadband infrastructure projects, mostly in rural and underserved areas.  While the two organizations had somewhat distinct charters, there was overlap between the two programs and lack of clarification in definitions and rules caused confusion in those submitting applications.

Under the original plan, proposals were supposed to have been awarded in three separate rounds (including the first one last year).  Given the latest delays, awards will now be completed in just two rounds.  Round 1 award announcements started over the past few weeks and will be completed by the end of February.  Round 2 applications are being accepted through March 15th, with award announcements starting in July and completed by September 30th, 2010.


Broadband Stimulus - Round Two

Round two of the process has fortunately provided much clearer objectives and rules compared to round one and many applicants have been encouraged to reapply under the new guidelines.  The most significant change is a clearer separation between the two programs - essentially all middle mile applications are being directed towards the NTIA, while last mile applications will go to RUS.  The reasoning and focus on middle mile projects by the NTIA was to ensure that sufficient infrastructure was in place to enable last mile connectivity. 

In the second round, NTIA has $2.6B left to allocate of which approximately $2.3B will be available for infrastructure projects.  The balance of funds will be allocated to public computer center projects and sustainable broadband adoption projects including training and resources for groups where broadband technology has traditionally been underutilized.

For WiMAX operators, the best opportunity will come from the RUS program which has $2.3B left to allocate in the second round, mostly for last mile projects.  This will be good news for those applying in the second round since only $300M was awarded in the first round.  A number of regional WiMAX operators including Digital Bridge Communications, Open Range and ERF Wireless applied for funds in the first round and are still waiting to hear the results.  One such provider is Xanadoo Networks which operates WiMAX networks in Texas, Oklahoma and Illinois and submitted a first round proposal to cover rural communities in eastern Kansas.

"WiMAX projects should do essentially better in the second round," says Mark Pagon, CEO of Xanadoo Networks.  "Lack of clarification in the rules for the first round created confusion and lead to many applications being denied, but improvements in the process should give applicants with sound proposals the opportunity to reapply in the second round."

In the second round, RUS has also simplified the rules around the mix of grants and loan and has adopted a 75/25 grant/loan ratio for all projects along with the flexibility to seek a waiver if additional grant resources are needed for areas that are difficult to serve.  Unlike the BTOP program under the NTIA, the BIP under RUS has no matching requirement in order to qualify.

"Under the first round, the maximum grant that could be received was 50% of the project, except for in unusual circumstances," says Pagon.  "With the new rules, applicants can receive 75% of the project cost as a grant and can apply for up to 100% if needed, providing a better chance for projects that may not have otherwise received funding."

Separate notices of funds available (NOFAs) have been issued for NTIA and RUS, and applicants are directed to apply for either NTIA or RUS, but not both organizations.  Round two application packages for both programs were made available electronically on February 16th, and barring any further extensions are due back by March 15th.
 

Tuesday, February 23, 2010 in Business  | Permalink |  Comments (1)

Mobile World Congress 2010: Mobile Network Architecture Takes Center Stage

Amid the buzz of operator deployments and new product announcements, mobile network architecture solutions that help service providers better manage the explosion of mobile data are finding a captive audience. Interview with Andy Capener, Director of Service Provider Marketing for mobility at Cisco.

Wireless Broadband Perspectives - WiMAX.com Weekly Series Sponsored By: For the next several months, WiMAX.com and Cisco will be featuring weekly topics and perspectives from the WiMAX & wireless broadband industries.    This week, we talked with Andy Capener, Director of Service Provider Marketing for mobility at Cisco (formerly with Starent Networks) on the recent acquisition, the growth of the mobile internet and what it means for service providers.

With the enormous opportunities on the horizon for 4G wireless networks, new companies are leveraging their advantages to help service providers better manage their mobile networks.  While traditional infrastructure vendors such as Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson and Huawei have been offering complete, turnkey mobile network platforms, new vendors such as Cisco and Juniper Networks are leveraging their extensive enterprise and IP-core experience and have recently announced competing products.

