Disappearing mobile masts and towers -- lightRadio

NEW DELHI, INDIA: The looming global gridlock in mobile communications promises to be averted following the launch today of pioneering technology which will remove the bottlenecks constraining mobile networks and help deliver universal broadband coverage.

Alcatel-Lucent, the leading network technology group, has joined forces with industry partners to develop lightRadio, a new system that signals the end of the mobile industry’s reliance on masts and base stations around the world.

Ben Verwaayen, CEO of Alcatel-Lucent, said: “Today’s and tomorrow’s demands for coverage and capacity require a breakthrough in mobile communications. lightRadio will signal the end of the basestation and the cell tower as we know it today.”

Governments and regulatory bodies are expected to welcome the technical development, which will help meet targets for universal broadband access by laying the foundation to address the so-called “digital divide.”

Other major benefits from lightRadio include:

* Shrinking the carbon footprint of mobile networks by over 50 percent.
* Reducing the Total-Cost-of-Ownership of mobile operators by up to 50 percent.
* Improving end user services by significantly increasing bandwidth per user thanks to the deployment of small antennas everywhere.

Wim Sweldens, President of Alcatel-Lucent’s Wireless Division said, “lightRadio will help mobile operators evolve their networks to address the mobile broadband deluge.”

lightRadio represents a new approach where the base station, typically located at the base of each cell site tower, is broken into its components elements and then distributed into both the antenna and throughout a cloud-like network.

lightRadio also shrinks today’s clutter of antennas serving 2G, 3G, and LTE systems into a single powerful, Bell Labs-pioneered antenna that can be mounted on poles, sides of buildings or anywhere else there is power and a broadband connection.

The innovation coincides with growing demand for third-and-fourth generation mobile networks and devices, involving the mass adoption of wireless television services and other forms of broadband content. The total addressable market for the radio technology necessary to serve such networks and devices is expected to exceed €100 billion over the next seven years.