CloudAIR, an innovation by global information and communications technology (ICT) provider, Huawei, it comes as a boost to carriers that need to improve both coverage and capacity.

With the rapid development of mobile broadband (MBB) services, operators are concerned about heavy network load, poor user experience and traffic suppression.

Operators are looking for more spectrum and ways to improve spectrum efficiency.

However, currently in the African market, allocated licensed spectrum for mobile operators is almost half than in the developed markets.

In addition the deployment of 3G and LTE in the lower band is hindered by GSM occupation.

New band and new site deployment come at a high cost, both in investment and lengthy time to market.

“With Huawei CloudAIR, carriers can improve their 3G/LTE based MBB network, both in terms of coverage and capacity by easily deploying 3G andLTE in lower band which helps their customers not only stay longer on MBB
network but also enjoy a better experience; this results in more data traffic and consequently more revenue for carriers,” said David Chen, Director of Marketing & Solution Sales of Huawei Southern Africa.

Huawei CloudAIR allows different radio access technologies (RAT) to share spectrum resources dynamically instead of using traditional refarming.

This works via an on-demand spectrum allocation method which replaces dedicated spectrum allocation, enabling the operator’s spectrum to serve as GSM, UMTS and LTE simultaneously.

“We see Huawei CloudAIR as a quick win solution for African carriers facing a lack of spectrum countered by the need to provide better customer experience while maximizing their network investment return,” concluded Chen.

CloudAIR won two awards at the Mobile World Congress earlier this year.
– CAJ News