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Wilson Electronics is a U.S. manufacturer that, for the last decade, has exclusively made cell phone signal boosters and antennas, which help extend the reach of your cell phone signal whether you drop calls in your home or in your office. We had a chance to sit down with Wilson Electronics’ COO Joe Banos to discuss his company that has been around for 40 years.

How do Wilson’s products help consumers?

Wilson Electronics’ cell phone signal boosters and antennas provide users with many benefits. First off, they reduce the number of dropped calls and minimize cell signal dead zones. Regardless of how good a wireless carrier’s coverage is, it is physically impossible to eliminate poor service areas and dead zones.  

Second, Wilson signal boosters help connect calls that would not normally go through in poor service areas. This is a must for those travelling long distances in a vehicle that need to be able to make calls in case of emergency.

Third, Wilson signal boosters also provide cellular modem and smart phone users faster data transfer rates, which is great for those who rely on a strong cellular signal for keeping in touch with personal and professional friends and contacts.

And finally, Wilson products amplify weak cellular signals in two directions, both from and to the tower. This allows for better overall call quality by allowing the user to hear and to be heard.

What is going on in the cell phone signal booster market that makes Wilson relevant?

As more and more people rely on their cell phones as their only phone line, it is increasingly important for them to have a strong, reliable cellular signal. It is evident in the ads produced by the wireless carriers right now that coverage is a huge concern for them at this time. All the major carriers are touting their coverage, claiming they have the best.

The truth is, no matter how good a carriers’ service is, there are going to be dead zones and weak-signal areas, period. It is physically impossible for any of the carriers to provide signal coverage to every location where their customers may need to make or receive a call. Distance is a major factor, as are obstacles, both natural and man-made.

Whether people travel through these weak coverage areas and dead zones or live in them, they pose a problem that needs to be addressed. Cell carriers try to address this dissatisfaction without admitting it’s their problem. Wilson products solve this coverage problem for carriers, and can even serve as a valuable tool to drive customers in poor service areas to the carrier’sservice. Wilson cell phone signal boosters increase signal range and strength for all phones and on all North American cell networks.

How does Wilson Electronics set itself apart from its competitors?

First of all, as we mentioned earlier, Wilson products amplify the cell signal both ways. Some signal boosters only amplify the signal from the tower to the phone, making them virtually useless as they don’t allow the user to hear and be heard. Second, Wilson proprietary technology prevents the signal booster from causing interference on the cellular networks. Poorly engineered signal boosters can interfere with cell towers, causing lost calls and reducing network call capacity. Our products eliminate this problem.

Last, our patented technology prevents the signal booster from overloading and shutting down the cell tower. Many other signal boosters don’t incorporate these safeguards, which can put the cellular network infrastructure at risk.    

How do you see femtocells impacting Wilson’s business?

Though femtocells will have some impact on our in building business, that segment is actually smaller in sales volume than is the mobile signal booster business.  Femtocells also have several disadvantages that signal boosters do not. For example, femtocells will only provide service to phones subscribed to the carrier providing the Femto, and then only to phones that have been registered for femtocell service.  

This is a major disadvantage for a small business or a family that may have users of different carriers under the same roof.  Femtos utilize a home or business' high-speed Internet connection, consuming bandwith that would otherwise be available to computer users on the premises.  Subscribers without a high speed connection or using satellite internet access at present will be unable to use femtocells.  On the other hand, an in building amplifier system can bring in internet access via cellular to rural locations.

What is it about cell phone signal booster technology that could cause some interference to wireless networks?

First, it's important to note that a properly designed signal booster can detect the conditions I'm about to illustrate and can shut itself down. We design boosters with protections to both of these problems.

The biggest issue or concern is the potential for oscillation.  This is like what happens when you use a PA system and the microphone is too close to the speaker, or you have the volume turned up too high, and you hear a whistling noise (feedback).  A booster without specific protections and automatic shutoffs can do the same thing if the outside and inside antennas are placed too close to each other.  Many boosters do not have oscillation protection, so if they start oscillating (creating feedback) they could cause interference to a nearby site which would then not be able to hear people trying to place calls on their phones.

The second most common problem is caused when a booster attempts to improve the signal for a cell phone or data card user, where the carrier's cell tower is far away, yet there may be a site of a competing carrier near by (like a block or two away).  When this happens, though the booster may be working and amplifying the the signal from the cell tower that's far away, the tower closer to the user, which belongs to another carrier, may be ‘overloaded” by the signal going to the far tower from the booster.

What has Wilson Electronics done to its cell phone signal boosters in order to prevent this kind of cellular carrier network interference?

Wilson designed and patented oscillation (interference or feedback) detection and automatic shut down.  Essentially, if one of our boosters oscillate, it is turned off within a few milliseconds.  A red light built into our boosters then tells the user that an oscillation occurred, which signifies that the antennas need greater separation to operate.  Once this is done, the power is turned off and back on.  If no oscillation occurs, a green light then comes on to signify that all is okay.

Wilson also has developed circuitry which senses a nearby cell tower and likewise immediately shuts off the booster (even if it's not oscillating). The user knows this has happened as a red flashing light comes on to indicate the nearby tower problem.  The problem is sometimes rectified by using one of our directional antennas.  Sometimes the other carrier’s cell tower is simply too close and a booster can’t be used.  This does not happen often (maybe 2 % of the situations where a booster is being used) but if it does, we shut the booster down immediately.

What is Wilson's position on what the FCC can do to ensure consumer choice without hurting quality of their cellular service?

It is our position that the FCC certification standards have been inadequate.  We believe there is equipment out there that should not have been FCC certified, and these products give the good signal boosters a bad reputation.  We recommended to the FCC that they mandate that any booster submitted for certification be required to have some method of effective oscillation and overload detection and shut down in order to protect the networks established by the cellular carriers.  This is the basis of our petition to the FCC [Docket 10-4].  Today’s FCC testing for certification does not check for these two protections.  Additionally, some boosters only amplify from the cell tower and not back to it.  These products are a fraud as they can trick the cell phone into acting like it's close to a cell tower, causing it to power down, when in actual fact, it needs to power up in order to send the signal back to the cell tower.  We are also asking that two-way amplification be required.