AIRCOM International planning mobile WiMAX with SingTel

April 09, 2008, WiMAX Forum Congress Asia, Singapore – AIRCOM International has been selected by SingTel, the leading Singaporean telecommunications operator, to provide the cell planning tool for its Mobile WiMax network. AIRCOM will supply its ASSET tool to support SingTel’s existing GSM and UMTS network, together with a mobile WiMAX technology pack for radio planning.   

As a leading independent mobile network planning and optimisation consultancy, AIRCOM has worked with SingTel in the past to deliver cell planning tools for its existing GSM and WCDMA cellular networks.  SingTel also holds the license to rollout a commercial mobile WiMAX network in Singapore, and AIRCOM’s tools have proven to be the most capable in helping SingTel to plan new WiMAX communications services to its customers. 

“We are delighted to have extended our relationship with SingTel to support the integration of mobile WiMAX into its existing cellular infrastructure.” said Margaret Rice-Jones, CEO of AIRCOM International.  “With an advanced voice and data service portfolio, it’s vital that SingTel has the tools in place to incorporate WiMAX into that system and manage network traffic effectively.  We are confident that ASSET will provide all the necessary support to achieve those goals.” 

The ASSET with WiMAX tool from AIRCOM enables the planning and management of both fixed and mobile WiMAX networks and is fully compliant with the 802.16e WiMAX standard.  Operating in a multi-user environment, it can generate sophisticated reports and statistics on network performance and can also plan WiMAX in great detail, while looking after other network technologies such as GSM, UMTS and HSDPA.  

“It’s clear that AIRCOM provides the most technically sound tools available to operators who are planning a WiMAX network and SingTel’s decision to deploy our ASSET with WiMAX solution is further evidence of our market leading network planning capabilities.” continued Rice-Jones.  “We look forward to helping deliver exciting new communications services to mobile customers across Singapore.”  

In the coming months, AIRCOM will also provide on-the-job training to SingTel engineers, to ensure a seamless installation of the ASSET Mobile WiMax cell planning tools.

Margaret Rice Jones, CEO of AIRCOM International has been short listed for the prestigious BlackBerry Women in Technology Awards. The awards look to honour the individual woman (or company) that has achieved success and competitive advantage through innovation, management and return on investment, via technology.

Margaret has been nominated for the ‘Best Female Mentor’ award, recognising the many years of inspiration and coaching she has delivered both here at AIRCOM and in her previous roles at Motorola and Psion to both men and women alike.

It is not the first time that Margaret’s contribution to technology has been formally recognised. In 2000, Margaret was awarded a place on the GSM Roll of Honour that acknowledges her contribution to the telecoms industry. The listing recognises Margaret as someone who is identified as having significantly contributed to the advancement of mobile telecommunications.

ENTERPRISE to help operators visualise their network in Google Earth

Mobile World Congress, Barcelona, Hall 1 Stand B14 - 13 February 2008 – AIRCOM International, the leading independent mobile network planning and optimisation consultancy, have made a major breakthrough in helping telecoms operators to visualise how their network is servicing their customers.

AIRCOM successfully developed a prototype of their ENTERPRISE suite that generates open format outputs visible within 3D visualisation software, such as Google Earth. The 3D earth interface is used widely by planning engineering teams within operators for preliminary site analysis. AIRCOM’s ASSET radio planning tool integration enhances this further by allowing sites to be viewed with their associated coverage within the 3D graphical information system. The prototype also incorporates performance statistics from OPTIMA allowing Network Operations Centres and performance engineers to rapidly visualise which areas of the operation require attention, and, in which order.

AIRCOM is committed to incorporating the 3D modeling capability into the ENTERPRISE suite into forthcoming releases. AIRCOM has already modeled live network statistics and planning data within the suite.

 Margaret Rice-Jones, AIRCOM’s CEO, said, “We are finding that better visualisation leads to better operation-wide situational awareness. Ultimately this is going to lead to faster problem solving, better networks and happier subscribers. Helping our customers make better decisions, no matter what their business model, has been our focus for the last 12 months. 3D visualisation is one of the many innovations we are looking forward to bringing to our customers in the coming months.”