First Use of Smart Antennas for Third-Generation W-CDMA Systems

date: 12th February 2001, source by: Reuters

ArrayComm Inc., a closely held wireless technology firm, and Britain's Marconi Plc said Monday they reached a $300 million deal to co-develop a device that would let 3G wireless carriers provide better service to five times as many customers.

The companies said they will develop more modern base stations that connect wireless signals with landline phone networks, using third-generation wireless technology that promises greater bandwidth and always-on Internet access.

The five-year deal combines British telecommunications equipment firm Marconi's base stations and ArrayComm's IntelliCell smart antenna technology.

San Jose, Calif.-based ArrayComm said IntelliCell-equipped base stations will help lower infrastructure costs because they would need fewer base stations to serve customers. Customers should also receive better service.

ArrayComm said base stations using IntelliCell will transmit wireless signals directly to individual phones in contrast with a traditional base station, which broadcasts signals widely in all directions.

"Because you're transmitting to people and not broadcasting, communications is much more robust, so users will experience much more solid communications, no dropped calls and much higher data rates," Martin Cooper, chairman and chief executive of ArrayComm, told Reuters.

"Anything that can help enable efficiency both cost-wise as well as spectral efficiencies is a good thing. Given what operators need to spend on 3G, this is is going to become critical," said Jane Zweig, vice president of wireless consulting firm Herschel Shosteck Associates.

"For Arraycomm, Marconi validates the technology. For Marconi, this gives them a way to differentiate themselves," she added.

The new base stations will be designed for the UMTS standard, one of the major standards for third-generation cellular communications (3G).

Cooper, the 71-year-old inventor of the cell phone, said he believes the new base stations will only cost about 30 percent more than standard base stations.

top