Ericsson’s Big Plans for Microwave Technology

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Ericsson has big plans for future cell sites and microwave solutions.  By the year 2020, they want 65% of cell sites to be connected by microwave.  The only exceptions will be existing fiber investments in markets like China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. 

Currently, microwave backhaul technology can handle all the needs of radio access sites.  According to plans, this will continue in the future, but will also be expanded upon.  Also by 2020, Ericsson expects microwave technology to develop enough to support multi-Gb capacities in common frequency bands.  There are many benefits to working towards this capacity.  Karolina Wikander, head of Microwave at Ericsson, says, “Microwave networks are an important ingredient for telecom network operators to provide quality experience in the most cost-efficient way, and will continue to be the dominant backhaul technology in the future” (Telecom Lead).

Experts at Ericsson claim E band (70/80 GHz) spectrum will be crucial in providing for escalations in fronthaul and backhaul capacity.  This spectrum is expected to grow exponentially in use in the next five years, and make up 20% of new deployments in 2020, while traditional frequencies will still make up the bulk of new deployments.  Overall, telecommunications can achieve a vast increase in capacity once they increase their reliance on E band spectrum.

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