Telecom Lead America: 4G LTE solutions provider Airspan Networks has completed small cell LTE trials with Virgin Media Business in three UK cities.

 

These cities include: London, Newcastle and Bristol.

Virgin Media Business used Airspan’s AirSynergy pico eNodeBs (LTE base station), each connected to Airspan’s AirCore, an LTE Evolved Packet Core (EPC) solution.

 

The small-cell LTE architecture enables a carrier to focus coverage and capacity according to customer demand, as well as enabling indoor and outdoor 4G coverage from common infrastructure, which is challenging at frequencies above 1 GHz.

 

“Virgin Media Business has been able to prove the viability of small-cells for 4G metropolitan services. We believe that small cells as a service concept will appeal to mobile operators because a shared hosting environment is more cost effective than each operator building their own small cell infrastructure,” said Kevin Baughan, director of Wireless, Virgin Media Business.

The UK trials operated on test licenses granted by the regulator Ofcom to allow the trials to proceed and prove the viability of small cell deployments.

“AirSynergy provided Virgin Media Business with a very compact and rapidly deployable form factor that delivered great coverage in urban centers. This trial has demonstrated the beneficial role small cells play in ensuring the success of future mobile broadband deployments,” said Paul Trubridge, vice president of Product Management at Airspan.

AirSynergy’s compact design ensures discrete deployments in various locations such as lamp posts, telephone poles and building fronts.

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