Welcome to the March edition of the Basestation e-Newsletter. In this edition we go green, we question the merits of both WiMAX and LTE, we tackle the backhaul challenge,

flirt with femtocells and get down to the basics of time. I am very grateful to all the authors for finding the time to contribute on such a broad range of topical articles.

Barcelona this year seemed to be pretty GREEN, or at least this was the impression we were meant to go away with. At the forthcoming Next Generation Networks and Basestations Conference in Bath in April, we have put some of the more tangible green initiatives on the programme. Equally, options for in-building coverage which were hotly debated in Barceolona are covered in a session on femtocells and their alternatives. Of course their is a strong line up of LTE, TD-SCDMA and WiMAX presentations in the Bath programme covering the key issues and debating the business merits, with time left over to look at the implications of spectrum refarming and new spectrum allocations on the industry. I hope you can make it for Spring in Bath, UK, 22-25 April.

Diminishing broadband opportunities, and the deployment of femtocells and broadcasting networks, weaken the case for early implementation of LTE, and operators may need to find alternative business models to justify it. more>>  

Mobile WiMAX has a good opportunity to become established as a long-term broadband technology, but faces some stiff market challenges if it is to fulfil its potential. more>>  

There is so much focus on the emerging 4G-style technologies, WiMAX and LTE, that it is easy to forget that most advanced carriers are more concerned, in 2008-9, with deploying HSPA, to improve the data services and efficiency of their UMTS networks. more>>  

In a period when operators are paring back capacity investments (after reaching sufficient coverage or negotiating network sharing deals), it seems odd that vendors are pursuing two new systems: WiMax and LTE. more>>  

Comprehensive on-site testing of UMTS basestations using real-world scenarios, both at initial installation and then during ongoing maintenance, plays a vital role in preventing and solving performance problems before they impact subscribers.  more>>  

This article examines a cost-performance comparison between Ethernet wireless metro backhaul and its SONET counterpart. The primary focus of the analysis is the capital costs associated with these metro backhaul networking options. more>>  

Base station power amplifiers (PAs) – the devices that drive wireless signals outward from a base station – can account for as much as 30 percent of a base station’s cost.   more>>  

Decoupling cost and capacity has become the major theme in the backhaul industry, driving the shift towards all-IP networks. This paper describes some of the common myths - and basic facts - regarding mobile backhaul networks migration to IP.  more>>  

The three C’s of wireless – coverage, churn, and capacity – are stifling 3G adoption. 3G suffers from inadequate indoor signal penetration, leading to poor coverage in the indoor environment where consumers spend two-thirds of their time.   more>>  

For years, the idea of Broadband-Mobile Convergence (BMC) has offered the promise of an entirely new way of communicating by bridging the gap between fixed line networks inside the home and broader macro-cellular networks that empower today’s mobile phones.   more>>