Remote Possibilities

Everything is better by remote control: TV, garage doors, national missile defense, etc. So although Nortel Networks' new Remote Electrical Tilt Automatic (RETA) antennas for cell sites debuted in May in French UMTS mobile networks, it's no surprise the vendor is already attracting interest from Americans, for whom remote control is a way of life.

It works like this: After carriers set up new cell sites, they have to adjust the tilt angle of the antennas — tilting antennas downward during densification gives them each greater capacity, but the process can cost about $1000 on average, Nortel said. As subscriber bases grow and networks become denser, carriers can end up needing to adjust the tilt again so that new sites don't interfere with old ones. According to Nortel, 60% of site antennas will need re-tilting at least once to optimize capacity, and 50% will need another adjustment during densification.

To make things easier, Nortel introduced a system that allows carriers to adjust antenna tilt from an operations maintenance center. A small motor (about the size of a candy bar) at the base of the antenna controls the tilt. Once it's connected to the nearest node, the system is integrated directly into the network, allowing operators to adjust multiple antennas remotely.

“You only need one cable from node B to the first antenna. Then you can just daisy-chain around the other antennas,” said Tom George, UMTS Solutions Marketing officer for Nortel.

The current system is geared only for UMTS networks, which are generally endemic to Europe. But George has no doubt American operators will eventually get the benefits of remote control. Throw in a La-Z-Boy recliner, and you're really speaking our language.