RadioFrame Networks, the
leader in small footprint, low cost wireless base stations, announced
that its software-controlled S-Series picocell solution will be deployed
by European mobile market leader Orange from the start of 2008.
RadioFrame’s S-Series product will power Orange’s recently announced
Onsite Coverage service and is expected to be the first mobile solution
to be widely deployed specifically for enhanced coverage to smaller
remote and inaccessible business locations in Europe.

RadioFrame and Orange have been trialing the service with customers
since mid-2007 with positive results. Expected to be more cost efficient
to deploy, Orange’s Onsite Coverage service adds to the existing Orange
product portfolio and will improve coverage to mobile customers of all
sizes. Most importantly, coverage enhancements will result in mobile
coverage in even the most difficult to cover areas such as those
challenged by hilly terrain, concrete, steel or offices that are below
ground level. The solution can also boost existing capacity in urban
areas with dense phone usage such as shopping centers or large office
blocks.

“For several years now, RadioFrame has been developing breakthrough
technology for wireless network operators that improves service quality
and reduces time to market and network deployment costs,” said
RadioFrame Networks Chief Executive Officer Jeff Brown. “We are mindful
that as we develop interesting technology, however, it only matters when
the solutions are deployed commercially. For a wireless network operator
of Orange’s size and reputation to begin commercial deployment of our
technology is a significant milestone for RadioFrame and an indication
of the bright prospects of the indoor coverage solution industry as a
whole.”

“As mobile adoption in the business market continues to grow, workers
who move from location to location or even those who sit at their desks,
need more access to mobile coverage in the hardest-to-reach places,”
says Philippe Bernard, Executive Vice President, Orange Business
Solutions. “For example, a distribution depot in a rural or mountainous
location may need to give staff mobile telephones so they can keep in
touch when they are working anywhere on site, or a city-based trading
company may need to provide mobile coverage to their basement offices
ensuring employees don’t miss vital sales calls when away from their
desks.”

Orange’s Onsite Coverage service is a scalable offering of miniature
base stations that can provide full mobile coverage for up to 50 mobile
users, boosting coverage within a 50 meter radius. Base stations can
also be linked together to support more users or a higher volume of
calls. Regardless of whether someone is calling from outside a building
or within an office using Onsite Coverage, all call charges and services
remain unchanged because it is simply an extension of the Orange
network. Depending on their needs and requirements, businesses will pay
a monthly rental fee for the enhanced indoor coverage.

RadioFrame’s S-Series picocell base stations have been integrated with
Nokia Siemens networking equipment. The RadioFrame and Nokia Siemens
partnership began in early 2006 with Nokia Siemens now marketing the
S-Series solution to mobile network operators throughout the world.

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