OTTAWA, Ontario-Nortel Networks said it has developed and demonstrated an order of
magnitude increase in the coverage radius of 800 MHz cdmaOne base stations to improve the economics of rural
cellular service.
In a series of tests conducted at its Wireless Solutions lab in Ottawa, Nortel said it achieved a
coverage radius of up to 200 kilometers at 800 MHz from a single Code Division Multiple Access Metro Cell base
station. Nortel said this is five times better than previous extended coverage trials and 10 times the range typically
available.
Australian operator Telstra will be the first operator to field trial and commercialize this coverage
enhancement in its rural service areas, said Nortel.
“This dramatic improvement in coverage makes CDMA
networks a much more attractive proposition for rural cellular service delivery,” said Dave Murashige, vice
president of marketing and product line management with Nortel’s Wireless Solutions. “Operators like Telstra
Australia can take advantage of this extended coverage to cost effectively implement high quality wireless services
across sparsely populated rural markets.”
Murashige said Nortel expects to seek North American
standardization and compliance for the product, introducing it by the middle of 2000 to rural carriers.
