T-Mobile NL to roll out HSPA+ technology
Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile Netherlands unit is planning to deploy HSPA+ technology offering peak connections of 21Mbps in the country this year, to meet growing demand for data services from Dutch users.
T-Mobile’s initial focus is on expanding both coverage and capacity, as well as improving the network’s overall robustness.
According to CTO Olivier Baujard, the Netherlands currently has the widest penetration of smartphones and highest use of data services anywhere in Europe.
In order to cater for strong demand which has put its network under intense pressure, the cellco increased its CAPEX by one-fifth in 2010. It also created a so-called ‘smartphone challenge’ list of tips based on its experiences for handset makers, suppliers and other industry players to meet the new market conditions.
Roshan to extend mobile service to Afghanistan’s hard-to-reach areas
Afghanistan’s Roshan has selected a base transmission system (BTS) from Lotus Solutions and Services to extend mobile phone service to some of the hardest-to-reach areas of the country.
Lotus has partnered with industry leaders to design and launch the Lotus BTS. Airspan Networks provided the backhaul, while ip.access supplied the GSM/EDGE access controllers and Deltenna delivered the antenna. The Lotus system was successfully tested in Colorado last year.
According to Amiruddin Ahmad, CTO of Roshan, the Lotus BTS will allow them to extend their network easily and profitably into the more remote parts of the country at an affordable cost. The technology in the Lotus solution, coupled with the company’s skills in deploying infrastructure, makes it possible for them to bring their innovative mobile services to previously un-served and under-served users.
Installing new sites in the mountainous parts of Afghanistan requires considerable logistical capabilities. The Lotus solution with its integrated access and backhaul in a self-contained form factor results in no equipment at the bottom of the tower and greatly simplifies deployments. No clean rooms, microwaves or air conditioning systems are needed. Another key feature is the low power consumption of less than 200W for a sector with two access and one backhaul radio interfaces. In many regions, a generator can be substituted for solar power.
Lotus Solutions and Services is a division of Asia Consultancy Group (ACG), a company that was founded by people who deployed the first wireless telecommunications network in Afghanistan. ACG has extensive experience in the hard-to-reach areas of Asia, including deployment and operation of base stations on top of the Salang Pass in Afghanistan at 12,700 feet above sea level.
Mobile industry to waste $500 on unnecessary base stations in 2011
The mobile telecoms industry could be wasting upwards of US$500 million this year on unnecessary new base station equipment, according to a study by Arieso – a company that sells network management software.
According to the company, operators have been typically restricted to network measurement tools and techniques that do not provide granular, timely data on network performance. Without detailed information on congestion hotspots and coverage ‘holes’, locations for base stations are inevitably chosen that do not yield the intended performance. But with precision information, operators can accurately locate base stations to ensure that CAPEX will provide maximum return on their investment.
Operators are now deploying a large number of new base stations in direct response to the explosive growth in data usage. Arieso predicts that poorly placed base stations could result in $516 million of wasted CAPEX, from a predicted total base station investment of $5.6 billion in 2011.
According to Michael Flanagan, CTO of Arieso, every dollar counts. In an era when average revenues are declining and OPEX is rising, operators must ensure that their CAPEX is spent as wisely as possible. Intuition, inaccurate information, and guesswork simply do not suffice. Operators must adopt a new approach to network planning and optimization that uses timely, accurate and precise data to make critical investment decisions.
Finding the best location for base stations is much harder than it appears. The position of base stations relative to traffic density, and also relative to each other, is critical in order to provide the required coverage and manage interference.
However, attempting to position base stations with the limitations of existing tools and methodologies, such as high level OSS statistics and drive testing, can in extreme cases worsen network efficiency and user experience. Where this approach has been taken, operators have risked putting expensive base stations in locations that do not deliver the required performance.
Using actual customer usage data, Arieso monitors the real-world impact of different handsets in precise locations, and determines their effects on network performance. Operators can then use the data to efficiently manage their networks and deploy new infrastructure with surgical precision, for maximum ROI and to improve service quality for the customers.
Ericsson inks DTAC 3G network upgradation deal (Thailand)
DTAC has signed its first contract with Ericsson to modernize its nationwide GSM/EDGE network, and prepare for future 3G network upgrades.
Ericsson will also support in managing the network during the first year of operation, and will also supply and integrate the Messaging in One platform, and provide network launch and manage services during the first year of launch and operation.