The driving force behind these solutions is the tidal wave of data forecasted for mobile networks.  Last week, Cisco released the results from its Global Mobile Data Forecast for 2009 to 2014.  What was interesting was not the conclusions themselves, but the size and magnitude of the growth.

The Internet is becoming mobile.  As with mobile phones, more people will be getting online wirelessly than with a fixed broadband connection.  While the first 50 years of internet was defined by a "wired" connection, the next five will be defined the wireless internet.  By 2014, Cisco predicts that mobile data traffic will increase a staggering 39 fold from 2009 to 3.6 exabytes per month globally (an exabyte, by the way, is equal to one billion gigabytes).  Today, the average mobile broadband connection generates 1.3 GB of traffic per month, but by 2014 that number is projected to grow to 7 GB per month. 



Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) Global Mobile Data Traffic Growth


More video on mobile networks.  Following a similar trend with the fixed internet, video content will account for 66% of all data traffic on mobile networks by 2014, a 66-fold increase from 2009 to 2014.  While watching video on current generation mobile networks is often slow, faster WiMAX & 4G networks will create a better user experience driving consumption and demand even further.  While most video traffic today consists of watching YouTube, faster network uplinks and integrated video cameras on handsets will make true, two-way video conferencing possible for the first time.

More mobile devices & new form factors.  According to the report, by 2014 there will be an estimated five billion personal devices connecting to mobile networks, as well as billions of machine-to-machine devices.  There will also be new larger, more media-rich types of devices such as tablet PCs as well as the Apple iPad.  If the current performance issues of AT&T's network resulting from the iPhone are any indications, operators must manage network resources more efficiently or risk deteriorating network performance and loss of customers.

So what are the implications of this data growth on mobile networks? How are mobile operators going to deal with this tidal wave of data demand and more importantly, how are they going to do so profitably?

One of these companies helping to solve this challenge is Starent Networks which was acquired by Cisco last October.  While preserving the organizational structure of the former organization, the company has been quickly integrated into Cisco's new Mobile Internet Technology Group under the leadership of former Starent CEO Ashraf "Ash" Dahod.  The group is headquartered in Tewksbury, Massachusetts just north of Boston and has around 1,000 employees.

For the past 10 years the company has focused on the mobile operator infrastructure with its multi-media core and packet-core gateway solutions.  The company has racked up an impressive list of more than 100 customers including Vodafone, Verizon, Sprint, KDDI and China Unicom among many others.  Verizon announced last year that Starent had been selected as one of the mobile core vendors for its upcoming LTE network.

The company offers mobile gateway solutions that are network agnostic and supports a broad range of access technologies including CDMA, GSM, UMTS, WiMAX, Wi-Fi and LTE among others.  In the WiMAX space, the company has developed an ASN gateway that leverages the company's expertise in developing one of the industry's leading packet core network infrastructures and has been deployed by Taiwanese operators FiTEL and Tatung InfoComm.

"With the recent acquisition by Cisco and the integration of Starent's products into Cisco's solutions, we are now able to offer a more comprehensive end-to-end IP solution," says Andy Capener, Director of Service Provider Marketing for mobility at Cisco.  "We can offer complete solutions from the cell site, to the mobile-packet core, all the way to the IP core of the network."

Cisco has quickly integrated the new company's mobile data solutions into its own portfolio and has re-packaged Starent's flagship product the ST40 mobile gateway with its own Unified Reporting System platform and renamed it the ASR5000.  The combination allows the mobile data core to share subscriber and network information easily with other systems.

According to Capener, operators will need to focus on two attributes of their network: Performance and intelligence.  With performance, operators will need to understand how their mobile networks are being used to better design policies to help manage the growth and to ensure that networks are operating efficiently.  With network intelligence, operators will be able to gain valuable insight in how their networks are being used and be in a position to target new, differentiated and personalized services based on these opportunities.

"Service providers will be able to keep up with the demand of mobile data and remain profitable, but they cannot do so passively," says Capener.  "The intelligence of the network will be crucial and operators will need to understand how their customers are using the network in order to offer them more differentiated and premium types of services."

