Vodafone Egypt first to deploy Ericsson’s triple-band radio

Ericsson announced on Monday that Vodafone Egypt has become the first mobile operator to deploy its triple-band radio, which supports both FDD and TDD spectrum, as part of its network modernisation and capacity expansion initiative.

Vodafone Egypt is using the new Radio 4466 product to support 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G across 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz FDD, and 2600 MHz TDD spectrum layers via a single unit, rather than using separate units for each band. Ericsson claims the deployment marks the first live use of a triple-band radio for those bands.

Consolidating three bands in the same radio not only reduces the amount of equipment on the stower, but also enhances network performance and reduces power consumption, Ericsson said.

For this deployment, using triple band radios lowers overall energy consumption of Vodafone Egypt’s network by up to 15%, while also reducing site footprint and time to deployment, said Catalin Buliga, technology director at Vodafone Egypt.

“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,” he said in a statement.

“Through advanced optimization algorithms and intelligent resource allocation, we can unlock new levels of efficiency, ensuring that every bit of bandwidth is utilized to its fullest potential,” added Håkan Cervell, VP and head of Ericsson Saudi Arabia and Egypt at Ericsson Middle East and Africa.