| Celerica Inc., a wireless infrastructure provider that enables wireless carriers to expand capacity more cost effectively, today announced that its beta trial with Cellcom has resulted in a successful technical trial. Cellcom, the largest Israeli-based cellular company with more than 2.4 million subscribers, started its beta trial of the Celerica 500 System on May 8, 2002.
The Celerica 500 System enables carriers, such as Cellcom, to deploy new cell sites or extend existing coverage areas within hours. The system’s optical wireless technology eliminates the need for expensive real estate and separate backhaul. Transparent to existing networks and not constrained by spectrum or technology factors, the Celerica 500 System provides a measurable cost savings compared to traditional base station installation.
Cellcom has used the Celerica 500 system to extend the coverage area of an existing urban site. In this instance, a new TDMA base station, co-located with an existing GSM base station, were already in place. The Celerica 500 System converted the existing site to a donor site and provided capacity and coverage to a remote site on the roof of a nearby medical institute. The installation functions like a normal cell site that has a coaxial cable connection to the antennas, with identical performance.
Tzvika Shechori, Cellcom’s Vice President of Research and Technology said, “We could have installed a new base station at the remote site, however, that would have been very expensive and taken a considerable amount of time. The Celerica 500 system has extended our coverage in this area without any concerns about compatibility, spectrum, power, electricity or additional real estate costs. It’s the ideal solution to overcome coverage issues in urban areas.”
Miguel Cizin, CEO of Celerica, added, “Cellcom’s experience has demonstrated how Celerica delivers additional capacity without significant CAPEX/OPEX. The Celerica 500 System gives carriers what they need – an alternative means to deploy new cell sites quickly and cost effectively.”
He continued, “It’s particularly interesting to note that although Cellcom’s configuration used TDMA, the Celerica 500 system has no limitations in terms of supporting TDMA, GSM, and CDMA, making it truly a global product offering.”
About Cellcom
With strong local and international backing, Cellcom was established in the mid 1990's as Israel's second wireless operator. Since then, Cellcom has grown into Israel's largest wireless operator with over 2.4 million subscribers and more than 3,500 employees. Cellcom is one of BellSouth's subsidiaries, partly held (34.75%) by BellSouth International.
As part of its aim of maintaining its leadership role in the communications sector by adapting to the changing needs of its customers, Cellcom has made bold moves to transform its business, including the establishment of a new GPRS/GSM network.
About Celerica
Headquartered in Morristown, N.J., with research and development in Israel, Celerica is committed to helping mobile operators address the challenge of adding wireless capacity in urban areas while protecting their existing and future investments. For more information about Celerica, please visit www.celerica.com.
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