Cisco will be Mobile World Congress this week in Hall 8, stand 8A70.

Carl Townsend
Editor & President, WiMAX.com

Tuesday, February 16, 2010 in Business  | Permalink |  Comments (0)

Gigabit Wireless Solutions Play Important Role in WiMAX & Next-Generation 4G Networks

Although offering shorter distances than more traditional microwave links, high data-rate 60 GHz and 80 GHz point-to-point solutions are becoming an important part of a network operator's toolkit. Interview with Paul E. Obsitnik, Sr. Vice President, Business Development for Bridgewave Communications.

While faster wireless technologies such as WiMAX and 4G networks promise to provide a true internet experience, these technologies are only as fast as the backhaul connection from the access point or cell tower to the operator's high-speed network backbone.  With the growth in demand of wireless data and the increase in access points and cell sites, running fiber to each location is often either not feasible or is cost prohibitive.

Helping to solve this problem, traditional microwave point-to-point radios in the 6 GHz - 38 GHz range have been used for years to provide data-rates up to 500 Mbps at distances up to 30 miles (48 kilometers).  These solutions are an essential part of telecommunications networks, offering cost-effective connectivity without the need for digging or having to utilize expensive T1s.  But what if shorter distances with higher data-rates are needed?

Enter millimeter wave microwave - solutions that operate in radio spectrum higher than 30 GHz.  Based on the laws of physics, radios operating in these frequencies are able to offer higher data-rates, but at a trade-off of distance between the radios.

Leading this space is Bridgewave Communications, which has 70% of the market on short distance, high-bandwidth microwave radio solutions.  The company, founded in 1998, got its start in the wireless cable LMDS market.  Following the telecom bust, the company reorganized its efforts in 2003 to focus exclusively on the point-to-point millimeter wave of the 60GHz and 80GHz (71-86 GHz) markets.

For gigabit data-rates less than 2 miles (3 kilometers), millimeter wave radios in the 60 GHz and 80 GHz range typically offer the best value.  "Assuming the distances work, for data-rates greater than 500 Mbps, millimeter solutions are the way to go," says Paul E.  Obsitnik with Bridgewave Communications. 

Within this band, the first decision is between 60GHz license-free links and 80GHz lightly-licensed links.  60GHz links offer the best value on the market for customers who prefer license-free operation and require link distances that are generally less than one mile.  If greater distances are needed, 80GHz links can support applications beyond a mile and offer an alternative for customers who prefer licensed-band operation.

Even the license cost in the 80 GHz band can offer significant savings over the license costs of links in the lower microwave bands.  For example, the cost of a 1 year license for a 80 GHz solution (depending on the area) can cost approximately $100 USD, compared to over $1,000 for a 1 year license for a 23 GHz link. 



BridgeWave's FlexPort™

With their high capacity and cost value, Bridgewave solutions have been used by several WiMAX operators, including Jordanian based Kulacom who launched its network in April 2009.  Located in Bahrain and Jordan, Kulacom provides voice, internet and data hosting services to emerging markets.  Bridgewave also has other "large WiMAX" operators that they are working with, but has not disclosed them at this time.  The company has an agreement with Alcatel-Lucent in which that company re-sells Bridgewave products and is working on agreements with other partners as well. 

"Just 3-4 years ago, data requirements for wireless networks were so low, there was less need for the capacity of our radios," says Obsitnik.  "But with the growth of 3G and 4G networks, we saw an opportunity to build a solution for mobile carriers with our FlexPort product and see that as a big growth area."

BridgeWave Communications will be showcasing their products this week at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona (Hall 2, booth 2E46).

Monday, February 15, 2010 in Equipment  | Permalink |  Comments (0)

Report: Beamforming Networks Reduce Basestations, Provide Cost Savings & Benefits

A new report by Senza Fili Consulting finds significant benefits for operators in using beamforming equipment in their WiMAX networks - reducing by one-half the number of base stations needed and achieving lower deployment costs and faster time to market advantages.

