A broad spectrum of issues
As we hear too often now, mobile networks will have to work hard if they are to cope with the exponential increase in traffic created by a huge rise in smartphone and tablet PC users.
And this trend is only set to continue as attention turns to the lack of spectrum available that is needed in order to build the networks to cope with this increased pressure.
As CNet News warns:
"if more wireless spectrum is not made available soon, the mobile industry will not have enough capacity to keep up with demand from customers, and growth will grind to a halt."
Quite a sobering thought.
As a result CBNL have recently commissioned the Innovation Observatory to consider in some detail, the effect that this trend will have on the availability of spectrum, in European cities specifically, and what operators might need to do about it to keep their networks running.
It can be said that there has been, and will continue to be, significant investment in mobile networks all across Europe as mobile operators consider how they need to prepare for the introduction of services based on LTE (Long Term Evolution). Backhaul networks must be designed in a way that is cost-effective, while also making use of technology advances in both fixed and microwave transmission.
Legacy infrastructure bears the signs of the most popular way for operators to build backhaul networks, but it cannot cope with the increased capacity needed to carry the volumes of traffic now being generated.
But if microwave is to retain its position as the dominant backhaul technology, how will this issue of depleting spectrum be addressed?
Download a copy of the "Spectrum and technology issues for microwave backhaul in Europe" report.