Cambridge Broadband Networks says it has won a significant contract from MTN Group to deploy its VectaStar microwave backhaul product in Nigeria. Under the terms of the deal, MTN will use VectaStar to wirelessly backhaul the traffic from its 3G-network initially in six main cities across the West African nation before spreading to cover the entire country.
For the deployment in Nigeria, 40 VectaStar hubs will be installed to backhaul traffic from 454 3G base stations. This is just the first stage of a MTN Nigeria plan to deploy point-to-multipoint microwave backhaul nationwide which makes more efficient use of radio spectrum and infrastructure than other microwave transmission methods such as point-to-point.
Cambridge Broadband Networks is a preferred supplier for backhaul infrastructure for MTN Group and its subsidiaries in Cameroon and Rwanda are already using VectaStar to backhaul traffic from its 2G, WiMAX and 3G networks, as well as providing broadband Internet access services to businesses.
Karl Toriola, Chief Technology Officer at MTN Nigeria explains "VectaStar's contribution to our global drive to minimise costs was key to our decision to endorse the technology at an MTN Group level. Here in Nigeria, those economics hold true for the deployments we have planned in Lagos and other key urban areas in Nigeria. At a time where our network is growing at record levels, VectaStar is extremely fast to deploy. Once a cell site location is chosen, backhaul can be set up at the same time as site installation with no additional spectrum planning or licensing. Plus the VectaStar roadmap gives us the confidence that its performance will grow with our future network traffic needs."
Posted to the site on 25th March 2008
Posted to: www.cellular-news.com/story/30092.php