ADC jumps into WiMAX

In the wireless industry, ADC is best-known for its distributed antenna and indoor coverage systems, but the vendor is using the new market opportunity of WiMAX to leap into the macrocellular infrastructure market with both feet. At WiMAX World last month, ADC revealed a full WiMAX equipment line, from picocells to macrocells, which it plans to target at Tier 2 and 3 carriers, wireless ISPs, and eventually big service providers.

Todd Schieffert, WiMAX program director for ADC, admitted that the WiMAX base station market is a surprising place to be — in fact, ADC never expected to be there. The vendor originally had developed a concept for a hardened, compact base station with an integrated IP switching fabric and planned to partner with base station vendor Aperto Networks to build and sell it. But Aperto never built it, Schieffert said, so ADC decided to do it itself, which explains why the company is arriving later to market than its competitors.

Despite being behind in timing, ADC believes it offers a compelling alternative, Schieffert said. The base station's ultra-lightweight design can be deployed anywhere coverage is needed, whether on a utility pole or a building façade. By eliminating the costs of a typical cell tower deployment, an operator can deploy sectors 50% cheaper than it could a traditional base station, he said.

While Schieffert added that large operators may eventually adopt the technology for infill, he believes ADC's primary market will be the smaller operators.

“We don't have the wherewithal of a Samsung or a Motorola — we're small,” Schieffert said. “We believe there will be an outpouring of new wireless operators, though, similar to the outpouring of CLECs in the 1990s. Our solution will appeal to them.”