London UK to Get New 1Gbps Small Cell Backhaul and Enterprise Network

Wireless ISP Luminet has teamed up with Cambridge Communication Systems (CCS) to roll-out a new small cell backhaul and enterprise network across London, which will deliver speeds of up to 1Gbps (Gigabit per second) and support backhaul for 4G and future 5G mobile data networks.

Small cells are low-powered radio access nodes (i.e. you can stick them on everything from street furniture to the sides of buildings), which may provide a better alternative to expanding coverage and capacity than simply adding more base-stations. The latter can be complicated and expensive to install, particularly in big cities like London where planning permission could also become a problem.

Luminet, which was formerly called Urban Wimax and is also up for the ‘Best Wireless‘ award at this week’s ISPA event (here), already has 1,900+ sites in London via its business focused fixed wireless and fibre optic access infrastructure. On top of that they own two clean 112MHz frequency channels in perpetuity at 28GHz for the M25 region, which CCS will use for their Metnet system.

Metnet is described as a “unique self-organising small cell wireless backhaul system,” which can dynamically adapt to capacity demands and optimises spectrum usage. Apparently it can do all of this while also being “low cost” and “quick to deploy“.

Steve Greaves, CEO of CCS, said:

“The combination of Luminet’s sites and spectrum assets with our self-organising wireless backhaul is a catalyst for improving mobile services across London. Our flexible mesh architecture enables us to automatically adjust the backhaul topology and assign capacity to wherever mobile operators decide to roll out small cells using Luminet sites.”

Sasha Williamson, CEO of Luminet, added:

“Our partnership with CCS will see one of the first self organising networks in a Tier One global city, and by adopting a neutral host strategy we are enabling how mobile operators can scale with the ongoing increase in mobile data demand in urban areas.

London mobile network congestion is hitting a crunch point – it is one of the most digitally dependent cities in the world and is the epicentre of the UK’s digital economy, which is growing 32 per cent faster than the rest of the economy. In order for the city to retain its competitiveness on a global stage, having the necessary digital infrastructure is paramount.”

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