INTELLIGENT CABLING

( Left to right ) Catalin Buliga , Technology Director , Vodafone Egypt ; and Håkan Cervell , Vice President and Head of Ericsson Saudi Arabia and Egypt at Ericsson Middle East and Africa

Vodafone Egypt is the first service provider globally to deploy Ericsson ’ s triple-band Radio 4466 , supporting Frequency Division Duplex , FDD and Time Division Duplex , TDD bands . Ericsson Radio 4466 reduces tower load and deployment time while also contributing to sustainability efforts through lower energy consumption .

Radio 4466 , an Ericsson Radio System product , supports Vodafone Egypt to simultaneously enable 2G , 3G , 4G as well as 5G across 1800MHz , 2100MHz , and 2600MHz spectrum layers with a single unit , lessening the number of equipment normally required . This introduction marks the first triple-band radio live on 1800MHz , 2100MHz FDD and 2600MHz TDD bands .

By consolidating three bands into the same radio , this optimised product enhances network performance while also contributing to a more sustainable network by lowering Vodafone Egypt ’ s network ’ s overall energy consumption by up to 15 % and reducing site footprint and time to deployment . This innovative approach aims to enhance user experience , boost capacity , and pave the way for 5G readiness .

Catalin Buliga , Technology Director Vodafone Egypt , says , “ This new triple-band radio unit from Ericsson gives us better cost , faster deployment of 4G , 5G services , less energy consumption for our mobile network and less tower load .”

Håkan Cervell , Vice President and Head of Ericsson Saudi Arabia and Egypt at Ericsson Middle East and Africa , says : “ Through advanced optimisation algorithms and intelligent resource allocation , we can unlock new levels of efficiency , ensuring that every bit of bandwidth is used to its fullest potential .”

Yahsat contracts Airbus for the construction of satellites

Yahsat , UAE ’ s flagship satellite solutions provider , announced that it has contracted Airbus Defence and Space , a satellite manufacturer , for its new geostationary telecommunications satellites , Al Yah 4 , AY4 and Al Yah 5 , AY5 . The significant step follows the signing of an Authorisation-to-Proceed with Airbus , Airbus ATP in Q2 2023 to commence initial activities in relation to the AY4 and AY5 satellite programme , and the subsequent award by the UAE Government in Q3 2023 of an AED 18.7 billion , US $ 5.1 billion , mandate for the provision of satellite communications capacity and managed services for 17 years , primarily on AY4 and AY5 .

Airbus will design and build the AY4 and AY5 satellites based on the Eurostar Neo platform , with each having flexible payloads and benefiting from the strong heritage of the Eurostar family . The flexible multi-band payloads can be fully reconfigured while in orbit , capable of adjusting the coverage area , capacity and frequency on the fly to meet evolving mission scenarios .

Both AY4 and AY5 satellites will offer secure governmental communications over a wide geographical area across the Middle East , Africa , Europe and Asia . The new advanced satellites will eventually replace Al Yah 1 and Al Yah 2 , which were launched in 2011 and 2012 , respectively , and based on a previous version of the Airbusbuilt Eurostar platform . •

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