Multi-beam antennas: Delivering the capacity hot spots demand

In an age of smart phones, wireless data usage has truly exploded. For mobile operators, delivering the high-bandwidth services demanded by users requires the roll-out of innovative infrastructure. When it comes to high-density crowds converging for special events, such hotspots place even greater demands on operators to support capacity demands. To the rescue, the multi-beam antenna.

Delivering the everyday capacity and coverage needs for millions of subscribers is hard enough for mobile network operators (MNOs). However, meeting the capacity and coverage requirements of the millions of people attending sporting, music, religious and other events each year, whether at temporary or permanent venues, poses challenges on a completely different order of magnitude. The simultaneous bandwidth expectations of tens or hundreds of thousands of smart-phone-wielding, social-media-using, video-sharing subscribers means that operators must rely on the very latest innovative infrastructure solutions to support such usage.

Whether in 2G, 3G or 4G/UMTS/LTE environments, MNOs need to ensure best quality of service in these high-density user environments and to do this they need to install the most capable, innovative infrastructure technologies – particularly the right antennas – to support bandwidth and traffic demands. Traditional single and twin-beam planar base station antennas simply will not deliver the capacity and coverage required in these big-crowd scenarios, which is where the development and deployment of the latest multi-beam antennas comes in.