Wireless Broadband Perspectives - WiMAX.com Weekly Series Sponsored By: For the next several months, WiMAX.com and Cisco will be featuring weekly topics and perspectives from the WiMAX & wireless broadband industries.   This week, we talked with Monica Paolini with Senza Fili Consulting on her latest Beamforming study and the implications it has for WiMAX operators.

A new report by Senza Fili Consulting shows that WiMAX operators can achieve significant benefits and reduce overall operating costs by utilizing WiMAX beamforming networks.  According to the study, operators using beamforming along with multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) technologies are able to reduce the number of base stations up to 57%, resulting in cost savings of 34% over a five year period.  The reduction in the number of cell sites driven by fewer base stations has other benefits on the operator's business model as well, including greater flexibility in deployment and faster time to market.  The study reached similar conclusions, although with somewhat different assumptions, to another recent study conducted by UK research firm Analysys Mason. 

Beamforming is a signal processing technique used to increase coverage and capacity compared to more traditional radio systems.  In a beamforming system, the base station is able to better tune-in to distant CPE devices by blocking out interference and directing a signal back based on the location of the receiver.

With the advantages of beamforming clearly documented, why are more operators not deploying these types of networks? While supported in the mobile WiMAX 802.16e profile, very few operators so far have deployed networks utilizing beamforming, including Clearwire - the largest WIMAX operator in the U.S.  deploying a nationwide network.  From a certification perspective, all CPE (customer premise equipment) devices are required to support beamforming, but operators can chose whether or not to utilize it in their networks.

"It really comes down to the initial cost during the vendor RFP (request for proposal) process as well as the operator's other priorities when building their networks," says Monica Paolini with Senza Fili consulting.  "The network planning process is often complex, with decisions made by different people in the organization at various steps in the process.  During the RFP process to select the vendors, operators often select a solution on the basis of equipment cost, but that may turn out not to be the most cost-effective solution.  Operators need to look at the big picture and consider the total capex and opex over a few years when building their networks."

A single beamforming base station may cost up to twice as much as a typical non-beamforming WiMAX base station.  This can be one factor that turns away operators.  When multiple vendors are compared side-by-side during the RFP process, it can be difficult to convince the procurement and other groups within a service provider's organization on the benefits of investing in the equipment, even though with half as many basestations, the total CAPEX of the network would be the less due to the other costs associated with building cell sites.

"During the RFP process, operators are trying to figure out what equipment to select and their first cost item is often base station equipment," says Paolini.  "Operators are under tremendous cost pressure, but often underestimate the installation costs."

The study examined three types of WiMAX network deployments: those using MIMO only, those using beamforming only, and those using a combination of MIMO + beamforming.  The model utilized detailed operational and financial assumptions including coverage type (urban, sub-urban and rural areas), population density, subscriber growth, networks usage, site acquisition costs and opex to support the network among others.  Based on these assumptions, the discounted RAN (radio access network) costs were calculated over a five year period.


Key Findings

Half as many sites needed.  While the CAPEX from each of the more expensive beamforming base stations are off-set by fewer base stations needed, the cost savings achieved were driven by the reduced build-out and support costs of operating half as many sites. 

Better network management.  More spectrally efficient beamforming networks also allows operators to better manage the trade-off between network coverage and capacity- better managing resources by providing fewer sites in areas with less traffic and increasing cell site density in in high traffic areas to boost capacity.  "Initially, operators don't know where demand is going to be especially with mobile subscribers," says Paolini.  "Beamforming provides flexibility for operators to deploy where capacity is most needed."

Faster time to market.  With fewer sites, operators are able to enter markets faster and avoid the risk of putting up sites before they know exactly where demand will be from their customers.  This can have a profound impact on cash flow, allowing service providers to conserve desperately needed cash by delaying capital expenditures, and providing a quicker return on the operator's business case.


Operator Priorities

Another explanation on the slow adoption of beamforming in WiMAX networks could be operators need to focus on the build-out of their networks as quickly as possible, adding more advanced features such as MIMO and beamforming as they have the resource to manage the upgrade.  In fact, many WiMAX operators including both Clearwire and Yota in Russia have yet to even begin using the capabilities of MIMO, much less beamforming.  While, these technologies provide performance and cost advantages, many operators are just starting to roll out their networks and may not want to introduce additional complexity until they are more established.

