3G and WiMAX Backhaul Application Evaluation

ASIA : Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) in India is deploying Cambridge Broadband’s VectaStar equipment on a trial basis. A multi-frequency, multi-sector, VectaStar base station with a variety of CPEs is being installed in the fast-growing region of Gurgaon, approximately 25km southwest of Delhi. In this commercial trial, VectaStar is being used for both access and transmission, with the network combining IP-based access services with the backhaul of traffic from GSM, 3G, WiFi and WiMAX base stations.

BSNL is using a variety of technologies in order to provide a comprehensive portfolio of telecommunications services throughout India. The company plans to roll out 75 million new phone lines over the next three years, the majority of which will be cellular. BSNL also aims to attain 1.2 million broadband customers in the next year alone.

Cambridge Broadband’s technology is useful for three key reasons: its ability to simultaneously support multiple frequency bands (3.5GHz, 10.5GHz and 26GHz), its support for multiple services, and its ultra-high capacity with speed upwards of 1.2 Gbps.

Senior Executives at BSNL feel that VectaStar’s multi-frequency support has potential to maximise the use of the available spectrum and provide a high total bandwidth, in the region of several gigabits. This system will be useful for deployment of both WiMAX and 3G networks in particular, which need a high capacity backhaul network owing to their dense population of base stations, with only a small proportion of these base stations accessible by fibre. VectaStar’s support for multiple services over a single platform can provide access connectivity with high QOS.

Peter Wharton, Chief Executive at Cambridge Broadband, comments: “We are delighted that India‘s leading telecoms operator has chosen our VectaStar equipment for evaluation in such a challenging environment: not only combining applications and frequency bands, but also dealing with a non-line-of-sight environment. India is a rapidly expanding market, with ever-increasing teledensity and broadband uptake, and we look forward to becoming part of the BSNL family of technology partners to help BSNL achieve its aggressive deployment targets.”

Equipment trial deployments are commencing immediately.