Thai provider AIS aims to reach 3,000 small cells by end of 2015 with Alcatel-Lucent deal
French telecommunications infrastructure provider Alcatel-Lucent is currently working with Thailand’s largest mobile telephony operator, Advanced Indo Service, to improve cell service through the deployment of small cells technology.
AIS is the first mobile service provider in Thailand to deploy small cells. Alcatel-Lucent said that the deployment of small cells for the Thai operator began in September 2014.
A total of 500 small cells have already been installed, with plans to reach 3,000 this year. Under the terms of the agreement, the French company is providing its 9764 Metro Cell Outdoor, together with integration and technical support. Alcatel-Lucent will also deploy its 5620 Service Aware Manager.
Small cells are used by mobile operators to deliver services in areas where existing coverage is insufficient or challenged due to interference from buildings, geography or distance from a mobile tower.
AIS’ 3G coverage currently reaches 97% of the country’s population. The telco is using small cells to strengthen its network infrastructure.
“To enable various business models, AIS uses Alcatel-Lucent’s entire LightRadio portfolio ranging from home cells, enterprise cells as well as outdoor cells. Alcatel-Lucent small cells are now deployed in Bangkok as well as in the rest of Thailand, connected to any Ethernet or fiber access points,” Alcatel-Lucent Thailand managing director Sebastien Laurent said.
Earlier this month, Alcatel-Lucent said that it will deploy a 100G optical transport network in Thailand to help AIS meet the increasing demand for data capacity.
Under the agreement, Alcatel-Lucent is providing its 1830 PSS platform. This will allow AIS to evolve its transport network capacity from 10G to 100G, and in the future 200G, without additional investment in hardware. Alcatel-Lucent is upgrading the network from Bangkok and in the north and northeast areas of the country.
AIS is currently offering 3G services through spectrum in the 2100 MHz band. By the end of the first quarter of 2015, AIS had over 41.9 million mobile subscribers. The company aims to participate in a spectrum auction scheduled for later this year to obtain “4G” licenses in both 800 MHz and 1800 MHz bands. Rival operators DTAC and True Mobile are already offering 4G services through the 2100 MHz band.
