Entering the Dead Zone

By now, just about everyone is familiar with the clever “Can you hear me now?” television spots promoting Verizon Wireless' service offering. The implication is that no matter where you go or where you end up, you'll always get a clear, strong signal, so long as you're connected to the Verizon Network.

The reality, of course, is that no matter how robust or well-built the network, it is going to have dead spots. Dead spots are the bane of wireless subscribers around the world, which in turn makes them the bane of wireless carriers. Given that, carriers are always looking for ways to boost coverage. The problem is that the traditional way to get it done — building more cell sites — is expensive and a logistical nightmare.

But Miguel Cizin, a former Nortel Networks executive who is now CEO of wireless infrastructure start-up Celerica, believes his company has the economical cure. “The idea is to give carriers a way of using what they have more efficiently,” Cizin said. “There is only so much land and spectrum to go around.”

The proposition is fairly simple: A carrier using the Celerica 500 system would install a remote antenna and a multi-access network device at a site where coverage problems exist, such as a shopping mall or convention center. Then, using bi-directional wireless optical links, the carrier would connect the antenna to an existing cell site. Once that's accomplished, the wireless links would encode the relevant radio frequency signals from the antenna and transfer them to standard BTS, or base transceiver station, equipment at the existing site. The goal is to siphon unused capacity from the existing site and use it to service subscribers at the new site.

“These are very cost-effective and flexible deployments because they leverage the existing backhaul and base station,” Cizin said. “The only requirement is line of sight between the antenna and the existing base station.”

Celerica's solution makes it possible for carriers to deploy new urban cell sites in a matter of hours, a vast improvement from the days or weeks that many site builds require. “It takes less than a day to install the equipment, which consists of basically two boxes, including the antenna,” said Ed Rerisi, telecom analyst with Allied Business Intelligence.

Israeli carrier Cellcom is doing a beta trial of the Celerica 500, providing service to a shopping center by using the system to connect a Nortel TDMA base station located 1000 feet away to a distributed antenna deployed in the center.

Cellcom had hoped to provide additional capacity by adding repeaters to the existing cell site. “They proved inadequate because people outside the mall were tapping in,” Cizin said.

The Celerica 500 system lets Cellcom consolidate all BTS and backhaul equipment at the existing base station, saving on both capital and operating expenses. And because the system has a relatively small footprint, Cellcom can mount the antenna and the multi-access device on the wall or ceiling, which allows the carrier to negotiate more favorable room-lease rates.

U.S. carriers should take note, said Charles Golvin, senior telecom analyst for Forrester Research. “Lessening the property demands of siting an antenna means the carrier will have higher probability of putting the antenna where it's needed,” he said.

Celerica's solution is similar to free-space optics, a technology that can be challenged by weather conditions such as fog and heavy precipitation. However, unlike free-space optics, carriers using the Celerica 500 could opt to connect the antenna to the base station using fiber optic cable. Though the deployment costs associated with fiber are pricey, it beats not being able to deploy at all, said David Chamberlain, senior wireless analyst for Probe Research.

“It depends on how badly you need to do it and how far you need to go,” Chamberlain said. “But Celerica's solution allows you to extend into places that can be somewhat difficult to deploy.”

While the early returns on its technology seem favorable, Celerica could have some problems finding takers. Forrester's Golvin predicted Celerica would encounter problems with equipment vendors such as Ericsson and Nokia, which won't look kindly on a technology that would lessen the need for the base station equipment they sell. He suggested that Celerica extend an olive branch to such formidable competitors while it still has the chance.

One potential approach: build indirect sales opportunities by convincing Ericsson, Nokia and other base station vendors to focus on providing better service to their customers rather than on their own sales volumes.

“If they could convince any of these vendors that the operator customers are developing more power, Celerica may actually be able to convince an OEM to take on a technology that might allow them to increase their market share by offering a better solution to their operator customers,” Golvin said.

The notion may not be all that far-fetched. As the Verizon advertising spots demonstrate, carriers are more aware than ever of the importance of service quality. It stands to reason, then, that they would be intrigued by any technology that would give them a competitive edge.

Cizin thinks they will be, for a more practical reason: “In an era when data rates are rising,” he said, “the need for more capacity will only accelerate.”