Backhaul is very important for 4G expansion, and IP backhaul is the chosen option for Sprint, who selected DragonWave's IP-based backhaul solutions for its XOHM-branded WiMAX mobile-broadband services in North America.
DragonWave's Horizon Compact and Horizon Duo products will be deployed initially in the Baltimore/Washington and Chicago markets.
DragonWave's native Ethernet radios will provide Sprint's XOHM network with carrier-grade reliability, capacity, throughput and Quality of Service (QoS) for backhauling 4G traffic. The Horizon products provide software controlled scalability, ultra-low latency, wire-speed connectivity up to 1.6 Gbps full duplex, 99.999% service availability and a full suite of network management options. Ring/mesh network architecture coupled with adaptive modulation and integrated antenna solutions enables a 50% reduction in the total life cycle cost compared to conventional designs enabling Sprint XOHM to rapidly and affordably expand their market coverage and meet increased bandwidth requirements.
"Big-name carriers such as Sprint are confronting the backhaul challenges of the mobile Internet, and, consequently, they are increasingly transitioning to lower-cost IP backhaul to support 3G and 4G expansion and booming data rates," said Caroline Gabriel, Research Director and Lead Wireless Analyst with Rethink Research Associates. "Carriers no longer can allow backhaul bottlenecks to slow their mobile-broadband growth plans, so we are seeing heightened uptake for powerful IP backhaul solutions that allow for simple, cost-efficient network rollout."