Cary, North Carolina - January 12, 2012 - RFHIC, a leader in  Gallium Nitride (GaN) based power amplifiers for LTE applications, estimates the four largest mobile network operators would save $20 billion over the next ten years by utilizing GaN technology for their wireless infrastructures. 

    As consumer demand increases in the wireless industry with exploding video data needs, wireless infrastructure struggles to keep pace. Many mobile operators have hastily been deploying 4G capabilities, particularly LTE in the US market. Progression from 3G to LTE/4G networks demands additional infrastructure with Remote Radio Head (RRH) complementing existing macro base stations.

    With Energy, land and installation costs at a premium, mobile network operators have begun to realize the savings by switching these LDMOS based RRHs to a more energy efficient GaN based RRHs. Analyst estimates that each of the carriers spends roughly half a billion dollars annually on powering its infrastructure. GaN based base stations, including Marco base station, RRH, Pico, Mini, Microcell and other small cell systems, can save significant cost for mobile network operators.

    While LDMOS is the mainstay of the Telecom industry, recent price drops of GaN based amplifiers have placed it on par with LDMOS based RRH systems’ price. GaN’s technological advantage remains in its wider bandwidth coverage, allowing future application upgrades, and most importantly, its efficiency. With more than 35 million watts of GaN powered RRHS rolled out to LTE providers already in U.S. and Asia, GaN technology is just starting to take hold of the market.  Thanks to the efficient GaN power amplifier, these carriers will not only save billions of dollars of operating costs over the lifespan of the RRH systems but also be greener by reducing significant amounts of carbon dioxide.  Again, analyst estimates that wireless carriers in U.S. alone can save over $2 billion per year on operating costs, primarily from energy savings on their wireless infrastructures by simply switching to GaN power amplifiers from LDMOS.

Moreover, GaN’s efficiency enables RRH designers to make systems smaller by reducing the heat sink size and power supply requirement. This directly translates to lower installation and RRH space rental expenses for carriers. Additionally, overall reliability also affects the carriers’ bottom lines by producing more reliable LTE services to end users, and also by reducing expected maintenance expenses.  Furthermore, carriers can save on future upgrades as GaN based RRH can support multi-band, multi-mode, and multi-carrier technology.

RFHIC is a leading manufacturer of GaN power amplification solutions worldwide, having produced solutions for Sprint, NTT Docomo, LG Telecom, and SK Telecom for their RRH solutions. RFHIC will deliver around 500,000 GaN power amplifiers for LTE roll-outs in 2012, equivalent to more than 135 million watts. For more information, contact us at sales@rfhicusa.com