Microwave Backhaul:
Cost-effective transport for 4G networks

Wireless carriers struggle to keep up with 4G traffic.

Wireless carriers struggle to keep up with 4G traffic. Wireless carriers are in the middle of a bandwidth crisis. In the past, they usually connected their cell towers to the public telephone network using leased T1 lines. But T1 service cannot keep up with the new wave of 4G networks—for example, LTE and WiMAX—that require backhaul bandwidth of hundreds of megabits per second. Fiber-optic networks can handle this level of traffic but are too expensive for small and mid-size carriers and are often unavailable in rural areas. Wireless carriers need a cost- effective, scalable alternative source of bandwidth. Carriers can meet these challenges and more with microwave backhaul networks. A proven approach used today in other parts of the world, microwave backhaul offers significant benefits in performance, operating cost, flexibility, and deployment time over T1 and fiber. TorreyPoint has the knowledge and experience to bring these benefits to carriers of all sizes.

TorreyPoint’s Microwave Backhaul solution provides cost-effective transport from cellular installations to the IP core network, delivering the performance, reliability and scalability needed to enable reliable, scalable 4G service as well as profitable and sustainable business models for wireless carriers.

IP and microwave expertise is critical when designing today’s backhaul networks.

Wireless networks today are increasingly IP from end to end, a fact that increases the technical expertise required. Deploying microwave backhaul takes more than just putting antennas on towers—only a holistic approach to the entire backhaul architecture can deliver the capacity and reliability that wireless customers demand. In-house technical staff, hired and trained to install antenna and radios, often lacks the necessary IP and microwave knowledge and experience to design and install an all-IP backhaul network. Combining our extensive experience in terrestrial networks with deep IP and microwave knowledge, the TorreyPoint Microwave Backhaul solution is the ideal answer to this problem. Our engineering consultants are experts in layer 2 and layer 3 technologies including MPLS, BGP, and IPv6 and can design the wireless backhaul network from the ground up.

The TorreyPoint Microwave Backhaul solution features:

• Best-in-class technology: We leverage our broad vendor relationships to choose the best technology for each deployment.
• Broad experience base: Our hands-on experience across the spectrum of environments and solutions informs both our technology selection an architectural design.
• Testing and evaluation: We perform extensive testing before deployment, often including a proof of concept, to ensure that our solution meets or exceeds specifications.

The TorreyPoint solution delivers benefits previously unavailable to small and mid-size carriers.

Unlike the T1 days, the backhaul network today is in a state of flux. The TorreyPoint Microwave Backhaul solution protects your current investment while helping you make the transition to an all-IP network. It provides a way for small and mid-size carriers to take charge of their own backhaul infrastructures and not be subject to price increases and usage constraints that are frequent in leasing arrangements with larger carriers.

The benefits of the TorreyPoint Microwave Backhaul solution include:

• Economics: With no need for trenching, microwave backhaul is less expensive than
  fiber. Many small and mid-size carriers can afford to own the microwave backhaul
  infrastructure, avoiding on-going monthly fees for transport.
• Deployment time: Microwave backhaul can be deployed quickly because the
  transport is line of sight, bypassing terrestrial obstacles.
• Density: Millimeter technology allows for high-density deployments, facilitating
  collocation and facility sharing. For example, 80 GHz systems can achieve multi-
  gigabit speeds at 5-6 mile ranges with high service availability.
• Flexibility: Our solution is designed to adapt to changing needs anywhere in the path
  from cellular phone to core network.
• Reliability: Microwave backhaul is not as susceptible to construction accidents, for
  example, severing a communications cable with a backhoe.

Deploying microwave backhaul can be a game-changer for carriers, but it takes the right blend of experience and training to design and install a commercially viable backhaul network. For many carriers, the TorreyPoint Microwave Backhaul solution is the quickest and most cost-effective approach.