http://www.thebackhaulblog.com/ en Copyright 2011 The Backhaul Blog, Cambridge Broadband Networks, and all respective authors Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:50:36 +0000 September’s Infocast focused on the mobile banking business in Africa. The article highlighted the benefits of a connected community and how establishing internet services in the developing world will have a dramatic effect for businesses, education and healthcare. Since the last edition, there has been extensive publicity about sub-marine fibre, as Seacom have broken new ground in providing fibre from under the sea to towns and cities across East Africa. http://www.thebackhaulblog.com//000030.html http://www.thebackhaulblog.com//000030.html Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:50:36 +0000 Mobile Entertainment is just one publication that has been discussing the issues around bandwidth, using the new Spotify app for iPhone as an example of a high-bandwidth app, which could harm voice calls. So, how will today’s backhaul solutions stack-up? http://www.thebackhaulblog.com/mobile-broadband/000029.html http://www.thebackhaulblog.com/mobile-broadband/000029.html Tue, 08 Sep 2009 09:57:05 +0000 BBC covered the hot topic of the success of mobile banking in Africa. It’s not surprising that mobile banking are today’s industry buzzwords, given the growth in handsets in Kenya alone has rocketed to 15 million from 15,000 in just 10 years. ]]> http://www.thebackhaulblog.com/mobile-broadband/000028.html http://www.thebackhaulblog.com/mobile-broadband/000028.html Mon, 17 Aug 2009 09:30:27 +0000 Are tactical backhaul decisions giving mobile operators more time to make strategic backhaul decisions? Since the last edition of Infocast, the Digital Britain report has saturated the British media. Out with file-sharing and analogue radios and in with the 50p tax on copper lines. One issue that has been the source of much discussion is how much bandwidth is actually available and how it can be distributed. http://www.thebackhaulblog.com/mobile-broadband/000027.html http://www.thebackhaulblog.com/mobile-broadband/000027.html Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:43:39 +0000 www.pyr.com) it has been suggested that Malaysia’s Mobile Broadband demand is growing faster than expected. (Download excerpt here) Having lived in Malaysia for 3 years now, and also being an early adopter of HSPA for mobile broadband, I have personally seen major demand for mobile and home wireless broadband, driven partly by consumers looking for an alternative to Telekom Malaysia, who are the incumbent and have a near monopoly share of last mile fixed broadband connections. With the four 3G operators (Maxis, Celcom, DiGi, and U-Mobile) aggressively competing with each other for business, consumers are enjoying a variety of mobile and home wireless broadband packages at very reasonable prices. ]]> http://www.thebackhaulblog.com/pointtomultipoint/000026.html http://www.thebackhaulblog.com/pointtomultipoint/000026.html Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:02:14 +0000 in the press we were presented with the prestigious ’Business Innovation’ award at the annual GTB (Global Telecoms Business) Innovation Awards 2009 in conjunction with leading pan-African service provider, Gateway Communications. ]]> http://www.thebackhaulblog.com/news-from-cbnl/000025.html http://www.thebackhaulblog.com/news-from-cbnl/000025.html Tue, 23 Jun 2009 09:01:18 +0000 There is a topic that I have been discussing often with colleagues and vendors, but none of the views that I have heard have caused me to form a firm opinion yet. I understand perfectly the advantages of using pseudo wires (PWE3) within the IP/MPLS backhaul network. Pseudo wires can be differentiated by QoS and used to backhaul the mobile traffic (voice, data, and signalling) generated at the NobeB and RNC. Besides that, it is possible to carry legacy mobile services through the same infrastructure, in a very simple and effective way. But, what I’m not sure is if using PWE3 in a completely new backhaul network, without legacy traffic, is the best solution. Some vendors says that yes, PWE3 is the best and simplest way to backhaul even 3G packets. But I am afraid they think this way only because they are used to evolve networks from GSM to UMTS (or CDMAto CDMA2000). I wonder if using L3VPN or L2VPN (H-VPLS), or another method that I don’t know, wouldn’t be better, but it is very hard to get a conclusion, even because all the networks that I have seen migrated from 2G to 3G, and had to adapt the legacy network to transport 3G and legacy traffic. http://www.thebackhaulblog.com/mobile-broadband/000024.html http://www.thebackhaulblog.com/mobile-broadband/000024.html Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:28:04 +0000 Read the press release Since its launch, we have been meeting a high customer demand for VectaStar Next Generation. It has become apparent that, even against the backdrop economic uncertainties, our customers have been confidently moving forward with their network developments. One key driver of the uptake of VectaStar Next Generation is the industry’s focus on LTE. ]]> http://www.thebackhaulblog.com/mobile-broadband/000021.html http://www.thebackhaulblog.com/mobile-broadband/000021.html Thu, 28 May 2009 16:23:30 +0000 It seems that