Alcatel says they are ready to address the consumption/cost and cosmetic challenges of cellular towers

Our networks are power hungry and emit 18,000,000 metric tons of C02 per year. Plus, antennas and towers are not very attractive, they obstruct our landscapes and cityscapes. And, who among you has not experienced the network congestion challenge? Time will not fix these challenges, they will grow and grow.

Now what is the root cause of these problems? The base station. It is a fundamental element of the wireless architecture that is large and power hungry. These visual monstrosities are tethered to equally unattractive antennas that block more of the landscape with each new technology. This is the one element of the mobile architecture that is keeping the network from being flexible, responsive and green.

Bell Labs technology is said to cut the cost of deployment, the cost of operation, and even make the towers prettier. What’s not to like?

lightRadio has at its core an innovation that is a small cube—a cube invented by Bell Labs which combines a wideband active array antenna with fully software defined radio capability. This, less than 300 g cube, enables an active antenna as small as 2 watts to an array of typical cellular capacity (30-60 watts). It can be deployed in big and small antenna configurations, all-around the city. With this new antenna, base stations and large antenna towers, virtually disappear. Big or small cells, it is one continuum, for these cubes can be stacked to build a macro cell or used singularly in a beam formation for targeted coverage.

lightRadio makes networks significantly lighter, much simpler to deploy and cuts the cost of site rental by 66%. For our planet, we can reduce power by 51%. With this small element, connected to microwave, it is now feasible for people currently not served by mobile data, to have access.