Nokia Siemens Networks supports LTE migrations: Infrastructure supplier touts upgradeable benefits of new base station

With wireless providers looking to enhance their networks during an economic downturn, Nokia Siemens Networks unveiled a base station that it claims can handle the migration from 2G to 3G and onto LTE.
The company said its Flexi Multiradio Base Stations meets the needs of new and existing 2G and 3G operators that can use their existing infrastructure to deploy new network-wide technologies with a simple software upgrade to 3G or LTE.
The base stations can support GSM/EDGE, WCDMA/HSPA and LTE. The product also fits CDMA operators who intend to migrate to WCDMA/HSPA or LTE. The company is touting its base station as cost effective and environmentally friendly.
NSN expects commercial shipments of the base stations to begin next year. The timing coincides with more than 18 wireless providers around the world that have plans to roll out LTE technology. NSN is giving the emerging technology major emphasis.
NSN’s new base station is the third generation of the company’s groundbreaking Flexi Platform, which the company launched in 2005.
The new base station “takes innovation to the next level,” said Dhruv Khanna who oversees NSN’s Radio Access business in North America. “We are integrating three different technologies on the same platform. It is a software-enabled technology.”
Khanna said the base station will cut down on operational costs for wireless providers as the product can be updated through software. The base stations, which are the size of a large suitcase, are also built to withstand temperature extremes and are void of cooling units.
The base stations are also energy efficient. Khanna said the base station consumes about 800 watts, while pushing 60 watts output per sector for maximum capacity and coverage.
“This is a tremendous service for the customer in challenging economic times,” Khanna said.
The new product is being lauded by WWF International, one of the world’s largest environmental organizations. The base station is a step in the right direction in guidelines set by WWF’s Climate Saver program, said Jean-Paul Jeanrenaud, WWF director of corporate responsibility.
“This is a good example of how technological innovation can contribute to improved energy efficiency and profitability, while reducing a company’s ecological footprint,” Jeanrenaud said in a statement.
Since NSN launched in Flexi Platform, the company said it has shipped about 120,000 units.