Nokia Siemens Networks Beefs Up Flexi RAN Family

| Feb 3, 2011 | Mobile Access Infrastructure | Analyst: Daryl Schoolar

Click here

Event Summary

February 3, 2011 -- Nokia Siemens Networks announced two new base stations, along with the trialing of its multi-standard base station controller: Multicontroller. Both base stations support GSM, 3G, LTE, and LTE-Advanced. The Flexi Multiradio 10 promises 10 Gbps of capacity. The Flexi Lite is a small, all-in-one base station. NSN reports that the Flexi 10 will be commercially available in 2011, with Flexi Lite’s commercial availability coming in H1 2012.

Quick Take

Analytical Summary

• Current Perspective: Positive on Nokia Siemens Networks’ new base stations supporting LTE-Advanced in addition to GSM/3G/LTE, along with multi-standard support on its Multicontroller, because the Flexi Multiradio promises 10 Gbps of capacity along with support for LTE-Advanced. The Flexi Lite fills in the vendor’s base station portfolio with a small all-in-one solution. The Multicontroller trials show the vendor is progressing on its plans to add GSM support to its RNC. Unfortunately, the vendor’s announcement left some questions unanswered. What does the 10 Gbps capacity exactly mean: backhaul, radio access? Will the Multicontroller see a capacity increase as well? Does the Flexi Lite have multi-standard support? Moreover, the focus on Single RAN versus Flexi Multiradio in the announcement could cause some confusionn.

• Vendor Importance: High to Nokia Siemens Networks, as LTE-Advanced is the next evolution of the current LTE standard, and communicating support plans for LTE-Advanced is important in winning LTE opportunities. Mobile operators want to know a vendor’s plans for supporting their networks. The Flexi Lite, likewise, fills in an area where NSN has lagged: a purpose-built, low-capacity base station. However, a 2012 trial puts the company behind competitors such as NEC which promise commercial availability of a similar solution in 2011. Still, progress with GSM support on the Multicontroller, while long communicated by the vendor, is good to see if for nothing else than showing NSN’s R&D remains on track.

• Market Impact: High on the mobile infrastructure market, as NSN’s Flexi Lite will put pressure on its major competitors to better communicate their own plans for compact all-in-one solutions. While NSN is not the first vendor to support this type of base station form factor (both Kyocera and NEC made announcements in this area at 2010 MWC, while Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson have both discussed the importance of these solutions), NSN’s announcement will certainly increase the focus on the growing interest in small solutions. Support of LTE-Advanced cannot be overlooked either, as all major LTE infrastructure vendors need to start communicating their own strategies for supporting the technology

CLIENTS ONLY

Current Perspective

| Client access - Full report in Mobile Access Infrastructure | More information

Top

Top