Fujitsu Launches Highly Flexible, Scaleable BroadOne™ WX300 Mobile WiMAX Base Station

Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand today announced a lineup of compact, high-powered family of mobile WiMAX base stations - BroadOne™.

Iain McGregor, General Manager, Business Transformation Infrastructure Services with Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand said the BroadOne™ base stations deliver industry-leading performance and efficiency.

“We’re very excited to be launching a product which meets the requirements of the local market in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Nations,” Mr McGregor said.

“The BroadOne™ family of base stations is among the smallest, most power-efficient in the industry and ideal for operators looking for a quick in-service solution with easy installation and maintenance.”

Fujitsu is positioning the BroadOne™ mobile WiMAX base stations as a key part of its product strategy for the fast-emerging global wireless broadband industry. The first base station to be launched in the family of products is the BroadOne™ WX300 outdoor macrocell base station.

“The initial feedback from customers and industry analysts around the world has been extremely positive. We’ve been able to leverage years of cutting edge wireless technology and devices and apply our knowledge to mobile WiMAX products,” Mr McGregor said.

“Fujitsu continues to develop the right products at the right times,” Berge Ayvazian, Chief Strategy Officer with global connectivity experts, Yankee Group, said. “Their long-time leadership in multiple wireless technologies deployed in Japan has given them the experience and technical ability to develop a very comprehensive and flexible WiMAX product portfolio with a timeline well-aligned to meet both the needs of the marketplace and the WiMAX Forum certification schedule.”

Fujitsu has designed its new base stations with many features to meet global requirements for mobile WiMAX networks.

“BroadOne™ base stations consume low levels of power, deliver superior performance, and, as the smallest base stations available, are easy to install,” Mr McGregor said. “As a result, mobile WiMAX service providers will be able to build their wireless broadband infrastructure at a lower cost and offer end-users service at more reasonable rates.”

Fujitsu will initially provide three base station models designed for the globally-accepted 2.5GHz and 2.3GHz frequency bands which constitute a major portion of the worldwide WiMAX market.

Configured as a single, lightweight unit, the - BroadOne™ WX300 outdoor macrocell base station is designed for wide-area transmission over a radius of almost two miles. The second model, a compact outdoor microcell base station, is designed for transmission over a nearly 1,000 foot radius to fill in areas with a lower concentration of users and remote areas with poor coverage. The third model is an indoor, ultra-compact femtocell base station.

All base stations will support MIMO technology operating in both Matrix A and B to improve system performance. With these initial models, Fujitsu will provide mobile broadband solutions for all types of environments and needs.

The new BroadOne™ WX300 outdoor macro base station features world-class efficiency and performance. The unit’s high-output transmitter (amp) uses a gallium-nitride (GaN) High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT) device that was developed based on ultra-high-speed transistor technology invented by Fujitsu.

This device is coupled with Fujitsu digital pre-distortion technology, which already has a proven track record in 3G systems, to create two high-output transceivers packaged in a single unit.

The adoption of advanced amplifier technology allows the base station to weigh approximately 40 pounds, allowing tower, pole or building top installation by a single person. The low weight combined with a volume of less than one cubic foot makes this unit the world’s smallest outdoor macrocell base station. By combining world-class energy efficiency with the world’s smallest base station enclosure, Fujitsu has significantly reduced the costs associated with installing and operating base stations, thereby contributing to the global deployment of mobile WiMAX infrastructure.

When network operators are ready to build their network, Fujitsu offers a full line of deployment services which include installation and test/activation services, as well as backhaul and operational support systems. Full maintenance and support is also available 24x7, with rapid deployment of on-site technical personnel and spares management as needed.

“Fujitsu has a demonstrated capability to successfully deploy and support wireless networks in challenging environments such as Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea,” Mr McGregor said.

With the launch of the BroadOne™ WX300 mobile WiMAX base station, Fujitsu is unveiling its new BroadOne™ brand name, which covers an integrated family of base stations and other products for the “Long Term Evolution” (LTE) project under which next-generation mobile phone systems will be developed for the rapidly emerging wireless broadband market.

The BroadOne™ brand name was chosen to reflect the Fujitsu advanced technologies that will enable wireless networks around the world. By bringing easy-to-use networking to as broad a segment of people as possible, Fujitsu aims to become the number one vendor of wireless networking equipment. Details of the product will be presented next week at Fujitsu stand 1J45 in Hall 1 of the GSMA Mobile World Congress 2008 from February 11-14, 2008, in Barcelona, Spain.

Wireless broadband technology is a key enabler of the connected experience, which will transform the way people live and work. High-speed, high-capacity connectivity to next-generation networks will allow communication to anyone at anytime. Mobile WiMAX provides up to 75 Mbps of bandwidth and is certified by the WiMAX Forum®, the WiMAX industry certification authority. Fujitsu is a founder and board-level member of the WiMAX Forum®.