"In the beginning, the top priority for operators is to have a stable system that supports their initial users," says Paolini.  "As the number of subscribers-along with traffic volumes-grow, operators will need to introduce MIMO and beamforming technologies to increase capacity."

With increasing customer data usage, operators such as Yota are beginning to realize the importance of advanced antenna techniques to increase capacity are planning to implement these technologies on their networks.

"MIMO and beamforming may not be an operators top priority initially, but once they have their network stable and need additional capacity, operators are keen to deploy at these technologies," says Paolini.

The Senza Fili Beamforming Whitepaper is available for download here.


 

Tuesday, February 09, 2010 in Business  | Permalink |  Comments (3)

WiMAX Act 2: 802.16m Provides Evolution Path to 4G

As current-generation 802.16e mobile WiMAX networks are deployed globally, work continues on the next generation of the technology known as 802.16m, which will provide greater performance, capacity and flexibility over existing legacy networks.

Wireless Broadband Perspectives - WiMAX.com Weekly Series Sponsored By: For the next several months, WiMAX.com and Cisco will be featuring weekly topics and perspectives from the WiMAX & wireless broadband industries.  This week, we talked with the WiMAX standard's groups at Intel and Cisco on the latest developments with 802.16m and what it means for operators and their customers.

Broadband wireless technologies have continued to evolve to keep pace with the ever-growing demand for high-bandwidth data requirements and applications.  From proprietary BWA (broadband wireless access) technologies came fixed WiMAX in 2004 based on the IEEE 802.16d standard - providing a common platform for fixed and nomadic wireless broadband services. 

Recognizing the importance of mobility, the WiMAX Forum™ released the mobile WiMAX profile in 2005 based on the IEEE 802.16e standard - providing full mobility in addition to fixed and nomadic broadband services.  Advanced antenna designs including MIMO (multiple-input/multiple-output) along with other techniques including adaptive beamforming were subsequently added to increase performance, capacity and coverage of the networks. 

While mobile WiMAX provided performance capabilities that far exceeded other standard technologies currently available to date, it still fell short of the International Telecom Union's (ITU) key requirements for consideration as an IMT advanced (4G) technology - specifically, providing downlink speeds of 100 Mbps in a wide area with high-mobility.  Last October at the ITU Telecom World 2009 conference in Geneva, Switzerland, the WiMAX Forum™ and member companies announced their support of the IEEE's submission to the ITU of the 802.16m standard as a candidate for consideration as an IMT advanced technology.   The WiMAX Forum also announced that WiMAX Release 2, which is based on the standard, would be finalized in parallel with 802.16m, to ensure that the next generation of WiMAX networks and devices will remain backward compatible with WiMAX networks based on 802.16e.  (It's worth noting that the first release of LTE also does not meet ITU's definition as a 4G technology).

"Work on the standard has been progressing very quickly," says Jose Puthenkulam, Intel's director of WiMAX standards.  "The profile development time for 802.16m has been much shorter than with the prior, 802.16e profile - where the industry was still very much in a formulative state with respect to MIMO, beamforming, etc.  We have taken the experiences with 802.16e and even some of the learnings from LTE and built that into the 802.16m standard."

While some companies are taking a "wait-and-see" approach before committing to the technology, companies expressing support include Beceem and Intel on the chip side, and Samsung, Huawei, ZTE, Alvarion and Cisco on the infrastructure side.  Recent reports in the media of Clearwire being "in no hurry to test 802.16m" seem to have been taken out of context.  According to Clearwire CTO John Saw, the operator will consider preliminary trials in 2011, which is in line with when the first available commercial equipment will be available.  Understandably, Clearwire is more focused on growing their existing network and POPs coverage from 30 million to 120 million in 2010 based on commercial equipment that is available today.

