Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 32 | Page 42

COUNTRY FOCUS: TUNISIA Rooftops and towers are already overloaded but need to implement a site sharing solution to expedite network improvements for meeting connectivity demands. Ooredoo Tunisia executed a successful trial using a CommScope 900 MHz low- loss combiner (LLC) for site sharing between Ooredoo and another carrier, swapping out a hybrid 3 dB combiner with the LLC 900 unit. ///////////////// CommScope low-loss delivers site-sharing solutions to Tunisia’s largest wireless carrier T he Middle East and Africa (MEA) region is among the fastest-growing wireless markets in the world. But with explosive growth comes significant challenges, including overloaded towers and rooftops, and few available options for new sites. With minimal insertion loss compared to traditional hybrid units, CommScope’s customized low-loss combiners (LLC) enable Ooredoo Tunisia to share existing sites with other carriers and generate new revenue – without a major CapEx investment. telecommunications company and is now the largest mobile operator and one of the most recognised brands – in the country. Ooredoo leads Tunisia’s rapid wireless network expansion A new kind of combiner for today’s new connectivity demands Founded in 2002, Ooredoo Tunisia is Tunisia’s first privately owned To meet the increased connectivity demanded by speeded-up network 42 INTELLIGENTCIO Each day, Ooredoo’s truly national network delivers a range of prepaid and post-paid voice and data services to more than five million individuals and businesses across Tunisia. Ooredoo is a long-time CommScope customer that has relied on CommScope solutions to enable their rapid network expansion and delivery of high-quality service. deployment in Tunisia, Ooredoo was forced to implement site-sharing strategies with other carriers, which required adding new antennas on rooftops or towers. Most of the time, they are facing situations where rooftops are already full of antennas – or towers are already overloaded, with serious stability and wind-load issues. One solution is a same-band combiner – a unit that combines two base stations on the same band (GSM900 and UMTS900 or GSM Op1 and GSM Op2) into a common port to reduce the number of antennas required. But introducing a passive unit in the RF path usually leads to an insertion loss that reduces the power available for coverage and capacity. www.intelligentcio.com