RFS looks to double network equipment sales to O&G, industries

Leveraging on industry connectivity needs, network equipment provider Radio Frequency Systems (RFS) expects to double sales of indoor coverage systems to oil & gas, mining and transportation companies in Latin America.

Those industries currently represent about 10% of the company’s regional revenues and the estimate is to ramp this participation up driven by deployments of IoT and industry 4.0 projects.

“We have closed several oil and gas contracts this year that we cannot yet publicly disclose and others that are still in the process of being signed. Overall we have more than 70 projects that are being completed or are under development, from stadiums to miners and drilling companies,” Latin America sales VP Wilson Conti told BNamericas.

"The expansion of road and rail networks in the various countries of Latin America, for example, opens new business opportunities for the company," Conti added. Among the projects already delivered and operational, he cites the subway in Peru and tunnels in Brazil.

Conti says that RFS-patented radiating cabling solution offers better performance in MIMO (higher data traffic rate) applications while maintaining signal homogeneity in indoor areas, bringing high-quality wireless coverage.

5G

In 2020, the company plans to introduce its new small cell base station antennas to the regional market. Small 60cm and with 14 ports, they cover all current frequencies (2G to 4G) and the new 3.5GHz bands, which Brazilian regulator Anatel still plans to tender in the second half of next year for 5G. 

According to Conti, the idea is to expand the portfolio for LTE and LTE Advanced coverage with plug-and-play solutions, which are ready to support the future 5G network with a simple upgrade.

In that way it is possible to avoid product replacement, minimizing additional infrastructure and installation costs. 

The 5G technology is expected to be one of the drivers of the company’s Latin American sales to the telecom vertical, as other countries in the region are also on track to auction 3.5Ghz bands for 5G.

The company’s cable and antennas systems are usually sold together or recommended by wireless equipment providers Nokia, Ericsson and Huawei.

RFS has a Brazilian plant in Embu das Artes, in the metropolitan region of São Paulo, where it manufactures base station antennas and jumpers. The factory was expanded in 2018.

Because of weak demand from Brazilian telcos, 2019 was not a good year for RFS. Latin American sales dropped from the year before, Conti said. 

The forecast for 2020, however, is 15-20% growth, driven by 5G, the regulatory changes in the Brazilian telecom market and industry projects.