CIRTEK UNIT IN US DEPLOYS NEW RANGE OF ANTENNAS

Silicon Valley-based unit of electronics manufacturer Cirtek Holdings Philippines Corp. has rolled out a new range of antennas capable of handling faster frequencies previously reserved for the US Navy, aircraft and satellite applications.

With the deployment of nine new antenna configurations by Cirtek’s subsidiary, Quintel USA Inc., US telecom carriers are seen to improve their 5G services especially at this time that demand for connectivity has become paramount due to lockdown protocols and social distancing required by the coronavirus pandemic.

The new antennas are equipped with Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) frequencies which were recently released for commercial use by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Jan. 27.

Under the FCC rule, US wireless carriers may deploy 5G mobile networks using the CBRS spectrum without acquiring additional licenses.

One of the top two largest carriers recently approved a deal for Quintel to supply CBRS antennas, Cirtek disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

Quintel’s new antennas utilize the 3.5 gigahertz CBRS band which is designed to improve wireless broadband access and performance in the United States.

“Quintel is very excited to participate in the nationwide swap out of existing antennas to add CBRS functionality on top of current infrastructure. This comes at an opportune time when the pandemic has forced millions of companies and employees to work from home thereby shifting rapid growth and traffic to voice and data networks. Our new antennas are designed to open up to 150 megahertz of new information highway spectrum to US networks,” said Cirtek vice chair and president Jorge Aguilar.

US telco providers are expected to replace fiber access with CBRS in delivering fixed wireless services and other offerings, in turn improving internet of things connectivity.

Meanwhile, Cirtek Advanced Technologies and Solutions Inc., Cirtek’s microwave and millimeter wave manufacturing arm, signed a multimillion project with a Silicon Valley based tech company for the production of 5G-supporting chipsets to be used in fiber optic networks. A single chipset enables data processing speeds of up to 400 Gbps in optical networks.