History

From rooftop antennas to the light in the optical fiber

The father of one of our CEOs was active in antenna construction. With the era of terrestrial signal transmission way behind us, let’s take a brief look back.

In early 1979, “Neuberger Communications and Antenna Engineering GmbH” was founded in Munich. The company set up antenna networks. The aim was to pick up radio waves from the antenna on the roof, convert them into high-frequency radio signals and route them via coaxial cables to the TV outlets in various apartments.

Materials such as cables, plugs, amplifiers, etc. were in the service car anyway, and the quality of the installation work was literally visible. Apart from cable routing, there was little planning and a lot of construction. A boom that was encouraged in Germany by the first private broadcasters in the 1980s.

One day, someone had the idea to boost efficiency using a new buzzworthy tool called software. Shouldn’t it be possible to calculate the amount of equipment needed for a given project? And what signal quality would arrive at which location using which amplifier? And so, in 1988, “Antenna Network Design” was born.

Over the years, the software solution has kept pace with every technological development, from cable TV to cable Internet to fiber optics – often like a pacemaker. Antenna Network Design became Advanced Network Design, and the spin-off software department also brought AND to market for third parties.

With its own development center in Romania, various technical collaborations, mobile applications and cloud solutions, an online based pre-planning tool and much more, AND is always on the move. And keeping the telecom and multimedia industry moving.