In a few weeks, I am running a webinar with Ceragon.
I received a press release from our friends at Ceragon, that mentioned the following...Ceragon Networks Signs Multi-Million Dollar Contract with mcel. Largest Mobile Operator in Mozambique to Install 1000 km Microwave Backbone Network
PARAMUS, N.J., Nov. 3, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ceragon Networks (Nasdaq: CRNT), the provider of high-capacity, 4G/LTE-ready wireless backhaul networks, announced a multi-million dollar contract with Mobile Cellular (mcel), the largest mobile telephone operator in Mozambique, reaching all 128 districts of the country. …
You can read the rest of it here.
I asked a few questions and here are the answers from Ceragon.
Question 1) Is this a greenfield for the deployment or are you being added to existing towers?
Answer. Most of the network is upgrading existing infrastructure, some is Greenfield. BTW – our radios enable mcel to use less equipment (and towers) because of better system gain (stonger signal, loger distances etc.)
Question 3. What demand expectations are there for the 4G/LTE user base? Is this a consumer prepaid market? What are the drivers for the deployment?
Answer. Currently main mobile app is voice. However, this wireless backbone will also deliver traffic from and to the underwater cable that reaches Maputo enabling broadband at large.
Question 4. How long will the roll out take place and when will LTE be delivered?
Answer. The network should be operational early next year (2011). I don’t know what mcel’s next-gen network plans are
Question 5). Will mcel be totally fiber free in its backhaul, or will it be part of the plan to migrate away from Fiber? Do they have issues with weather and other problems that make fiber a poor choice or is strictly a cost model?
Answer mcel has some fiber plants, but they will not dig 1000km of fiber any time soon. There are no major climatic issues
"Ceragon's microwave systems are practical and economical alternatives to fiber optic lines and are highly reliable point-to-point backbone transmission systems," said Ira Palti, President and CEO of Ceragon. "Our solutions are ideal for fast-growing mobile networks such as mcel's, scaling to meet future needs, and offering high reliability to customers in developing countries."
"Pole Attachments" have different meanings each section of the telecommunications, cable, wireless, and broadband industries. Some consider the topic boring and unimportant. But the FCC does not see it that way and neither do the grant winners of hundreds of millions of dollars for NTIA funding to build fiber optic facilities across rural and urban America. These grant winners have two to three year deadlines for spending the funding and completing the projects. All of the projects are dependent on the pole owners to enter into agreements for the broadband grant providers letting them use the poles, to conduct engineering surveys, to perform make-ready work, and then to allow the fiber on the poles. After the work is completed, annual pole attachment fees will determine if the broadband project can make a profit and become sustainable, another requirement of the Recovery Act and NTIA grant rules.
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