Ericsson recently announced the launch of a light weight antenna-integrated radio AIR 3268 – for easier 5G mid-band deployments in dense urban and suburban areas.
At 12 kg (26lb) and 23 liters, AIR 3268 is the lightest and smallest Massive MIMO radio in the telecom industry. With 200W output power, 32 transceivers and passive cooling, the radio weighs about 40 percent less than the earlier generation, making installations easy on towers and rooftops and poles and walls.
The radio will help to accelerate 5G mid-band deployment for communications service providers seeking to boost capacity, coverage, speeds and mobile experiences for their subscribers.
Ericsson said its latest radio is 10 percent more energy-efficient than the earlier generation, lowering the total added power consumption when introducing 5G on mid-band. It supports Ericsson’s Massive MIMO architecture and Uplink Booster capabilities that deliver enhanced network performance.
Ericsson has developed AIR 3268 in partnership with BT to address 5G challenges.
Greg McCall, Managing Director of Service Platforms, BT Group, says: “The 3.5 GHz band and Massive MIMO technology are important to our 5G network strategy to deliver the best customer experience in urban areas. We continue to add capacity within our market-leading 5G coverage, but to maximize our ability to deploy this technology, we need to minimize the burden on our site infrastructure.”
David Hammarwall, Head of Product Line Radio, Ericsson, says: “AIR 3268 widens the options for the radio site, allowing service providers to boost their networks and deliver faster 5G speeds and response times. It is also energy-efficient, which is important to us and our customers.”
