Nokia Siemens Networks Boosts Small Cells Portfolio

With the telecommunications industry increasingly looking to “small cell” low-power wireless access points, Nokia Siemens Networks is expanding its portfolio of the products.

At the CTIA Wireless event in New Orleans, La., this week, the company unveiled enhanced microcell and picocell products, along with new Femto access points. Meanwhile, the firm revealed that it will be trialing its Flexi Zone approach for increasing network capacity in the Chicago area.

The Flexi Zone system comprises clusters of LTE, HSPA and WiFi access points that complement the main cellular network with the aim of delivering the highest capacity service. With the trial project, it is hoped that the system will boost network performance at a lower cost than traditional network architecture.

The trial project aims to showcase the innovation in a real-life environment by significantly boosting performance while lowering costs compared to traditional architectures.

In tandem with the project, Nokia Siemens Networks is introducing a different capability for Flexi Zone – the ability to use it as a standalone, multi-technology, picocell. This means that network providers can deploy systems in Hot Zones (areas where people use data services heavily) using a single site. This also enables providers to move to a full pico cluster as traffic pushes upwards.

The Nokia Siemens Networks Flexi Lite Base Station range has been increased with new products offering increased power of 10 watts + 10 watts for an increased variety of deployment options. The firm claims that these can reduce operators’ site costs by up to 90 percent while bringing service to areas where it may have previously been difficult to do so.

The company also revealed its new 3G Femto access points for both residential and enterprise use. These devices offer 3G access and hook into operators’ networks using the customer’s broadband connection.

The small cell market is ripe for opportunity, with one research firm suggesting that it will hit three million units by 2016.