everyone is feeling the pinch at the moment. As the nation continues to tighten its belt, it is often the charities and the NGOs that are taking the biggest hit. That’s the reason that CBNL has decided to down tools for 2 days in May and pick up new ones: paintbrushes and shovels! As we get involved in a garden make-over project at the children’s garden at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge. http://www.thebackhaulblog.com/news-from-cbnl/000020.html http://www.thebackhaulblog.com/news-from-cbnl/000020.html Tue, 31 Mar 2009 10:01:45 +0000 Despite global economic worries, mobile operators are continuing to focus on today’s hot topic; LTE. Verizon announced its plans at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last month, and Vodafone made no less than three technical announcements at the same show. Looking at what these operators are discussing, it’s clear that while the next-gen services they are anticipating are important, it’s the infrastructure ecosystem that is top of mind. The obvious enthusiasm for LTE from the operators at the show this year was perhaps a bit of a surprise for some who may have thought the focus would be about sweating their assets. Verizon is planning on rolling out an LTE network over two cities by the end of the year; Vodafone made three infrastructure announcements, including its plan to include Ethernet microwave as part of its backhaul strategy. Yet despite this operator eagerness to move forward with planning LTE networks, there was very little in terms of innovative new products and solutions from the backhaul vendor community. http://www.thebackhaulblog.com/pointtomultipoint/000019.html http://www.thebackhaulblog.com/pointtomultipoint/000019.html Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:07:31 +0000 press release that Wana is the first to deploy our latest innovation, VectaStar Next Generation. North African operator, Wana has been one of our longest standing backhaul customers since they deployed their first VectaStar network in 2006. Since our partnership with Wana began, its network has quickly developed. Driven by Wana’s ambitious network plans, CBNL has been quick to respond with the latest innovations, consistently raising the bar for microwave PMP technology. ]]> http://www.thebackhaulblog.com/news-from-cbnl/000018.html http://www.thebackhaulblog.com/news-from-cbnl/000018.html Wed, 04 Mar 2009 11:57:40 +0000 We have been working alongside our customers since the introduction of mobile broadband to build dynamic backhaul networks, delivering innovations that have enabled our customers to seize opportunities and turn them into competitive advantages. Today we are proud to be launching the latest innovation from Cambridge Broadband Networks, VectaStar Next Generation. This new product is the highest performance point-to-multipoint (PMP) microwave solution to date. Its PMP architecture means that valuable spectrum resources are used efficiently and dynamically as network traffic builds, thereby improving quality of service and reducing risk. It also reduces the number of microwave radios required to build the network by nearly 50%, meaning lower CAPEX and OPEX, and less complexity and energy consumption. http://www.thebackhaulblog.com/news-from-cbnl/000017.html http://www.thebackhaulblog.com/news-from-cbnl/000017.html Thu, 12 Feb 2009 16:27:03 +0000 The arrival of the recent Unstrung Insider report “Mobile’s Green Challenge” got me thinking about what the microwave backhaul community can do about reducing the amount of electrical power it takes to run a backhaul network. We like to think that we are pretty good at pointing out the benefits of microwave point-to-multipoint architecture here at Cambridge Broadband Networks, but it became clear reading the Unstrung report that the benefits of using PMP to reduce power consumption are considerable as well! The way I see it, PMP and especially the way we implement it in VectaStar, is capable of making significant impact into reducing the power consumed in the backhaul network. http://www.thebackhaulblog.com/energy-efficiency/000016.html http://www.thebackhaulblog.com/energy-efficiency/000016.html Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:30:09 +0000 African operators are arguably better prepared for 4G than many of their counterparts in developed markets. Crucial to this is the fact that they are solving the key issue of backhauling the high volumes of data associated with technologies such as HSPA, WiMAX and LTE – and doing so cost effectively. Whilst most operators in ‘the west’ have entered into arrangements with fixed line providers to supply fibre connectivity to cell sites, it has come at a hefty cost (around $40,000 annually per 34mbps site). In these circumstances operators are faced with significant operating expenditure that is largely beyond their control. It is a situation that limits the extent to which operators can make data ‘pay’. http://www.thebackhaulblog.com/mobile-broadband/000015.html http://www.thebackhaulblog.com/mobile-broadband/000015.html Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:28:10 +0000 sales@cbnl.com or telephone +44 1223 703000 to find out more. ]]> http://www.thebackhaulblog.com/news-from-cbnl/000013.html http://www.thebackhaulblog.com/news-from-cbnl/000013.html Thu, 06 Nov 2008 12:06:11 +0000