While many carriers and manufacturers are thinking about and preparing for third-generation wireless systems, buildout on first- and second-generation systems continues.
“Most carriers have built out their metropolitan markets, and now they are looking for solutions for rural markets,” said John Chenoweth, product marketing manager at AirNet Communications Corp. “It’s a growing trend. A lot of manufacturers are going after the second-tier markets, and a lot of operators are starting to build their second-tier markets.”
Carriers, he said, are looking for base station products to use in their second-tier and rural deployments that are less expensive both in terms of capital costs and operating costs.
“Customers want more for less,” said Madan Jagernauth, senior manager, GSM, Wireless Networks at Northern Telecom Ltd. “Customers have already built out much of their core metro areas, and they are looking for base stations with higher coverage while keeping cost in mind.”
Many customers also are looking for reduced-footprint base stations that deliver high capacity at lower cost for urban areas and in-building coverage, added Jim Slinowsky, senior manager, CDMA, Wireless Networks at Nortel.
Nortel noted demand for these types of solutions is increasing; however, the majority of deployments are still traditional base stations. AirNet’s Chenoweth also said traditional base stations still comprise the bulk of the company’s business.
