Anritsu releases multi-technology solution for quicker troubleshooting and optimization of mobile access networks; Single solution helps mobile operators reduce fault analysis time by a factor of 3 to 5, expediting problem resolution and protecting revenue.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- Anritsu A/S, a subsidiary of Anritsu Corporation and a global provider of Operational Support Solutions for advanced and converged networks, announced today the release of Compass Wireless, its next-generation multi-technology post-processing solution for troubleshooting, optimization and maintenance of GSM, GPRS/EDGE and UMTS mobile access networks.

Evolved from more than 10 years of know-how and customer feedback, Compass Wireless offers operators a single advanced yet easy-to-use tool for troubleshooting and optimizing their network and services, addressing network-critical, and therefore revenue-affecting, issues in their mobile networks.

"Compass Wireless is a powerful tool to help our customers expedite the isolation and resolution of problems impacting high-revenue services, such as roaming, SMS and MMS, in a cost-efficient manner," said Thomas Jensen, vice president of the Service Assurance Division of Anritsu A/S. "Our next-generation solution ensures full end-to-end visibility of transactions, allowing mobile operators to easily address handover and interoperability issues. As a result, the analysis time is reduced by a factor of 3 to 5, allowing Compass Wireless to be amortized very quickly."

As network, service, partner, and customer issues become increasingly more complex to address, mobile operators must achieve even faster problem isolation and resolution to avoid further service degradation and a subsequent impact on revenue.

Starting with high-level summary information, Compass Wireless delivers service providers with a prioritized list of problem areas and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). From there, they are offered fast drill-down to in-depth metrics and functionality, such as user tracing, call tracing and protocol analysis. Proactive actions can then be taken to resolve network-critical issues. As a result, operators can rapidly pinpoint typical issues, such as congestion, interference, radio cell coverage, and equipment, handover failures and roaming problems with no need for drive testing tools. This optimizes QoS, minimizes churn and ultimately ensures more revenue minutes in the network.

Capable of processing live subscriber traffic captured by a large number of protocol analyzers and network monitoring probes, including Anritsu NetClaw and Anritsu MasterClaw, Compass Wireless is the only solution on the market to provide instant problem overview with direct access to details of all affected calls while providing a true picture of customer experience.

Being an intuitive tool, Compass Wireless also aids service providers by minimizing the complexity of the troubleshooting process, resulting in low cost of ownership. As an example, warning reports in the tool provide information on where to focus the troubleshooting efforts; this in turn allows operators to optimize utilization of personnel resources by applying skills where the problems really are and thus limiting operational expenses.

Highlights of Compass Wireless include:

    --  Multi-technology platform for troubleshooting, optimizing and
        maintaining the mobile access network with a user-centric view
    --  GSM/GSMR, GPRS/EDGE and UMTS
    --  Fastest in-depth post-processing tool on the market for rapid
        handling of very large traffic files and minimized database
        storage
    --  Easy drill-down to individual traces giving an overview of
        activities and the level of detail provided by a protocol
        analyzer
    --  State-of-the-art and intuitive graphical user interface with
        fast access to operational results
    --  Advanced aggregation and filtering capabilities of KPIs
    --  Cross-correlation of multi-interface procedures with
        end-to-end transaction information on subscribers, reducing
        complexity and accelerating the time to fix the problem
    --  Multi-file processing capabilities allowing operators to
        process multiple traffic files and store the result for later
        analysis, minimizing the time for trouble resolution
    --  Designed for true client-server architecture
    --  Future proof multi-technology solution allowing easy and
        cost-efficient expansion to additional mobile technologies
        from within same application
        --  Unique license plug-in structure determines the network
            technology
    --  Analysis based on live traffic captured by network probes
        reflecting true customer behavior and experience
    --  Multi-probe vendor-support for investment protection
    --  Optimizes usage of drive test indicating where drive test
        should be used for further investigation, thus minimizing
        unnecessary drive test time and ensuring maximum focus on
        network issues

About Anritsu

Anritsu A/S is a subsidiary of Anritsu Corporation (www.anritsu.com) which has been a global provider of innovative communications solutions for more than 110 years. With the acquisition of NetTest (www.nettest.com), Anritsu provides solutions for existing and next-generation wired and wireless communication systems and operators. Anritsu products include wireless, optical, microwave/RF, and digital instruments as well as Operations Support Solutions for R&D, manufacturing, installation, and maintenance. Anritsu also provides precision microwave/RF components, optical devices, and high-speed electrical devices for communication products and systems. With offices throughout the world, Anritsu sells in over 90 countries with approximately 4,000 employees.