Mobile Unified Communications Featured Article

The explosive growth of mobile video and data services has created a huge dilemma, as mobile operators look to provide both video and data to an expanding base of subscribers while simultaneously reducing the cost of transporting this increased traffic load. Overture Networks (News - Alert), a developer and manufacturer of high-speed Carrier Ethernet edge and aggregation solutions, is deploying two of its solutions to Iceland’s trunk and access networks operator Mila to help meet the rapidly rising mobile bandwidth demand.

The solutions – Overture 1400 and 4800 – are helping to meet the challenge telecom operators face. The Overture 1400 is a modular Gigabit Carrier Ethernet platform supporting 3G and 4G data services to single or multiple carriers at the cell tower. The Overture 4800 is a versatile Carrier Ethernet edge platform enabling 10GigE in numerous mobile backhaul network architectures, including core, collector, and cell tower access.

"At Mila, we are committed to being among the most progressive telecommunication providers in the world. In this application, our mobile operator customers have very stringent requirements. Our goal was to exceed those requirements and to create a new network that gives our customers many years of reliable service that will grow with them as their requirements evolve," said Halldor Guthmundsson, director of network development at Mila. "Based on many years of success with Overture's Ethernet over Copper products we chose Overture's 10GigE and 1GigE mobile backhaul solution to help us develop a state of the art layer 2 optical network that will give us a competitive advantage for many years."

Mila’s core activities are building up and operating the most modern telecommunications network possible in Iceland. In addition to Ethernet, it also offers collocation, cross paths, television and radio transport, distributed paths and leased lines products.

"It's clear that there is no stopping the runaway growth in mobile-driven bandwidth demand, thanks to ubiquitous adoption of mobile phones, laptops, tablets, and gaming consoles. We're seeing telecom operators worldwide adapting their networks to handle the continuing influx of demand for wireless connectivity," said Vijay Raman, vice president of product management and marketing, Overture. "Mila is among the vanguard of operators making the bold moves needed to future-proof their networks with efficient 10GigE mobile backhaul, and we're very proud to be working with such a forward-looking communications leader."

Overture helps service providers and network operators with solutions that deliver Ethernet and DS1/E1 circuits to the mobile base station and aggregates traffic in the central office or mobile switching center using optical Ethernet, the existing copper wiring or the original TDM infrastructure.

Its solutions for the mobile backhaul application include native optical Ethernet edge solutions with wirespeed performance, fine-grain service management and marketing leading Ethernet OAM, and Ethernet over bonded copper edge solutions that leverage the huge installed base of copper worldwide to provide the scalability, performance, distance and multiservice transport efficiency required to meet exacting operator requirements in a number of mobile backhaul scenarios worldwide.