Nokia Siemens Networks Flexi Zone wins Best of 4G award for RAN & small cell technology product

4G World recognizes innovative design, small cell technology and approach

Flexi Zone has won the Best of 4G Awards Radio Access Network (RAN) and Small Cell Technology Product category. The recognition of Nokia Siemens Networks’ mobile broadband innovation was announced at a special awards ceremony at the 4G World industry event, taking place this week in Chicago.

“The Best of 4G Awards celebrates excellence in 4G innovation,” said Joe Braue, general manager of 4G World. “The caliber of entries received in this year’s awards was very high, and we congratulate Nokia Siemens Networks for demonstrating outstanding innovation and leadership with their Flexi Zone solution.”

Flexi Zone was launched earlier this year at Mobile World Congress 2012. Based on the company’s Liquid Radio architecture, Flexi Zone comprises multiple, inter-connected low-power small cells that use a common resource pool managed flexibly by a zone controller. These clusters of multi-radio access points complement the macro-cellular network to deliver the best coverage and capacity where and when required. Flexi Zone allows local offloading of internet traffic, saving up to 80 percent of transport and mobile packet core costs. By managing interfaces, simplifying backhaul and significantly reducing operational costs, it also reduces total cost of ownership by 50 percent when compared with traditional small pico and micro cell deployments or the addition of new sites.

“We’re pleased to be honored with the Best of 4G Awards distinction. Flexi Zone is the first small cells implementation with a novel architecture that simplifies the deployment and operation of a small cell network,” said Randy Cox, head of small cells product management, Nokia Siemens Networks. “Operators today must constantly scale up network capacity to meet the booming demand for coverage in high density usage areas. Flexi Zone addresses this challenge, while limiting operator costs at the same time.”

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