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tration would lead to a 1pc increase in low–
medium income GDP. That’s about $160bn
added to the global economy.
CLUTTER-BUSTING TECHNOLOGY
Leading the research in Dublin is Bell Labs’
director Dr Frank Mullany, who explains
that the tiny new technology will remove the
clutter of equipment that is usually seen on
a base station tower.
“We are creating a technology that removes
at least two or three of the different
boxes you’ll see on a tower down to one single
device that will, in most cases, be connected
to fibre cable.”
Mullany says the technology being built in
Dublin and which was unveiled at the recent
Mobile World Congress is a radical development
that puts Alcatel-Lucent years ahead
of competitors.
“Not only is this more aesthetically pleasing,
but it increases the capacity of base stations
to serve users with better bandwidth,
at the same time reducing power consumption.
“For mobile operators, they can have
more control over beam shaping, which allows
them to add or remove capacity in
built-up or rural areas depending on the
time of day.”
The technological breakthrough puts Ireland
at the coalface of what's happening in
communications around the world. The
Dublin operation emerged from a major
€69m investment in a new R&D headquarters
in Blanchardstown, which included the
establishment of a Centre for Telecommunications Value
Chain-Driven Research (CTVR) at Trinity College Dublin.
This was followed up last year by a multimillion-euro investment
that will create 70 new jobs in Dublin. The posts will
all be technology R&D-focused and the research will centre on
Bell Labs' Open Innovation structure and will include a focus
on Alcatel-Lucent's Green Touch strategy, an initiative aimed
at improving communications networks' energy efficiency.
DEVELOPING BUSINESS
Mullany maintains that increasingly R&D researchers are
playing a pivotal role in the business development of giant
multinationals.
"Commercialisation of new technology is a discipline that's
every bit as important as shipping products to market. The
faster we can develop that technology the faster the business
can take advantage of the new capabilities. It makes you proud
when you think of the contribution the Irish team is making in
the development of this game-changing technology."
Mullany says the Dublin research team, which also played a
‘We are already
starting on new
technologies that
will have major
implications for
developing world
countries’
key role in the development of femtocell
technology that boosts mobile signal in
homes and offices, such as Vodafone's Sure
Signal Technology, is driven by Alcatel-Lucent's
desire to close the digital divide between
the developed and developing
worlds.
According to a model developed by Bell
Labs and the World Economic Forum, with
the right combination of actions and investment,
we can accelerate the impact of
mobility by as much as 36pc, measured in
GDP.
During the past five years, significant
progress has been made in providing the
benefits of connectivity. In Africa, Asia and
Latin America, mobile phones have helped
more than two billion people become more
productive and efficient.
CONNECTIVITY BENEFITS
WORLDWIDE
The beneficiaries range from fishermen in
India who use mobile phones to find the
best markets for their catch, village women
in Kenya who receive mobile remittances
and make mobile payments, and health
workers in Brazil who can now collect data
more efficiently. The number of mobile devices
in use globally has grown to five billion,
and the number capable of accessing
the internet is expected to reach 1.82 billion
by 2013.
Developing countries now comprise
86pc of the world’s population, and over
half the people in those nations are living
in rural environments. Mobile access in these areas is still far
behind adoption in developed regions. People in emerging markets
are only half as likely to have access to mobile communications
as the residents of developed countries. And fewer
than 10pc have internet access, far below the global average of
23pc.
Mobility affects GDP and can be a tool to drive education
into underserved areas. Alcatel-Lucent says it believes the
right combination of applications and affordable access can
lead to a 2.7pc GDP increase, and 1pc increase in HDI in
Kenya. In real terms it means that Kenyans could educate an
additional 443,000 students and add 15 months in life expectancy.
“We are already starting on new technologies that will have
major implications for developing world countries,” Mullany
concludes. “One of the hardest things is making the leap from
mad science or a blue-sky idea to creating real world technologies
with a real commercial impact. The journey from an
idea to a product with real world benefits is happening here in
Dublin.”
Issue 2 Spring/Summer 2011 INNOVATION IRELAND REVIEW 55