Communications equipment vendor Andrew has found an innovative way of blending and fitting its products into the urban environment.
The company's ION-M optical distribution systems can be hidden on or inside lamp poles and rubbish bins to extend coverage and relieve congestion in urban areas.
These RF remote units can transmit signals to base stations located as far as 30 km away.
Ben Cardwell, Andrew's VP sales and marketing for Asia Pacific, says they are useful in areas when regulations and aesthetics prevent the setting up of 'ugly big telco cabinets,' or when operators need capacity and/or coverage and cannot find a physical place to locate a base station.
The rubbish bins were actually used five years ago during the America's Cup in Auckland, New Zealand, said Cardwell, where council zoning restrictions prohibit sitting large telco cabinets on the street or antennas on poles or buildings. 'The idea came completely from the customer, not us,' Cardwell says.
He pointed out the remote units offer substantial operating expense savings as there are no transmission costs. The units take capacity from the nearest base station and consume less power.
Andrew's ION-M systems can also work with more than one operator and support different networks from GSM to CDMA and UMTS.