4G networks differ from 2G and 3G networks in many ways, presenting a new age dilemma for companies looking to migrate their networks.

TMC CEO Rich Tehrani (News - Alert) recently interviewed Amir Makleff, president and CEO of BridgeWave (News - Alert) during an event in San Jose, Calif.  BridgeWave provides high performance wireless gigabit solutions for cellular 4G network operators, enterprise, government, healthcare and education networks.

“We focus on high capacity backhaul for mobile operators as well as enterprises. Our specialty is in the very high frequencies. We try to solve 4G problems; when people are trying to migrate their networks to 4G, they are looking for solutions that are future proof. That is where we come in,” explained Makleff.

BridgeWave’s carrier-grade, point-to-point wireless FlexPort links provide a future-proof mobile backhaul solution for carriers and mobile operators looking to support 4G/LTE/WiMAX (News - Alert) adoption. PicoHaul links provide the same carrier-grade high-capacity, small-cell backhaul for dense cell deployments.

“What we are seeing now is this 80-bit phenomenon to provide backhaul for 4G,” added Makleff. “A lot of it is with very large carriers and very large partners.”

Makleff also told Tehrani he is seeing another trend, focused on the migration to small cells.

“It’s become very well understood now by the carriers that in order to do 4G you must have a very high density of cells, and the only way to do the high density is to use small cells. That is the new age,” Makleff said.

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company’s 60 GHz and 80 GHz links offer up to 10 times the bandwidth of comparably-priced lower-frequency license-free and licensed-band wireless links, while providing interference immunity and data security.

“We have been advocating the use of 60GHz as a unique technology to solve the small cell backhaul problem. We are getting a very good response from those folks that have actually researched the different options,” Makleff said. “We think this is the next big thing: the migration to small cells and how you tackle it from a backhaul problem.”

In terms of the overall market from a competitive standpoint, Tehrani pointed out some companies in Asia, Canada and Israel provide similar services, but Makleff said BridgeWave has a stronghold on the market.

“The reality is, in the particular space we are in, with 60 and 80GHz, we own 80 percent marketshare. There are small guys that are nibbling at our heels a little bit. We are kind of the big gorilla in a small space that is growing very fast. There are bigger guys that are now sort of making some moves to step into this arena, but none have actually done it yet.”