Huawei Technologies and Vodafone have developed a low-powered 2G base station (BTS) for rural communities in developing markets.

 

The EasyGSM base station is the mobile industry’s first all IP-based compact base station, Huawei said.

 

The new base station allows GSM operators to economically extend wireless coverage to rural communities.

 

With a volume of 12 liters, it provides IP transmission and local switching, saving on transmission bandwidth and delivering the same level of service as a conventional macro BTS.

 

The product was designed and developed by Huawei and Vodafone at their jointly-owned innovation centre in Madrid.

 

Huawei’s BTS was recently tested with Vodacom in South Africa using only solar power.

 

This base station is specifically designed for low power consumption, consuming far less power than traditional BTS, increasing the viability of micro-renewable solar and wind energy generation on site, and eliminating the need for diesel generators.

 

Vodafone has completed early trials of the product but has not yet committed to a commercial launch.