A team of consultants from Siemens ended last week their supervision of the commissioning of PowerCP processors for Fastlink’s cellular switches, a technology introduced into the Middle East for the first time.
According to Nicolas Hanna, Siemens mobile networks’ general manager in Jordan, Siemens delegated 18 experts who worked with their colleagues in Jordan and Fastlink engineers to implement this new technology.
Jordan is considered third after China and South Africa to put into operation such advanced know-how. Jordan’s implementation of PowerCP processors in Fastlink’s seven switches has surpassed the pace of European countries’ adoption of this technology including that of its innovator, Germany, which only just started such preparations last June.
The technology’s main advantages are to reduce to a minimum the possibility of congestion, increase flexibility and allow the network to adapt to sudden changes in load. The high efficiency of these processors minimizes load to its minimum of 30 percent, in accord with Fastlink’s ambitions to double its network capacity.
Hanna explained that the network capacity is measured by what is known as BHCA units (Busy Hour Call Attempts), or the number of times a subscriber tries to call during peak hours; the PowerCP processors increase that capacity by two to three times.
Each of the seven Fastlink switches that have PowerCP processor installed, can today service a quarter of a million subscribers with the possibility of increasing that number to three-quarters of a million—similar to the network in China. Such vast and scalable capacity of Switches is currently only provided by Siemens technology.
Moreover, the PowerCP processors smooth the handover between cell sites and are compatible with future standards in telecommunications known as Third Generation (3G). — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