According to Rolf Marthinusen, CTO of DTAC, this modernization will provide a more efficient and capable network that is well suited to today’s demands, and readies them for 3G and 4G/LTE. This gives them a strong roadmap for years to come, so DTAC can continue to deliver leading services to Thai consumers and business users. Through Ericsson’s combination of technology and services expertise they feel confident that this live upgrade of their network will be managed in a smooth way.
The contract includes Ericsson’s RBS 6000 multi-standard radio base stations, MSC Server Blade Cluster and User Data Management, as well as its mobile packet core and circuit core solutions.
Financial and timeline details were not provided.
Wind to deploy Huawei Technologies’ HD voice services (Canada)
Huawei Technologies’ has announced that Canadian 3G cellular operator, Wind Mobile is deploying Huawei Technologies’ High Definition (HD) voice services for its subscribers, based on an implementation of ‘Wide Band Adaptive Multi-Rate (AMR)’ in the core network, and is the first wireless provider in Canada to use the service.
According to Marius Armeanca, CTO at Wind Mobile, the HD voice services Wind is using brings better quality voice to end users … Huawei was instrumental in helping us create a technology that will do for phones what High Definition did for television. With the customised Wide Band AMR Service, our customers will realise superior voice quality and an improved overall experience. Wide Band AMR is a speech coding standard using a wider bandwidth of 50Hz-7000Hz compared to narrowband quality bandwidth of roughly 300Hz-3400Hz.
T-Mobile USA to launch new HSPA-based technology
T-Mobile USA and Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) are supporting an HSPA -based technology that they claim could match the peak-rate data speeds promised by LTE Advanced.
The companies want to see Long Term HSPA Evolution, which they say could achieve peak-rate data speeds of 650Mb/s, adopted as a standard. Their aim is to see the technology commercially deployed by 2013.
According to the companies, the key features of Long Term HSPA Evolution were accepted during the plenary meeting of 3GPP RAN held on 7-10 December
According to Neville Ray, CTO at T-Mobile USA, they strongly believe in continued HSPA evolution in parallel to the further development of LTE and LTE Advanced. Long Term HSPA Evolution would allow T-Mobile USA to squeeze more life out of its existing infrastructure. T-Mobile has courted controversy with a marketing campaign in the US that claims its existing HSPA+based service is 4G.
Vodafone Qatar selects Alcatel-Lucent for landline contract
Vodafone Qatar has awarded an agreement to Alcatel-Lucent to be the sole supplier for an expansion into the fixed broadband market. Following the award of a landline license last year, Vodafone Qatar is planning to offer customers an integrated service, encompassing fixed and mobile.
To achieve this ambitious project, Vodafone Qatar selected Alcatel-Lucent, together with partner companies, to deploy an entirely new fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network, based on gigabit passive optical network (GPON) and point-to-point Gigabit Ethernet technology. Alcatel-Lucent’s IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) solution will then be used to link the new infrastructure with Vodafone Qatar’s existing mobile network. This will allow services to be offered seamlessly through fixed and mobile connections without excessive cost or complexity.
According to Jenny Howe, CTO, Vodafone Qatar, the company continues to be committed to bring innovations to their customers and to become the most admired brand in the country. Partnering with Alcatel-Lucent, they will now look forward to extend their service offerings across Qatar to fixed broadband – a major area of growth for our company. Together with Alcatel-Lucent they will make a world of difference for all people in Qatar.
Telefonica contracts NSN to expand network in Germany
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Telefonica O2 Germany has signed a service contract with Finnish equipment supplier Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) as per which the latter will expand the operator’s network capacity to prepare for future traffic growth.
A range of services will be provided by NSN under the contract including network implementation, project management and logistics. The aim is to efficiently expand network in Germany where the vendor has previously deployed network infrastructure. Besides, the company has also extended its existing supplier contract for 2G/3G technology.
According to Andrea Folgueiras, CTO at Telefonica O2 Germany, the company is constantly investing in its network capabilities to offer the best possible quality to its customers and to prepare its network for future demand and NSN is already its 3G technology supplier in the northeast and western areas of Germany and has also convinced that it has the service capability to handle a speedy network expansion.
Telecom NZ faces another network crash, CTO resigns
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: After the fourth outage of the XT Mobile network, the chief technical officer of Telecom New Zealand submitted his resignation. The supplier of the faulty 3G network, Alcatel-Lucent, has also announced the replacement of its NZ manager Steve Lowe.
Jyoti Mahurkar-Thombre, former general manager of Alcatel Lucent’s Next Generation Networks’ product unit, has been named as new NZ manager by the company.
The XT Mobile network was crippled for up to 12 hours on Monday, its fourth outage in two months.
