Khalil Vick Mamlouk, Managing Director, (ME Operations) ANDREW Solutions 

Interview by Gulraiz Khalid

Teletimes – Please talk about the background of Andrew and comment on the progress it has made over the past years.
Khalil Mamlouk – Andrew is now the wireless brand of CommScope, a world-leader in infrastructure solutions for communications networks, and we continue to support customers in over 130 countries across Asia-Pacific, EMEA, and the Americas. Wireless represented more than half of CommScope’s  US$3 billion revenues in 2009 due, in part, to our enviable track record for supporting major operators and OEMs, with whom we have longstanding and highly successful relationships.

Having supported the entire wireless radio frequency (RF) footprint for over 70 years, we have established ourselves as leaders in designing, manufacturing, and delivering innovative and essential equipment and solutions for the global wireless infrastructure market. We provide a range of solutions including; transmission line systems, antennas, base station subsystems, in-building systems, and network solution products and services.

Essentially we help our customers extend coverage and service, realize supply chain economies, and optimize their infrastructure anywhere in the world. We support both traditional and evolving technology standards, bringing wireless infrastructure into emerging markets and enhancing capabilities in established markets. We also build complete turnkey systems for municipalities, utilities, and private businesses, handling everything from design, supply, and installation to commissioning.

This approach has enabled us to provide solutions for some of the most prestigious projects in the world. For example, we recently provided large in-building distributed antenna systems (DAS) in the Burj-Khalifa Dubai, as well in the stadia that hosted the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

TT – Two of Japan’s wireless operators have made the switch to HELIAX® 2.0 smoothwall cables. What edge does your feeder and jumper coaxial cable line solution give to your customers over their competitors?
KM – We’ve certainly seen a large level of interest in Japan and the rest of Asia, but the cable has also been in demand in all parts of the globe. Overwhelmingly, the feedback has been that HELIAX® FXL’s lower attenuation, higher crush strength, reduced weight and increased durability are the reasons why operators have been quick to adopt it. It’s a highly robust solution and its performance levels have been proven in some of the most extreme and unforgiving conditions.

HELIAX FXL’s durability is due, in large part, to its solid triple-bonded construction, which provides crush and tensile strength that far exceeds the properties of corrugated cables. This allows the cable to be deployed in complex installations without stretching or denting, which can negatively affect RF performance. We also filled the centre of the cable with our patented microcell foaming technology to ensure it has first class weather resistance. In addition, our engineers have ensured that the enhanced durability that smoothwall offers does not compromise on flexibility, as it is extremely lightweight and holds its form to any application, ensuring the installation process is as straightforward and as quick as possible.

Operators and OEMs have also been able to take advantage of a number of cost savings provided by our HELIAX FXL solution. Firstly, aluminum’s lower and more stable raw material cost makes it an attractive alternative to copper without compromising on performance. Secondly, having recently been awarded the Golden Award for Green Communication Energy-Efficiency Technology during an industry contest in China, HELIAX has been recognized for providing unrivalled energy efficiency. As it requires less electric power and fuel to manufacture and transport our HELIAX cables we are able pass these savings on to our customers.

Lastly, HELIAX FXL’s superior performance was validated earlier this year by Telab B.V., a third-party independent laboratory specializing in testing and international certification of electronic, electrical, and machine equipment. HELIAX 2.0 FXL is the first aluminum cable tested by Telab to pass 10 rounds of environmental testing, proving its durability in extreme temperatures. HELIAX FXL’s solid triple-bonded construction also demonstrated superior crush resistance while surpassing or meeting the electrical performance specifications set by Telab for 26 other trials.

TT – GeoLENs Location Platform has been upgraded with a host of new enhancements. Please share with us some details in this regard.
KM – Version 10 of our GeoLENs Mobile Location Centre (MLC) has seen several modifications designed to give operators the tools to monetize their investment in location infrastructure, enabling more control over their network’s location resources. For example, the latest version of the platform has seen a huge advance in processing and query capacity, which has been increased by several orders of magnitude and can comfortably manage 1,000 transactions per second. It also gives operators more control over end-device access to valuable location resources through its Installed Policy Server for Secure User Plane Location (SUPL).

