Cole joined RFS in 2018 as VP Base Station Antennas, bringing more than 35 years’ experience in the RF/microwave industry, including senior and executive positions in a number of large companies. He succeeds André Doll, who has retired.
During his first 18 months at RFS, Cole refined the company’s approach to product management to focus on 5G. One of the company’s biggest activities in this area is its FUSION programme, that builds on RFS’s active passive antennas. RFS claims that this allows operators to stagger the cost of 5G through deploying a passive antenna that can be upgraded to add active 5G massive MIMO capability with plug and play modules.
Monika Maurer, RFS’s CEO, said: “We are thrilled to welcome John into the RFS leadership team. He brings a wealth of experience and insight that perfectly supports RFS’s customer-driven approach to R&D and innovation. We look forward to seeing the company continue to go from strength to strength with John over the coming years.”
In related news, RFS partnered with QMC to deliver a complete indoor coverage solution at the Corcovado-Paineiras Visitor Centre in Brazil, home to the iconic statue of Christ the Redeemer. The solution was required because the centre, which is located within Tijuca National Park, falls within a ‘not spot’ area that isn’t covered by Rio de Janeiro’s mobile networks. The partners used low visual impact infrastructure suitable for the environmentally protected area and RFS’s omnidirectional indoor MIMO antennas. These used as part of an active distributed antenna system (DAS) solution to ensure signal stability while offering a low visual impact. The system provides 2x2 MIMO coverage for four mobile operators.
More 1 million tourists pass through the visitor centre every year and as only 1,200 can visit the Christ the Redeemer monument at a time, the centre is used as a waiting centre and offers a range of attractions. The DAS system provides mobile network access up to 4G speeds with high data throughput for more than 3,000 daily visitors across all five floors of the building.
“This high-profile project at a truly iconic world site is a huge vote of confidence in our indoor solutions. It showcases our ability to provide and deliver a full end-to-end solution from RF design, to commissioning, installation and support,” commented Renato França, sales and services director, RFS LATAM.
Andre Juncioni, general director for DAS Brazil at QMC added, “This installation was only the first step. The system can also support new bands and frequencies, giving a future-proofed system that will continue to serve the centre and its visitors for many years to come.”