Of all the WiMAX member companies, none has been more vocal in their commitment to 802.16m than Samsung and Russian WiMAX operator Yota.  Last October at the ITU World conference, Yota and Samsung demonstrated a test of an 802.16m network and Yota plans to be one of the first operators in the world to install the technology once it becomes available.  As one of the fastest growing WiMAX operators in the world, Yota can certainly use the extra capacity.  In one month alone last year, the service provider carried over 2,290 terabytes of data on its network.


What is the Significance of 802.16m to Operators?

While 802.16m will provide increased performance for users, the main, driving factor for operators adopting the technology will be capacity.  With more users with smartphones, tablets and other devices, wireless bandwidth will continue to grow. 

"The driving force behind the development of 802.16m is capacity," says Intel's Jose Puthenkulam.  "As you start to add more use, you start to see more capacity constraints.  This will provide capacity for operators to grow their networks."

The new 802.16m standard will also provide increased performance advantages.  From a technological perspective, 802.16m is capable of providing up to 120 Mbps down and 60 Mbps up in an urban setting, using 4x2 MIMO antennas on a single 20MHz-wide channel.  Even higher data rates can be achieved with additional spectrum resources or more complex antenna schemes.  While impressive, actual commercial performance will be considerably less based on spectrum used and other factors.

In addition to capacity and performance advantages, 802.16m will be backward compatible with existing WiMAX networks, providing ease-of-mind for operators deploying networks today.  Most mobile WiMAX operators can easily convert from 802.16e to 802.16m by updating some circuit plate units and software in their bases stations.  All of the 802.16e units in the field will continue to work and customers will see no disruption in service.

"One of the most important aspects of the 802.16m networks will be the backwards compatibility with legacy systems," says Dave Marez with Cisco.  "Because of this, operators don't have to wait for time to market to deploy their networks and they will never have to worry about "orphaning" their existing devices."


LTE vs.  WiMAX? It Depends on the Spectrum…

Of course, no discussion of the future of WiMAX is complete without the context of how it compares with other technologies - specifically LTE (long term evolution).  Both LTE and WiMAX Release 2 achieve their extraordinary performance and capacity by providing the ability to support wider 20MHz channels (in addition to 10MHZ channels).  But performance is only as good as the spectrum available.

Performance of an LTE network was recently highlighted in the launch of TeliaSonera's commercial network in Stockholm.  According to the company's web site, the operator was offering down load speeds of "up to 50 Mbps," but according to initial independent tests, only reached about 12 Mbps on the down link.  Subsequent test provided slightly better results, but showed some of the limitations and uncertainties inherent with new technologies.

It is also worth noting that the TeliaSonera LTE network was able to deliver its extraordinary performance because it was operating using two, 20MHz channels - one for the downlink and one for the uplink.  Essentially, the channel size is the size of the "wireless pipe" that operators have to work with when delivering data to users on their networks.  Most 3G networks operate using up to 5MHz channels, WiMAX 802.16e networks operate using up to 10MHz, and 802.16m and LTE networks will operate using up to 20MHz channels.

To achieve the significantly higher performance as reported by TeliaSonera, LTE operators need to use the wider 20MHz channels, but that spectrum is not always readily available.  In the US, Verizon which is planning to deploy its LTE network in 700 MHZ only has two, 11MHz channels nation-wide.  ATT, which also plans to deploy an LTE network, only has two, 12 MHZ channels. 

"Lots of the spectrum allocation are in 10MHz chunks," says Intel's Jose Puthenkulam.  "The places you will find contiguous 20MHz channels do exist, but they are few and far between."

The 802.16m profile is currently under evaluation and is expected to be ratified along with WiMAX Release 2 later this year.  We should then expect to start seeing the first 802.16m dongles in late 2011 and more wide-spread commercial deployments starting in 2012.



 

Wednesday, February 03, 2010 in Business  | Permalink |  Comments (2)

WiMAX Operators Can Cut Network Costs in Half by Using Beamforming Systems, finds Analysys Mason

While many operators often look for the lowest-cost base stations, a new study by research firm Analysys Mason shows that by investing in advanced beamforming networks, operators can reduce their total cost of ownership by more then 55% over a five year period.