Other vendors provide systems with one or two locating techniques, whereas our latest GeoLENs MLC offers an all-inclusive, adaptable system designed to provide the location capacity, throughput and support necessary for present and future applications. By giving operators this greater level of flexibility they can add or refocus their system as their needs change and as market directions clarify, whether for commercial or emergency applications or both.

Clearly, aiding the emergency services is a critical function for any location server so we’ve maximised the performance of Assisted-GPS (A-GPS) for E-911 applications in the latest GeoLENs platform. In line with these improvements for emergency services we have also added smart virtual device cache technology, enhancing the A-GPS yield for emergency calls regardless of the caller’s device limitations.

In addition, the platform is complemented by a broad portfolio of products including the Operations Support System (OSS), which is ideal for managing a multi-MLC network or providing more sophisticated control of a single MLC platform. It also enables location capabilities in wireline DSL and cable networks with a Cellular-Bridge Location Information Server (LIS), spanning the converged future of Internet location and next generation-911 (NG-911) services.

TT – ZTE awarded Andrew in 2009 with the Best Partner Title. Please tell our readers about such achievements and success stories of Andrew in detail.
KM – We were delighted to be awarded with ZTE’s 2009 Best Partner award, a distinction Andrew has now won for four years in a row. Customer satisfaction is a major priority for us and this clearly demonstrates the value we provide for leading telecoms organizations around the globe.
This award was given to us based on our superior performance in providing RF site solutions to ZTE. We have provided a host of solutions and products during our partnership with ZTE, including our HELIAX cable, antennas, and several other network products, which are installed in all ZTE-built CDMA, W-CDMA and CDMA2000 networks. We have also provided advanced solutions such as TD-SCDMA antennas and power amplifiers to ZTE for numerous projects in China.

Andrew has had a presence in China since the 1970s, enabling us to build solid, long-term and cooperative relationships with the major Chinese carriers and OEMs. Our success in the region has not only led to awards but numerous projects in the region as well. Most recently these include coverage and capacity projects in the National Center for the Performing Arts, the Ministry of Environmental Protection Building, Beijing-to-Tianjin and Shijiazhuang-to-Taiyuan high speed railways, the Beijing Subway and Shanghai Metro, among others.

TT – Some of our corporate clients would be interested in knowing about your OneBase InSite Connect System and the GeoLENs System Platform.
KM – Our OneBase InSite Connect solution was designed to simplify managing the performance of individual base station sites. There are dozens of independent subsystems, provided by multiple OEMs, controlling hundreds of functions such as humidity levels, power consumption, antenna position, security cameras, and many more. This complexity can often lead to duplicated efforts, unnecessary service calls, poor antenna positioning, and system downtime. If we multiply these issues by the total number of base station sites in a particular network, then you can appreciate how large a drain on OpEx managing these sites can be.

As a result, we developed a single comprehensive solution that remotely controls and monitors the subsystems inside each base station site, enabling network operators to manage all sites across their network. Our OneBase InSite Connect consists of two main components; the Remote Controller Unit (RCU) and the Control Management System (CMS). Working together they provide a powerful tool that consolidates hundreds of tasks into one easy to control system, enabling operators to trim remote access network operating costs and keeping the network performing at its highest level.

The solution also helps leverage the benefits of co-location and network sharing by distributing base station site maintenance costs across multiple operators, as all subsystems at the base station site connect to a shared RCU. The specific performance data and control functions for each individual operator, however, can be set-up as accessible only by that operator through the CMS. So you can lower overall OPEX costs while maintaining secure network separation.

The Insite Connect also monitors key performance indicators in real time by producing accurate and clear reports, showing exactly how the system is performing against predetermined standards. Additionally, it enables operators to control and monitor all security and safety subsystems within individual base station sites and across their networks. The solution can control door alarms and perimeter security cameras, record and monitor all activity, both authorized and unauthorized. The RCU connects to virtually any subsystem alarm needed while the CMS coordinates security measures across the entire system.

As for our GeoLENs platform, it’s all about Location, Location, Location. Across this new landscape the ability to support location-based services (LBS) is no longer a stand-alone benefit, it is a functional expectation. People want to know where they are going, who has the best pizza, what the weather will be in their area, and where their friends and family are. Companies need to track their vehicles, know where their packages are, and support their sales force. And local governments need to ensure that EMS, police, fire departments, and other public safety services have the tools to respond immediately and accurately. No wonder daily queries from more than 2,500 location-based mobile applications now number in the hundreds of millions: five times what they were just a year ago.

