Adtran (NASDAQ: ADTN) has announced the general availability of its Adtran MetNet 60GHz high-powered version 2 (HPv2) CPE. The company says its second-generation CPE "greatly improves the economics and time-to-market for extending gigabit symmetric services beyond the reach of the existing fiber network, whether it is a residential broadband, enterprise, backhaul or smart city use-case."
Service providers and enterprise customers can now expand gigabit service range and reach via license-free fixed wireless networks with the Adtran MetNet 60GHz HPv2 CPE. Developed using technology built by Cambridge Communication Systems (CCS), the new CPE uses a 90-degree phased array antenna that can now extend gigabit symmetric services out to 500 meters beyond the mesh nodes.
This capability provides twice the reach over legacy gigabit mesh solutions currently in the market, contends Adtran. The expanded reach translates to 50-70% fewer mesh nodes needed to provide gigabit coverage, adds the company, which eliminates much of the capital and operational costs, as well as integration time required to push fixed wireless networks deeper into new residential markets and easily expand business services.
“To fully address and bridge the digital divide, the market needs solutions that are not gated by the underlying physical infrastructure,” asserts Ron Westfall, a senior analyst with Futurum Research cited by Adtran. “We are seeing the tipping point of fixed wireless services becoming an invaluable complement to fiber and fiber extension networks in terms of reaching any potential residential or business customer with gigabit capable services, no matter where they are located.”
Adtran says its MetNet 60GHz platform, inclusive of both CPE and mesh nodes, delivers on the promise of a robust, self-optimizing millimeter wave (mmWave) gigabit fixed wireless network. The platform is designed to reach residential, campus, smart city and business customers, as well as support backhaul/midhaul small cell densification initiatives.
The next-generation CPE is designed to significantly reduce the cost per subscriber connected, offering a small form factor while retaining maximum link performance. The system's mesh nodes automatically form multi-gigabit backhaul links to neighboring nodes, which enables multi-gigabit drop capability at the mesh node or to aggregate the subtending gigabit CPE.
Additionally, mesh and CPE radios can be easily added without RF engineering to further simplify network scalability. Multiple mesh nodes can be connected into the core network at different 1GE or 10GE fiber point of presence locations to offer additional network capacity and improved resiliency.
Michael Kletchko, head of market development for Fixed Wireless Access Solutions at Adtran, concludes, “The Adtran MetNet 60GHz solution is an innovative, self-configuring, self-optimizing and self-healing solution that makes it simple to deploy as well as maintain. This affords new broadband service entrants with lean operations and provides those with limited wireless expertise the ability to rapidly and cost-effectively deploy an ultra-low latency, gigabit-capable access network. As operators look to build their best broadband network, Adtran is helping to eliminate the digital divide by making gigabit services available over any infrastructure.”
Learn more at https://www.adtran.com/.