Qwest's big bet on rolling out fiber to cell sites in its serving region has certainly paid off this week as the service provider was chosen as one of several wireless backhaul providers for Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE network. While Verizon Wireless' brother Verizon Global Wholesale is providing the majority of the fiber backhaul capacity (3,500 links), it is working with other alternative carriers such as Qwest to provide backhaul capacity to cell sites that don't reside in Verizon Communications' territory.
Serving Verizon Wireless' Western markets, Qwest will provide its Mobile Ethernet Backhaul, or its fiber to the cell site solution to help the wireless operator accommodate the ongoing demand for emerging mobile applications and devices including smartphones, laptops, and netbooks.
Given that mobile wireless demands will fluctuate, Qwest's Mobile Ethernet Backhaul service will allow Verizon Wireless to dial up more bandwidth as needed.
Wireless backhaul has been an opportunity that Qwest's Wholesale Markets division has been aggressively preparing for over the year. Although its 2010 capex budget will remain relatively flat, Qwest revealed it would continue to bring more fiber to cell sites. Last September, Qwest revealed that it had received requests from various unnamed wireless operators to upgrade about 7,500 of the 17,000 that reside in its territory.
For more:
- see the release here
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