Companies Keep 3G in Their Sites

Stepping up to the challenges of 3G technology is becoming one of the most important tests for wireless sites.

The ability of companies to show that they are ready to embrace developing technology has become a crucial selling point. This is especially true for sites. If a company doesn't have a strong enough backbone, it can't expect to compete in a 3G world. Antennas and power supplies must be able to keep up with increased use and an influx of data. Companies without upgraded sites will be left behind.

I think the trend is moving toward the need for antennas that can handle greater capacity and faster data rates, higher throughput, especially with 3G, with integrating these new applications that are such bandwidth hogs, said Michael Hallman, Paratek Microwave (visit #2271 or www.paratek.com) director of marketing communications. It requires a great deal of throughput. Otherwise, with hand-held devices for 3G, you're going to wind up with what's equivalent to old 14.4k and 28.8k modem speeds, and no one's going to sit around and wait for that.

Paratek has introduced a family of electronically scanning antennas that the company said addresses many 3G challenges. The Dynamically Reconfigurable Wireless Networks, or DRWiN, antennas are able to adapt to broadband dynamic needs, which helps them tackle 3G technology today.

Paratek and others are working to take on 3G challenges now because they know if they don't, they might lose business down the road.

Hallman said that if carriers didn't keep up with new technologies, they would begin to lose the support of their subscribers because the expected level of service quality wouldn't be there. That, in turn, would affect the equipment manufacturers because sales would fall if there weren't a business case for the carriers, Hallman said.

Power-supply companies face similar issues when it comes to facing up to 3G technology.

Samuel Norman, Delta Telecom Power (visit #4044 or www.delta.com.tw) sales manager, said power companies must be able to keep up with carriers who have an increasing number of subscribers.

Power cabinets used to be about the size of a small refrigerator and could only handle one frequency. It didn't take long before the same size cabinet could handle multiple carriers. Now, the industry is moving toward even smaller pole-mounted boxes that still can work with many carriers.

What we're seeing definitely is a trend to being smaller, packing more power into higher density, he said. You can see if they're putting more carriers in, that means more radio equipment to handle calls. They're looking for more power, and therefore shrinking power down to fit in a box is an advantage.

Delta addresses the idea that size matters with its Millennium Class System 3000 power series. Its new inverter has high-density power packed into a small amount of cubic inches, which Norman said helps address 3G concerns.

Power companies also face the transition from 24V to 48V if they are going to be prepared for 3G. Companies are working to ease that transition by making it simple to swap 24V frames for 48V frames, Norman said.

The footprint usage in your cell site's not going to change, he said.

Norman said one of the more exciting things about the industry was how wireless communication was evolving.

I was in Tokyo a couple of weeks back and noticed in the airport that just about everybody had the telephone, he said. I noticed that the younger sect was using the telephone to play games. I watched these two girls there in the airport playing back and forth for at least half an hour killing time. So I'm thinking, OK, great, so you've got a cell phone, but it's actually a game communicator, he said.

He said these new wireless innovations would just cement the need for power supplies.

When you put this equipment out, somewhere along the line you're going to have to plug it in to power it, he said.

Wireless 2001 will allow companies to show they have technology that is ready for 3G. Hallman said he expects people to look for 3G compatibility when they attend the conference.

They are looking for a new level of maturity in 3G. There's been a bit of bad press about 3G and its impending roll-out and also the consumers being there if and when it's ready. So I think they're looking for a signal or a flag that it's for real, he said.

Norman said the conference would allow people to look at a variety of options and weigh what they need. People should be thinking about what different companies can offer.

The traditional large plant that just gives them the power that they are accustomed to, yeah, that's there, but what else can it do? he said.

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