With rise in web surfing and application downloading on mobile devices, mobile data traffic is projected to surge some 26-fold in the next five years, according to a recent study conducted by Cisco Systems Inc. And with limited spectrum available, mobile-service providers are looking for new solutions and technologies to address the capacity issue. As a result, capital spending is expected to be around $36 billion this year, according to market watcher Ovum.

Towards that goal, nation’s third largest operator Sprint Nextel (News - Alert) Corp. is seeking help from telecom gear maker Alcatel-Lucent. The wireless service provider is planning to use Alcatel-Lucent’s lightRadio to handle more calls. “This discussion reflects the industry’s race to avert a capacity crunch for mobile service,” wrote Bloomberg reporter Olga Kharif.

Alcatel-Lucent’s (News - Alert) lightRadio, which was launched a year ago, is a Rubik’s cube-sized device containing radios and antennae. It can be mounted on rooftops, phone poles and bus shelters to expand a network’s capacity in a given spot. According to Kharif’s report, “LightRadio is one of several new technologies created to help the mobile-phone industry cope with the rising tide of calling and data that’s putting a strain on mobile.”

In an interview with Bloomberg (News - Alert), Bob Azzi, senior vice president of network at Overland Park, Kansas-based Sprint, said, “We use technologies to mine spectrum as much as possible.” He added, “That can give us some wiggle room along the way.”

According to Marcus Weldon, chief technology officer at Paris-based Alcatel-Lucent, “Multiple U.S. carriers are testing Alcatel-Lucent’s lightRadio and may begin deploying it this year.” However, when asked to identify the users, Weldon declined to identify the carriers, wrote Kharif.

The report quoted a statement from AT&T (News - Alert) CEO Randall Stephenson, who said, “The No. 1 issue for us as we move forward, and for the industry, I believe, continues to be spectrum.” He added, “This growth cannot continue without more spectrum being cleared and brought to market. And despite all the speeches from the FCC, we’re all still waiting.” This comment was made in January during AT&T’s earnings call.

Similarly, wrote Kharif, mobile phone chip maker Qualcomm (News - Alert) has developed a hardware/software solution to boost capacity of small cells. Last November, in a conference call with investors, Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs said, “It’s going to change the way that networks get deployed, and we’re going to get the data rates through the devices up pretty dramatically by using that.”