Schema - Maximizing Network Performance

Wireless resource management software developer Schema Ltd. has only three clients - and just one of those, a regional operator in Wisconsin, is a U.S. carrier. But Israel-based Schema`s deployment today with a second U.S client may signal a flood of new clients from around the world. That`s because big name carrier Bell Atlantic`s [BEL] wireless arm is deploying Schema`s Falcom software to optimize its frequency use as it continues migrating its network from analog to the CDMA standard.

"It`s a very respectable contract to win," Schema President Yuval Davidor told Wireless Today.

Bedminster, N.J.-based Bell Atlantic Mobile plans to install Falcom in its Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington-Baltimore and western Massachusetts markets during the next six months. Bell Atlantic Mobile operates the largest eastern U.S. network and will become part of a nationwide CDMA offering in its pending union with Vodafone AirTouch`s [VOD] U.S. network.

Schema`s other clients are Cellcom Green Bay in Wisconsin, and Cellcom and Pele-Phone in Israel.

Schema was founded in 1994 as a defense logistics contractor. The company sold its defense contracting operations in 1997 to focus on telecom resource management.

Schema engineers program the software to meet each client`s individual network-management needs. The software is developed with data provided by clients, as well as information compiled by Schema researchers.

"Falcom can be applied to networks operating with all-digital and analog interfaces," Davidor said. "With mobile telecom services growing rapidly, most wireless operators want to improve their spectrum-management capabilities while also reducing their costs.

"You have to have a unified approach or a joint effort to accomplish optimization," Davidor said.

Schema charges its customers initial and annual licensing fees based on the size of the network. The initial licensing fees start at around $200,000 for smaller networks.

"We are not cheap," Davidor said. "We are much more expensive than any of the competition. No matter how much we cost, the payback is in one or two months."

Schema is the first telecom software vendor with technology that offers spectrum-management direction for CDMA networks, or frequency-allocation information for TDMA and GSM networks. Falcom software operates on mathematical algorithms developed by Schema to determine the best allocation of spectrum or frequencies, and economic resources to improve quality of service. The software includes programs for which the company has intellectual property rights.

"Inefficient distribution of capacity impedes a network`s ability to handle more subscribers while harming the existing quality of service. Service problems often lead to subscriber churn," Davidor said.

"Network operators waste money with spectrum or frequency-management efforts based on incomplete system analysis," he added. "And when wireless operators conduct thorough examinations of their networks, they often need four months or more to do it. Falcom provides the information in a matter of hours. Based on commercial and trial deployments, Schema reported Falcom can improve network efficiency by double-digit percentages. The software encompasses data, statistics and other information from separate segments of a company`s structure. While all of that information is needed for network planning, many wireless carriers don`t employ effective methods for sharing that material between separate offices," Davidor said.

Falcom eliminates the "Babylonian tower paradigm" of different units in the same company being unable to communicate effectively with each other," he added.