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Wireless Federation » archive for '3G'

Mobilkom places world’s fastest I-HSPA call at 10.1Mbps

  • May 9th, 2008
  • 2:50 pm

On Wednesday Nokia Seimens Networks (NSN) and mobilkom Austria demonstrated the world’s fastest data call on a mobile device using the vendor’s Internet High Speed Packet Access (I-HSPA) technology. The downlink speed reached a maximum of 10.1Mbps during the trial.
I-HSPA is designed for heavy data transmission and multimedia usage. The ‘flat architecture’ is a new architecture of 3G networks based on W-CDMA technology that allows the base station to be connected directly to the internet and eliminating Service GPRS Support Nodes (SGSNs) and Radio Network Controllers (RNCs).

   

Motorola unveils Moto Z10 in UK market

  • May 5th, 2008
  • 2:36 pm

The Moto Z10 kick-slider mobile device has been introduced in the UK by communications solutions provider Motorola, enabling users to shoot, edit and share videos direct from the device.

The Moto Z10 features a 3.2 megapixel camera, with superfast burst mode delivering three shots per second; 30 f/s video capture; HSDPA, Symbian UIQ and 3.5G technology; and 2.2″ QVGA display for 30f/s video playback and Bluetooth.

According to Motorola, the MOTO Z10 provides a complete, pocket-sized, mobile film-studio with 3G technology, allowing users to capture high-quality video, edit clips, create scene transitions and add title slides and a soundtrack.

The device is available in the UK in a spun stainless steel, polished metallic finish and soft-feel textures, from O2 retail shops, with release planned from mid-May in the rest of Europe.

   

 

 

 

 

 

3G from T-Mobile today?

  • May 2nd, 2008
  • 2:56 pm

TmoNews.com has reported T-Mobile USA is launching its 3G network in New York City today. The information has come from a leaked memo giving no details on advanced features, applications or services. A T-Mobile USA spokesperson would not comment on the report but did say it would be announcing its 3G plans within a week. T-Mobile has said it intends to roll out 3G in at least 20 cities including Los Angeles, Detroit, San Diego, Austin, Las Vegas, Minneapolis and Miami by the end of 2008.

   

 
 

Mobile operators sign contracts for 3G licences (Brazil)

  • May 1st, 2008
  • 3:10 pm

Following the successful conclusion of its 3G auction in December 2007, Brazil’s telecoms regulator Anatel and a number of the country’s mobile operators have signed contracts for rights to offer UMTS services in the country in the 2100MHz band, reports BNamericas citing an Anatel statement. With the contracts in place, the 3G licensees will be expected to provide mobile broadband internet services to more than 3,800 municipalities within eight years. By 2010 the 3G operators will also be required to deliver mobile telephony to 1,836 municipalities, which currently do not have access to these services, benefiting some 17 million people. The 3G licences are valid for 15 years, with an option to renew for a similar term, and under Anatel’s rules operators must cover all state capitals, the Distrito Federal and cities with more than 500,000 inhabitants with 3G within two years. By the end of year four, 3G must be available in all municipalities with more than 200,000 inhabitants it said, rising to 50% after five years in all municipalities with a population of between 30,000 and 100,000. In the same period 100% of the municipalities above 100,000 will have the service. After eight years, at least 60% of municipalities with less than 30,000 inhabitants must have access to the technology.

TIM Brasil has wasted no time in announcing its 3G rollout plans. From 1 May it intends to offer 3G services in the 2100MHz band in the cities of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. It has already launched 3G services at 850MHz in Belo Horizonte, Curitiba, Florianopolis, Fortaleza, Recife and Salvador. TIM expects to expand the service quickly to other main metropolitan areas. Not to be outdone, Telecoms Americas (Claro), which has also rolled out 3G at 850MHz, announced the launch of its 3G operations on 30 April on the back of a recent BRL2 billion (USD1.17 billion) CAPEX programme for its 2G and 3G infrastructure networks in 2008.

   
 

Globe Telecom launches mobile TV service

  • May 1st, 2008
  • 2:50 pm

Filipino mobile operator Globe Telecom has launched a mobile TV service on its 3G network using a platform supplied by Massachusetts-based NMS Communications. According to NMS, Globe users with a UMTS handset can make a video call to a dial-on number to access the service which offers six channels including live feeds from CNN and three local stations. Globe’s new mobile TV option will also offer ‘made-for-mobile’ TV programmes the NMS statement said. The Inquirer newspaper notes that the service will be available to existing 3G subscribers and that Globe is not actively marketing it as mobile TV at this stage, but rather as part of its standard video streaming service.

   

 

DTAC goes it alone in 3G race (Thailand)

  • April 29th, 2008
  • 2:49 pm

Thailand’s second largest cellco, GSM operator DTAC, has shelved plans to form a joint venture with state-run CAT Telecom to roll out 3G services, and is instead going it alone in upgrading 2G networks to UMTS standard under a THB5 billion (USD160 million) plan, reports the Bangkok Post. CEO Sigve Brekke said DTAC expected to roll out commercial 3G services in Phuket and Chon Buri by the end of this year, building up to nationwide coverage in 2009. DTAC, a subsidiary of Norway’s Telenor, plans to utilise its legacy 850MHz frequency band to roll out W-CDMA/HSDPA technology enabling mobile internet access at speeds of up to 1Mbps. Brekke said that setting up a 3G partnership with CAT would take more time because it required Cabinet approval. However DTAC still needs approval for the plan from CAT, under its build-transfer-operate (BTO) network operating concession with the state telco, and is set to meet with CAT’s board this week to discuss the matter. The CEO said DTAC had three possible 3G equipment suppliers lined up, and added that his firm recently took over three content providers – Radio Fat Co, Play Sabai Co and Create Co – for a combined THB150 million to help build up a range of downloadable 3G content. Mr Brekke also said that DTAC would not entirely abandon joint-venture plans with CAT and would seek to develop the partnership after the commercial rollout of 3G. ‘We are willing to have CAT as our partner. [the venture] can be formed after the launch,’ he said.

