Importing wireless know-how, SSC taps into lucrative U.S. market >BY JASON MEYERS, Wireless Networks Editor

Siemens Stromberg-Carlson dislikes the implication that it is a newcomer to the wireless infrastructure market. Granted, the company introduced its low-mobility personal access communication system (PACS) solution just last year and only this year unveiled the first in a line of infrastructure gear targeted at U.S. wireless operators deploying PCS 1900 technology.

But both of those ventures, SSC maintains, have roots in the tremendous success parent company Siemens has enjoyed in the international wireless arena. SSC is positioning itself as a Siemens wireless colony that plans to achieve the same level of success in the new world.

Toward that end, SSC announced last week that it has appointed a new director of its wireless business unit: Thorsten Heins, a 12-year Siemens veteran who was most recently department head for the German company's GSM System Technology and Technical Sales division. Heins will now shift that experience to the U.S., where SSC is putting equal focus on its diverse product lines in hopes of improving market penetration.

"At the end of the day you address the mass market," says Heins in reference to infrastructure solutions that meet both full- and limited-mobility needs. "We have an opportunity to create operator-specific systems."

The vendor gives equal billing to both its product lines, Heins said, allowing its customers' needs and business models to dictate the direction. "The customer has to decide how he wants to position his services," Heins said. "It's not a case of us pushing one vs. the other."

In addition to equipment, SSC also provides wireless carriers with network planning, RF engineering and site acquisition services. "We take projects as turnkey," said Heins.

SSC's PACS Edge solution, part of a consortium with Hughes Network Systems and Bellcore, is already enjoying some success with contracts from two personal communication services entities and negotiations with several more.

"We're only now starting to get into the sweet spot of the PACS market," said Paul Carrol, vice president of marketing for SSC.

To date, SSC's wireless wins have been among the most recent players, but the company believes that will soon shift.

"We recognize we are late coming in, so our focus is going to be on the C band market and over time will extend into the A and B bands," said Carrol. The vendor has been able to integrate its systems with those of other major manufacturers to make them compatible as network operators require additional infrastructure, he said.

The micro base stations planned for the PCS 1900 equipment line, for example, are not likely to be required in wireless networks for at least another year, when capacity increase and network expansion dictate, Carrol said. "The need for a micro base station is a measure of success for carriers," he said.