Alcatel-Lucent and China Mobile have unveiled an innovative new member of the lightRadio™ family that will help accelerate deployment of 4G TD-LTE technology across China, the largest mobile market in the world, as it continues to meet fast rising customer demand for mobile video and data.
lightRadio Metro Radio – co-developed by Alcatel-Lucent and China Mobile – is available now for large-scale commercial deployment in China Mobile’s first trial TD-LTE network, which spans 13 cities in China. It will bring high-performance 4G services to residents in densely populated areas of Shanghai, Nanjing and Qingdao.
Small cells are critical to the future of wireless broadband by enabling operators to continue to provide high-quality, consistent services to customers without the need to build costly, and sometimes logistically challenging, cell towers. In China, lightRadio Metro Radio will be deployed in busy indoor and outdoor locations, such as shopping malls and stadiums.
Alcatel-Lucent and China Mobile signed a co-creation agreement in January 2012 to conduct joint development and test activities on a series of lightRadio TD-LTE projects. lightRadio Metro Radio houses two lightRadio cubes, fully integrated with directional antennae, allowing it to provide the coverage normally associated with a much bulkier, heavier remote radio unit linked to an external antenna via an RF coaxial cable.
Bill Huang, President of China Mobile Research Institute, said: “China Mobile is committed to delivering the high-speed and performance mobile broadband service that customers are asking for. 4G TD-LTE is undergoing the final large-scale tests before commercial deployment and once completed the active antennae like Alcatel-Lucent’s lightRadio Metro Radio will be key to rolling out this service to meet our customers’ needs wherever they are.”
Rajeev Singh-Molares, President of Alcatel-Lucent Asia Pacific Region said: “It is very exciting to think about the transformation these cities are soon to undergo and that Alcatel-Lucent will be at the heart of that transformation. As consumption of mobile data and video escalates in China, our small lightRadio Metro Radios will satisfy demand with the highest performance that China Mobile’s customers’ have come to expect.”