Wireless Broadband Perspectives - WiMAX.com Weekly Series Sponsored By: For the next several months, WiMAX.com and Cisco will be featuring weekly topics and perspectives from the WiMAX & wireless broadband industries.   This week, we reviewed the results of a recent study comparing the total cost of ownership of beamforming-enabled WiMAX systems to more traditional systems.

With the proliferation of WiMAX and next-generation wireless broadband networks, service providers are looking for new ways to squeeze more performance and value out of their networks.  A new study by telecom research firm Analysys Mason looks to determine which types of WiMAX solutions are commercially attractive to operators, by quantifying the TCO (total cost of ownership) of beamforming systems to more traditional non-beamforming WiMAX systems.

Although many WiMAX vendors have beamforming included on their roadmaps, to date only a handful of vendors offer commercial beamforming capabilities.  Beamforming is considered a key technology for wireless broadband networks and is supported in the current 802.16e WiMAX standard and will be deployed in future 802.16m and Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks.

While advanced beamforming systems are often more expensive than other systems, operators must look at the entire cost of operating the network when building their networks.


Multiple Antennas & Beamforming Explained

The report begins by providing a basic understanding of how multiple-antenna and beamforming technologies work.  To do this, they a use a 'cocktail party' analogy, comparing the process of radio systems with multiple antennas, to a guest at a party with their eyes closed as they attempt to listen to a second person walk a complete circle around the room.  Based on how the brain processes the difference in signals received by each ear, the listener is able to determine where the other person is in the room.  Similarly, radio systems with multiple antennas are better able to detect incoming signals by correlating the information from the separate antennas with each other.  This is essentially what MIMO (multiple-in, multiple-out) antenna systems do in WiMAX networks.

Beamforming takes this a step further, which through processing techniques of the signals received from multiple antennas, it is able to eliminate interference and unwanted noise, and to tune-in to the desired signal.  In the party analogy, this would be represented by the listener using their brain to 'tune-out' other conversations and 'actively listen' or eavesdrop on the distant conversation.  If the listener then wanted to participate in the conversation, they would turn and direct their voice towards the recipient.  Likewise, in a beamforming system, the antenna is able to direct its signal toward the receiver by determining the location of the receiver.

Methodology & Assumptions

In the Analysys Mason study, 3 separate WiMAX system scenarios are considered: 2-antenna systems without beamforming, and both 4-antenna and 8-antenna systems with beamforming.  In addition, all 3 system types were modeled in both in a developed country market, with higher costs of labor and higher average revenue per user (ARPU), and in a developing market, with corresponding lower labor costs and ARPU.  Assumptions in the model included coverage for both urban and suburban areas, subscriber density, topography, WiMAX penetration and forecasted subscribers over a five year period.  The models also assumed three sectors/base stations per site, and that the networks utilized 30MHz of 2.6GHz spectrum, with a unique 10MHz carrier for each sector.

To determine the number of sites required by a WiMAX operator, accurate capacity and coverage maps were then developed to model the performance of each of the 3 scenarios.  In planning the coverage area for the network, a combination of both a 'link budget analysis' and 'capacity analysis' was used to accurately model the capacity loading effect on the cell.  This occurs when more users are added to a cell and there is a corresponding decrease in the effective coverage of the cell.

Conclusions

Based on the results of their study, Analysys Mason found that by utilizing 8-antenna beamforming systems, WiMAX operators could offer 225% more coverage and 47% more capacity than traditional 2-antenna non-beamforming systems.  This combination of greater coverage and capacity results in an astonishing 69% fewer sites needed compared to the non-beamforming systems.

While the cost of beamforming systems are 15%-20% more expensive per base station, this cost is more than offset by the significant opex reductions achieved from operating one-third the number of sites compared to a traditional WiMAX network.  Since opex accounts for 60-70% of the total costs associated with each site, a reduction in the number of sites can have a huge impact on the total cost of operating the network.

