BridgeWave Shows Off Small Cells

With cellular carriers rushing to expand cellular services, wireless technology developers are in demand. At ITEXPO East 2012 in Miami, TMC sat down with Amir Makleff, CEO of BridgeWave Communications. The company currently offers 60gHz and 80gHz solutions to enterprise and municipal network customers. Makleff discusses the company’s new picocell solution that was presented at the show.

According to Makleff, PicoHaul is targeted at carriers looking to launch LTE and thinking about putting cells on light posts.  In the video below, Makleff explains why BridgeWave believes the product will be a good fit for urban areas and environmentally conscious carriers.

Makleff noted that PicoHaul had been launched in 2011 and that the company had tested the product with various carriers. Though he conceded that small cells hadn’t really hit the market yet, he said that the small cells would finally arrive in 2013.

In the video, he discusses BridgeWave’s ongoing trials of PicoHaul and its plans to educate carriers about the product’s capabilities, and various carriers’ reactions.  He explained how the company was going about answering questions about the product from carriers and guiding carriers to deploy the product down the road.

BridgeWave is also partnering with Eastern European countries to deploy the company’s high frequency technology in tier one carriers moving toward LTE networks. Makleff would not reveal which carriers the company was working with, due to confidentiality agreements, but he noted that the company plans to expand its Eastern European partnerships.

Looking forward, Makleff noted that the company focuses on high capacity backhaul, which he said tends to be driven by people moving to 4G service. With the inevitable roll out of a 4G LTE iPhone, Makleff forecast that consumer demand for high-speed data would explode, prompting carriers to increase their LTE investment and expansion plans. He discussed the company’s preparation for this development.

For more TMC video interviews from ITEXPO East 2012, please click here.