While many operators often look for the lowest-cost base stations, a new study by research firm Analysys Mason shows that by investing in advanced beamforming networks, operators can reduce their total cost of ownership by more then 55% over a five year period.
With the proliferation of WiMAX and next-generation wireless broadband networks, service providers are looking for new ways to squeeze more performance and value out of their networks. A new study by telecom research firm Analysys Mason looks to determine which types of WiMAX solutions are commercially attractive to operators, by quantifying the TCO (total cost of ownership) of beamforming systems to more traditional non-beamforming WiMAX systems.
Although many WiMAX vendors have beamforming included on their roadmaps, to date only a handful of vendors offer commercial beamforming capabilities. Beamforming is considered a key technology for wireless broadband networks and is supported in the current 802.16e WiMAX standard and will be deployed in future 802.16m and Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks.
While advanced beamforming systems are often more expensive than other systems, operators must look at the entire cost of operating the network when building their networks.
