DALLAS -- NetAmerica Alliance, LLC and Ericsson have announced a technology partnership to equip 700MHz and AWS wireless spectrum owners in rural markets with the ability to provide "big city" bandwidth capabilities for advanced communication services to non-urban communities.
4G/LTE is recognized by many as the next step in telecommunications. Large carriers are now starting to bring 4G enabled services based on LTE technology to metropolitan markets. Independent carriers have a long heritage of offering leading edge services to their communities and the NetAmerica Alliance's stated goal is to enable them to continue that legacy of innovation.
"This is a new type of LTE deployment," said Arun Bhikshesvaran, Head of Strategy and Market Development, Ericsson North America. "NetAmerica is making it possible for smaller operators to join together to deliver cost effectively the same mobile broadband services available in major metropolitan areas."
He added, "The socioeconomic benefits of broadband services in metropolitan areas are well proven and, with applications designed for rural consumers, one can only imagine the extent to which the people and businesses in these markets will become more empowered and more productive as a result of this opportunity."
NetAmerica joined forces with the rural independent license holders that are deploying the new converged 4G wireless/wireline networks to provide them with business and network services including combined buying power, nationwide branding, 24x7 network monitoring, 4G core networking elements, applications development and other key services needed to build the converged network of the future.
Central to the solutions offered by NetAmerica are the equipment and technology used in the core network and in the local communities served by individual alliance participants. This includes Long Term Evolution (LTE) radio functionality, a state-of-the-art Evolved Packet Core (EPC), an architecture based on IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) technology, and a family of "4G-centric" home and small business gateways.
After an evaluation process, NetAmerica chose Ericsson as their technology partner to provide these critical components.
"Our requirements and those of our participants demanded more than just a vendor relationship," said Roger Hutton, Chairman and CEO of NetAmerica. "We needed a partner who could truly work with us and our alliance participants to not only bring 4G wireless to their communities but to provide true converged services for their wireline business as well. After an extensive evaluation of all the major suppliers, Ericsson proved to be that partner."
More Info: www.netamericaalliance.com
