JMA Wireless, a global mobile communications leader, and one of their top system integration partners, CommsCon Italia, enabled cellular coverage and capacity throughout the Milan Metro Rapid Transit System and in the Milan Central Station. The Milan Metro is the longest transit system in Italy consisting of four lines totaling 94.5km (58.7 miles) and includes 103 stations, many in hard to reach underground locations.

Both the operators of the Milan transit systems (a public company for historic lines and a private company for new lines), wanted to extend network connectivity to provide seamless high-speed mobile communications to its over one million daily commuters. For many passengers, their daily commute has translated into additional work time, and as a result they need to be reachable and able to communicate. CommsCon managed both the projects as a neutral host linked to all the wireless Italian mobile operators.

"Our proven expertise and ability to deliver robust cellular coverage and capacity even in difficult environments such as high-speed trains and underground rail stations has made us a top solution provider for many railway operators."

"We needed to ensure the solution would be flexible and provide robust cellular coverage and capacity for our clients. The state-of-the-art Teko DAS (distributed antenna system) from JMA Wireless enabled us to offer high-speed wireless connectivity to enrich the mobile experience for Milan Metro commuters," stated Piercarlo Giannattasio, CEO and founder of CommsCon Italia.

Thanks to the modularity and flexibility of the Teko DAS, new LTE technology was added easily to support high-performance communications across multiple operators. Once LTE was added to the BTS (base transceiver station) on the DCS band, the DAS platform was able to accommodate the new technology, utilizing the existing remote units on the network.

Furthermore, the solution optimized the use of pathways and fiber. A single fiber and common remote unit delivers signal for multiple operators and multiple bands. Multiple technologies often coexist on a single band too due to the excellent linearity and wide bandwidth of the high quality power amplifiers. To accommodate the varying environments across the metro transit system, Teko’s dual and tri-band remote units with varying power levels (from low to very high) were deployed to ensure a single managed system provided the seamless wireless coverage.

"Our proven expertise and ability to deliver robust cellular coverage and capacity even in difficult environments such as high-speed trains and underground rail stations has made us a top solution provider for many railway operators. We are thankful to our partner for the high level of competence in designing, installing and managing the system," said Remo Ricci, managing director, Teko Systems Group at JMA Wireless.

The Teko system is being implemented at transit systems around the globe. Besides deployments in Milan, Turin and Rome, it is currently powering wireless communications for metro rail systems in Singapore, Denmark and the Dominican Republic too.

For more information, please contact JMA Wireless.