Cirtek’s US unit rolls out 5G antennas

Quintel produces antennas for leading US telcos

Silicon Valley-based Quintel USA Inc., a wholly-owned unit of electronics exporter Cirtek Holdings Philippines Corp., unveiled a new generation of antennas designed for America’s nation-wide rollout of 5G services.

Cirtek disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday that Quintel had achieved a “pioneering status” for its 12-port dual diplexed antennas that deliver a “compelling feature of simultaneous independent tilt at 700MHz and 850MHz bands.”

This feature allows managing spectrum license boundary areas in between adjacent cells, state borders or carriers, the disclosure said. In doing so, it enables network operators’ efficient radio network and spectrum planning for 5G rollout.

“For years, growing communications and inter-connectivity demands have burdened telco operators. There are three primary ways of adding capacity to a network. First is acquiring new spectrum. Second is using spectrum more efficiently and third is densifying the network,” Quintel president Michael Liu said.

“Spectrum is a scarce and costly resource which is left between carriers and regulators. From an equipment maker’s perspective, large innovations can be achieved in terms of spectrum efficiency and densification in pushing the network envelope through specialized techniques and these are what Quintel’s new product are all about,” Liu added.

Quintel’s dual diplexed antennas are also available in eight-port formats with lengths of six feet and eight feet to accommodate rural, urban and suburban deployments.

The new product line-up pitches improved coverage when antennas are deployed on rooftops that are set back from the rooftop edge, using a patented “top-heavy” power distribution which ensures that more radio frequency (RF) energy is projected over the rooftop edge, as opposed to conventional antennas which are burdened by “shadowing” that leads to poor coverage and dead spots.

Quintel’s “rooftop-optimized” antennas promise a doubling of signal levels, speed and coverage. These are designed for urban city deployments.

“Cirtek’s manufacturing capacity is currently running at 60 percent amidst the pandemic. It is expected to run up to 70 percent capacity by the time the Philippine lockdown is lifted to comply with COVID-19 preventive measures until such time a vaccine is available or herd immunity is achieved,” Cirtek vice president Tony Callueng said.

To meet rising orders while maintain social distancing within Cirtek’s manufacturing facility in Laguna, it outsources to contract manufacturers in China, which had reopened from the strict lockdowns set earlier in the year when the COVID-19 virus first appeared in Wuhan.

As part of Cirtek’s business continuity and expansion plans, it is in talks with an additional contract manufacturing partner in China. It is likewise in the process of qualifying a new Taiwan facility to diversify its supply chain and ensure business resiliency plans moving forward.

“To date, Cirtek, Quintel and its global offices and R&D (research and development) facilities remain COVID-19 free while in full operation as part of essential industries,” the company said.

Cirtek is engaged in semiconductor assembly and testing operations through Cirtek Electronics Corporation, producing integrated circuits, sensors, microelectromechanical systems and active as well as passive chips used in modern electronic systems. Through Cirtek Advanced Technologies and Solutions Inc., it produces value-added design, engineering, manufacturing, testing, tuning as well as supply chain solutions for highly integrated box build equipment with specialization in radio frequency, microwave and millimeter wave.

US-based subsidiary Quintel designs, develops and supplies cellular base station antennas for global leading telco carriers.