Enhanced Packet Core (EPC) supports delivery of mobile and FWA services using 4G
The Chalke Valley lies at the heart of the Cranborne Chase Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) on the southern border of Wiltshire. The deep winding valley with its rural location and small, dispersed population makes it difficult for the major service providers to deliver either fixed wireline or mobile broadband services.
To address the problem, the local community created a Community Interest Company called CH4LKE Mobile, to build and operate a 4G network with the intent of delivering the fixed and mobile broadband services which urban communities take for granted, but which were denied to the residents of the Chalke Valley.
Formed by telecom industry veterans, CH4LKE Mobile determined that the optimal way of providing coverage to this difficult terrain was to deploy a Multi Operator Neutral Host (MONeH) 4G access network mounted on buildings in each difficult to reach community suffering from poor mobile coverage. Unlike a conventional large scale mobile network, it was decided to embed the local switching and management elements of the CH4LKE Mobile system within the edge mounted radio assets, thereby increasing performance and reliability whilst reducing backhaul requirements.
The CH4LKE Mobile requirements demanded a flexible product, which could cost effectively provide mobile and Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) services to small communities of users and which could be embedded into the edge radio network.
With its very small footprint, attractive price points and history of successful deployment in applications requiring embedded EPCs, AttoCore’s AttoEPC is ideally suited to the needs of rural service providers such as CH4LKE Mobile. It can cost effectively provide Enhanced Packet Core services that can scale down to the very smallest rural communities and is equally well suited to providing mobile MONeH 4G and FWA services. Downloaded from an internet server, it is developed to a high quality and supports a flexible licensing model, making it is easy to embed in small cells or other local network elements, enabling innovative, resilient services to be deployed at the network edge. AttoEPC is a specialist 4G product, which does not bundle any legacy 2G, 3G or circuit switched functionality, simplifying maintenance and improving reliability.
Commenting on the partnership with AttoCore, James Body, CH4LKE Mobile Technical Architect said “After assessing and evaluating Evolved Packet Core products from a number of sources, we selected AttoCore as our local core provider partner. This proved to be an extremely good move as the quality of the technical support that we received from the AttoCore Team was truly excellent; without the flexibility and timely assistance offered we would not have been able to deploy a working network within our tight timescales.”
David Neil, AttoCore Chief Technology Officer, commented: “AttoCore is very pleased to be providing its AttoEPC software to CH4LKE Mobile. With its small footprint, low price points and high quality, AttoEPC is ideally suited to providing both mobile and FWA services to rural communities. With the CBRS band enabling WISPs to address similar rural coverage issues in the USA and growing interest in FWA in other markets around the world, the experience AttoCore has gained with this project is invaluable and we are grateful to the CH4LKE Mobile team for working with us and to the communities in the Chalke Valley for placing their faith in our company for delivery of these essential services.”
About Chalke Mobile
CH4LKE Mobile is a Community Interest Company set up to provide 4G mobile and fixed wireless broadband services to the Chalke Valley and surrounding area. By utilising state of the art system components and a new business model it is possible to deploy high quality network coverage in an area that conventional network solutions have proved uneconomical and impractical.
About AttoCore
AttoCore develops ultra-mobile core network software technology that can be deployed in consumer, professional and enterprise scenarios. Small footprint and high quality make AttoEPC particularly well suited to Network In A Box and Fixed Wireless Access applications. Deployment can be as a standalone network, or interconnected with existing network services to extend wireless services anywhere in the world.
Meet AttoCore at the Mobile World Congress, Barcelona, February 25th-28th, Hall 7, Stand 7A11-2