Over a five year period, these savings result in a 63% TCO of the access network.  After adding in other costs for the core network capex and opex, sales and marketing and general & administrative costs, the overall cost of ownership of operating an 8-antenna beamforming network is 55% less than operating a traditional system.

The advantages of deploying a network with fewer sites can add up quickly, allowing operators more flexibility on where sites are located as well as a quicker launch of the network and faster payback.

Beamforming networks also have other performance advantages as well including less dead zones, fewer dropped calls and better quality and throughput at the cell boundaries.  In the age of higher customer expectations this can prove invaluable - something not lost on operators as they look to grow their subscribers and reduce churn. 

So why haven't more operators utilized beamforming in their networks considering the lower total cost of ownership? "The problem comes from who is involved in the vendor selection process," says Daryl Schoolar with Current Analysis.  "The person responsible for selecting the base station vendor is often concerned only about CAPEX of the base station, so only looks at that cost.  The long-term operational costs are the responsibility of a different group within the carrier's organization and is often not factored into the decision process."

With the performance and cost advantages becoming more apparent, there is little doubt that more operators will turn to beamforming-enabled systems to reduce cost and improve performance within their networks.

The report is available for download here.

 

Tuesday, January 26, 2010 in Business  | Permalink |  Comments (0)

New Android-Based WiMAX Devices Expected This Year

Although still not officially confirmed, rumors and speculation continue on possible new Android-based WiMAX devices expected in the coming months.

With the number of postings on the web in the past week, it is now a fairly safe bet that Sprint's new flagship WiMAX handset planned for this year will be made by Taiwanese vendor HTC.  Based on the reports, the HTC A9292 code-named "Supersonic" will be similar to T-Mobile's HD2.  The dual-mode, CDMA/WiMAX handset will most likely also include the ability to connect to Sprint's 3G EVDO network in places where WiMAX service is not yet available.

The current HD2 runs on the Windows Mobile 6.5 OS, but indications are that the WiMAX device for Sprint's 4G network will run on the new Android 3.0 OS.  The new device will feature a 4.3-inch AMOLED touch-screen display and include Qualcomm's speedy 1GHZ Snapdragon processor.  Interestingly, the new HD2 will also come with an extended battery with twice the performance of the prior version - an important consideration for heavy internet usage and providing ample power for the WiMAX chipset.

HTC HD2 Handset

Having recently launched the "Nexus-One" with Google, this device would extend HTC's lead on Android-based devices as well as demonstrate its leaderships in working with new, 4G technologies.  HTC's involvement in producing the device would also make sense based on its close relationships with Goggle, who along with Sprint, Time-Warner, Comcast and others are major backers of Clearwire's WiMAX network in the US.

As the first 4G handset in the US would certainly be big news, this would not be the first WiMAX device for HTC, who last year launched the first dual-mode GSM/WiMAX smartphone with Russian service provider Yota in Moscow and St. Petersburg.  That device, the HTC MAX 4G, included a smaller 3.8-inch TFT-LCD touch screen display, a 528 MHZ processor, and ran the Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional OS. 

While this device would utilize CDMA for Sprint's voice network, we can probably assume that a GSM version will be available at some point in the near future, which would open up the possibility for sim-card based, unlocked versions that could be sold by MVNO's and used on other networks.  News on availability will most likely be announced either at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month or at the CTIA wireless show this March in Las Vegas.

Clearwire CEO Bill Morrow has also promised a WiMAX handset's later marketed under the CLEAR brand.  That device could come from HTC as well or perhaps even Samsung, which is currently providing the Samsung "Mondi" mobile internet device on Clearwire's network.

Android-Based WiMAX Netbooks?

Several websites, including CNET Asia, are also reporting a possible Android-based WiMAX netbook from HP.  If true, this would be significant since HP is one of the last PC OEMs that has yet to announce a WiMAX equipped computer.  While several vendors such as ASUS and others have announced Android-based netbooks, the handset-based OS is not designed to provide a full PC experience including features, drivers, etc. and would most likely be a short-term solution until the more full-featured Google-Chrome OS is available later this year.

Monday, January 25, 2010 in Equipment  | Permalink |  Comments (2)