Nokia Siemens is making a play for rural mobile broadband deployments with a satellite-based backhaul set-up for 3G networks.
The vendor has teamed with satellite router manufacturer iDirect to develop a system linking remote base stations to the core network via satellite, which it claims can deliver downlink speeds of 10Mbps per user by eliminating intermediate nodes used in regular mobile networks.
iDirect chief marketing officer Toni Lee Rudnicki says the set-up delivered “peak data rates for satellite backhaul up to ten times higher than those achieved with other commercially available approaches to 3G,” during joint tests with NSN.
Keith Sutton, NSN’s WCDMA head, says the product is a boost for operators looking to deliver services to areas where low population makes deploying a traditional wireless network uneconomical. He predicts the solution will enable services including e-health and remote learning, in addition to regular voice services.