NEC helps operators cut backhaul spectrum lease and power costs with new 2048 QAM solutions

NEC’s 2048 QAM backhaul solution uses spectrum more efficiently to process up to 40% more data and reduces operators’ power usage and costs

London, January 29, 2015 - NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701) today announced the global launch of its iPASOLINK 100A and 200A mobile backhaul and small cell solutions. These new 6-42Ghz frequency additions NEC’s comprehensive converged wireless and optical iPASOLINK family help to reduce mobile operators’ spectrum lease and power costs and enhance their customers’ experience of using a wide range of mobile data services.
The latest products, along with NEC’s previously introduced All Outdoor Radio (AOR) lineup, support high modulation schemes up to 2048 QAM for native Ethernet and TDM transmission enabling them to transport up to 40% more data than previous 256QAM systems. With this massive leap forward in spectral efficiency, mobile network operators can transport more traffic using a single radio unit rather than installing multiple microwave systems and antennae and incurring multiple spectrum and tower lease costs at each site on an annual basis.
   
The iPASOLINK 100A and 200A help mobile network operators boost network capacity to keep pace with ever rising use of mobile data, including consumer video services and enterprise apps used by mobile workers. They can be used to backhaul traffic in various circumstances from small cells to an aggregation point and transport it via the backbone in milliseconds to the operator’s core network. 
The products feature a compact and light Indoor Unit (IDU) making them easy to install. A new fanless “free air” cooling system and highly efficient digital processing and RF technologies reduce power usage and maintenance requirements. Additional energy savings of around 20% have been made in the Outdoor Unit (ODU) with its Adaptive Modulation Radio (AMR) and Automatic Transmit Power Control (ATPC) capabilities.
Steve Walthew, Product Manager in NEC’s Mobile Wireless Solutions Division said, “Spectrum leases represent a significant portion of operators’ total backhaul network costs. More spectrally efficient solutions – like the iPASOLINK 100A and 200A – are crucial to help them scale networks to meet capacity demands while containing their capital and operational costs. In many countries operators are restricted by the amount of available spectrum and making more efficient use of their allocation is paramount to improve the customer’s experience of their network and ability to use new revenue generating mobile data services.”
It’s for these reasons that NEC’s iPASOLNK with 2048QAM high modulation capacity has already been selected by numerous telecom carries around the world and over ten thousand systems are already in the field globally.
NEC was among the first vendors to develop a 2048 QAM product in 2012 and has rapidly commercialized the technology, bringing it across its full product range.
NEC is continuing to aim to provide the most advanced and most comprehensive range of mobile backhaul solutions on the market. NEC’s mobile backhaul solutions will be featured at Mobile World Congress in Hall 3 on stand #3N10 on 2-5 March 2015.
 
For further information about “iPASOLINK”, please visit http://www.nec.com/en/global/prod/nw/pasolink/index.html