DTAC’s larger GSM rival Advanced Info Service (AIS) appears to have a headstart in the race to launch UMTS, after announcing earlier this month that it would soft launch a 3G network using existing 900MHz spectrum in Chiang Mai by the end of May, and hoped to do the same in Bangkok in June. Thailand’s National Telecommunications Commission is yet to issue 2100MHz UMTS licences, but is expected to do so in the second half of this year.

   
 

AIS wants 3G in capital by June (Thailand)

  • April 24th, 2008
  • 2:01 pm

Thailand’s mobile market leader Advanced Info Service (AIS) says it wants to launch commercial 3G services in Chiang Mai next month and in Bangkok in June, reports the Bangkok Post. The firm’s president Wichian Mektrakarn said that the launch of W-CDMA/HSDPA services over a 900MHz network would take place first in Chiang Mai after his company had prepared 30 base stations for a ‘commercial trial’ with state-run telco TOT, the owner of AIS’s build-transfer-operate (BTO) telecoms licence. But he said that AIS was awaiting clarification from the regulator the NTC, expected within 30 days, to determine whether the rollout could encompass a full commercial launch. For the planned Chiang Mai service, Mektrakarn said that users needed to register or replace their existing SIM cards with compatible ones. AIS, together with TOT, has reportedly received permission from the NTC to import 3G/3.5G equipment for an initial launch of 900MHz services, and is in the process of seeking the watchdog’s consent to expand the network to Bangkok. That the strategy was hatched out of frustration at the long delays in issuing 2100MHz UMTS licences in Thailand, which are now hoped for later this year, and the licensing malaise has also led to rival cellco DTAC proposing to partner its BTO network host CAT Telecom in a rollout of 800MHz/850MHz 3G services, using frequencies re-farmed from a legacy analogue network.

   

 

 

Orange to slice cost of Apple’s iPhone (France)

  • April 22nd, 2008
  • 2:46 pm

A report in French newspaper Les Echos claims that Orange France is preparing to cut the price it charges for an iPhone. The paper goes on to say that top officials from the French mobile operator have travelled to California to ask the handset maker what can be done about the stocks of unsold iPhones it is currently carrying, amid fresh industry rumours that a 3G version of the innovative device is soon to be on the way. Indeed, the Italian newspaper La Repubblica has claimed that the 3G iPhone is coming shortly to Telecom Italia without a revenue sharing deal and without long-term exclusivity. In the meantime, the French cellco could opt to subsidise the price of the iPhone – a move that has already been taken by O2 in the UK and T-Mobile Germany – although Orange France has denied all the rumours, saying that ‘everything is going well’ where the iPhone is concerned. Earlier this month, Orange France released sales figures for the iPhone, reporting that it had shipped just 96,000 units since launching the device in November.

   

 

Mobile operators reject Free’s ‘unbundling’ offer (France)

  • April 21st, 2008
  • 2:38 pm

France’s three mobile network operators have reportedly rejected a call by French ISP Free to allow it to use their networks to offer mobile services at near-cost prices, citing a report in French paper Les Echos. Free’s latest move is being seen as a fall-back solution should it fail in its second attempt to buy the country’s unsold fourth 3G licence. The ISP is awaiting the outcome of the government’s revised tender for the award of the concession which is expected to be sold off in lots. Free parent company Iliad’s CEO, Maxime Lombardini, reportedly told the newspaper that his company does not want to be an MVNO such as Tele2 Mobile, Virgin Mobile or NRJ Mobile which enjoy ‘little financial or technological autonomy’. Instead, Free is proposing an alternative arrangement under which it would pay a fixed annual fee to its host network provider, and then pay a reduced rate for traffic volumes based on cost price plus an operator margin of less than EUR 0.02 per minute. Mirroring the company’s unbundling arrangements for fixed line broadband services, Free also proposes to be able to interconnect its own equipment with the host operator’s mobile network, especially for subscriber location functions. It is understood, however, that Orange France, SFR and Bouygues Telecom are not interested.

   

 

Japan Communications to launch by July, sources say (Japan)

  • April 21st, 2008
  • 2:26 pm

Japanese wireless start-up Japan Communications could launch a mobile service using internet protocol (IP) phones as early as July, according to sources familiar with the situation. Last month, CommsUpdate reported that the newcomer had submitted a request to the country’s largest cellular network operator, NTT DoCoMo, asking to interconnect its own infrastructure with the mobile giant’s 3G FOMA network as part of a plan to launch data services in the summer. At the time Japan Communications said it hoped to begin offering data services to corporate users between July and September, and that it would offer a fixed fee service model at launch, which would be offered through a range of smart phones. Japan Communications hopes to attract new users to the fledgling service by undercutting the tariffs currently charged by its rivals.