GeoLENs is a portfolio of solutions we’ve designed to enable operators to transform their location-passive networks into reliable environments that are fully location-enabled. GeoLENs brings together all the components needed to locate any user across the network and then relay that information between location-based service providers and the user’s mobile device.

The location-enabled network does not replace the various location technologies such as device centric GPS. It supports them. Using the network’s existing infrastructure, it coordinates the efforts and capabilities of all location components inside and outside the network and ensures that everybody within the network is location enabled.

The beauty of the location-enabled network is that all the components already exist, such as mobile location centers, location information servers and location measurement units, not to mention the growing population of devices that can benefit from them. The location-enabled network brings them all together into a single system that is flexible enough to accommodate any environment, quick to deploy, and easy to manage. Most importantly, the location-enabled network places the network operator in the middle of this multi-billion dollar opportunity as a key partner for anyone involved in location-based services.

TT – Would you like to tell our readers about any other of your featured products?
KM – We have recently introduced a new cable product called Remote Fiber Feeder (RFF), which is a cable solution for remote radio head deployment.  RFF is a combination of power conductors and fiber into one, single high-performance cable that delivers all the efficiency, capacity and savings operators need to transition to the next phase of their network’s design. 
RFF is unique in the level of CapEx savings it provides. For example, a complete RFF cable site offers 40-50% savings when compared to typical 6 run coaxial transmission line site, and 20-25% savings compared to typical RRH installation utilizing separate power and fiber cables. It also offers a host of other benefits during the cable’s installation process, such as ease of handling, easier routing inside the enclosure and on the tower, less tower loading, and it eliminates the need for a conduit.

TT - To what extent do you think has Andrew made its mark in the Middle Eastern market?
KM – We have had a successful business presence in the Middle East for more than six years now. Having started with small operations in 2004-05 we have grown to establish fully operational organsations in five countries in the region, which serve 17 countries stretching from Morocco to Pakistan and Yemen.

We have a very talented team that has been focused on the support of our customers and the region in general.  We have worked hard at securing projects and building relationships with all major mobile operators and vendors in the region, and we are increasingly seeing our efforts bear fruit with procurement of our products and services increasing year-on-year.
As a testimony of Andrew’s success in the Middle East market, we have won and successfully delivered in-building coverage and capacity system projects in the region including Dubai Airport, Burj-Khalifa Dubai, Dubai Mall, Dubai Metro and lot of other high-rise buildings of operators and multinationals within UAE.

We are delighted with the success we’ve achieved in a relatively short space of time and look forward to helping our customers in the region as we move forward.

TT – How do you see the future of this market and Andrew in the coming years?
KM – Having seen the global recession take its toll on the telecoms industry in the Middle East, and elsewhere, I’m very encouraged to see the market showing signs of picking up again. Looking at the bigger picture, the long-term benefits and opportunities for operators, OEMs, and ourselves in this market are very good.

There is huge potential for the region, as demand for wireless services among the region’s population of nearly half a billion people is so strong, and we see ourselves rightly positioned to continue to play a role as a key contributor in this technological evolution over the coming years.

TT – As Director for Middle East Operations, do you have any plans in mind for what’s left of the year 2010?
KM – I see enormous potential in the Middle East for the second half of 2010 and beyond. We are more than ever aggressive, our teams are fully equipped to capture any and all the sales opportunities in the region and we are quite optimistic that with the global and UAE economy will continue to gain momentum. There are lots of opportunities for us to grow as we support operators and OEMs in improving wireless coverage and capacity across the region.

TT – Please give us a brief about your professional career and your C.V.
KM – I am managing director of Andrew Middle East, the Dubai-based branch of Andrew Solutions that he helped establish in 2004 and I lead a team of Andrew sales professionals and engineers focused on bringing innovative RF infrastructure solutions to the Middle East and North Africa. In these 23 years with Andrew, I have built an extensive resume in sales management, product line management, and system design successfully manage and executed large worldwide projects including a $50 million wireless network in Hong Kong.