www.WirelessFederation.com/news: An LTE technology trial showcased at Singapore Telecommunication’s (SingTel) headquarters has been unveiled by the telecom operator in partnership with Ericsson. Demonstration of the network capability to industry players like application developers, content providers and game producers has been the main motive behind the trials so that they can start thinking of new products and services.

3D virtual mapping, voice over LTE, HD multiplayer online gaming as well as ‘live’ images with augmented reality along with a range of interactive multimedia applications has been showcased by SingTel and Ericsson during the trials.

Up gradation of SingTel’s mobile broadband network will be carried out progressively over the next 12 to 24 months to be LTE-ready while the commercial deployment is slated to take place in phases. However, the latter one depends upon the availability of frequency spectrum and commercial LTE mobile devices.

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www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Europeans now seem to be willing to pay for goods from their phones and with the successful trial in Sweden; the continent seems to be ripe enough for SMS-based mobile payments to take off.  20% increase in sales of the seven vending machines in two Stockholm underground stations was reported where the service was trialed by the payment and messaging equipment provider, Ericsson IPX, besides boosting carrier’s ARPU through increased SMS traffic.

The commercial services in Sweden is now planned to be launched and is set to begin fresh trials in Oslo, Norway, by end March. According to Donya Ekstrand, head of marketing and communications at Ericsson IPX, the Swedish trial was successful because consumers are familiar with how SMS works, and using that technology provides a clear revenue stream for carriers.

Partner firm Mobivending, on the other hand, has shown its unwillingness to discuss how many people had used the service in Stockholm. It has also been explained by CEO Katarina Lowenberg that it was up to the carriers to discuss usage, but said that individuals spent around 50% more when paying for goods via SMS because it was more convenient than fishing around their pockets for change.

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www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Trials for a new service known as Group Radio Solution have been completed by Australian telco Telstra. The service would see Australian emergency service organizations use its HSPA (Next G) network to operate their emergency radio communications.

Group Radio Solution capability designed by Ericsson would be made available if private mobile radio network operators’ show their interest. The service would then be made available across the Next G network footprint and complement existing essential and emergency radio networks.

According to Telstra Wireless executive director Mike Wright, the trial found a very real potential to combine Telstra’s Next G coverage footprint and range of services with the specific needs of private radio network operators and the extreme weather conditions over the past week illustrate the extraordinary challenges emergency services organizations face and it’s at these times when communications are paramount.

Telstra along with mobile device manufacturers is already working to design a prototype that would allow mobile voice and data services as well as two-way radio functionality on a single device if Telstra decide to deploy the Group Radio Solution.

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Turkcell completes HSPA+ 3G tests

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A series of HSPA+ enabled 3G network tests have been completed by Turkcell in collaboration with Ericsson, attaining a peak transmission speed of 42Mbps. Ericsson provided its dual carrier and multi carrier frequency solutions in a network upgrade programme.

According to Turgut Erkul, business area radio manager at Ericsson, Turkcell and Ericsson conducted an HSPA multi carrier 42.2Mbps test on 5 March 2010 in Istanbul. Turkcell is among the first operators in the world to reach 42.2Mbps speed with Ericsson’s HSPA multi carrier solution.

Turkcell chief network operations officer, Ylter Terzioolu, on the other hand added that Turkcell will provide these speed levels to its customers in 2010 and aims to eventually reach 84Mbps in 3G.

Investment in cutting-edge infrastructure will be continued by Turkcell to ensure that its network can utilize the most up-to-date technologies.

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www.WirelessFederation.com/news: For the first time on the African continent, successful trial of 3G network at 900 MHz has been done by MTN Ghana along with Ericsson. The roll-out will begin in Q2 2010 and the responsibility for the access, transport and transmission of 3G UMTS 900 MHz will be over Ericsson.

According to Lars Lindén, President, Ericsson sub-Saharan Africa, by leveraging off the existing installed Ericsson 3G Radio Access Network and enabling UMTS in 900 MHz, not only can voice, video and high speed data calls be carried over the network, but operators benefit from having one network delivering all services with the lowest total cost of ownership.

MTN Ghana CTO, Eben Albertyn has given credit to Ericsson’s solid position as an established infrastructural provider in the local and international market and the diverse connectivity services and felt that it will help the company to continue to grow the network coverage locally as well as into many rural and remote sites.

The coverage is increased per Node-B compared with UMTS 2100 with UMTS 900 providing between 44% (in urban areas) and 119% (rural areas).

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www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A new lineup of handheld products is being developed by Sony Corp to compete with Apple’s iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. The products are scheduled to launch this year. The range of products includes a smart phone capable of downloading and playing PlayStation games.

Sony and Sony Ericsson are working together to develop these handsets. Apple has a wide range of products that connect to its iTunes media platform and Sony’s product aims at having a dig at them. The portable-gaming market which is dominated by Sony has now being invaded by Apple. The nascent e-reader market where one million units have already being sold by Sony is expected to be disrupted by iPad tablet.

Project to develop a portable device is also underway to compete against multifunction products such as Apple’s coming iPad tablet. The product is designed in a way that blurs distinctions among a netbook, an e-reader and a PlayStation Portable, or PSP.

Sony’s online media platform will work with both the new smart phone and the multifunction device. The media platform is due to launch later this month in the U.S. as the company’s answer to Apple’s iTunes.

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www.WirelessFederation.com/news: In order to  cater for anticipated demand for data intensive services, ‘4G’ Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology are under development by T-Mobile Hungary and Swedish equipment manufacturer Ericsson.

The trial of the LTE network is already under the process and ahead of a planned commercial launch. The date of the launch is still not revealed.

In October 2009, the LTE equipment was installed. A test system began in earnest in January this year, capable of providing voice and data services, with a goal of achieving download speeds of up to 100Mbps.

According to T-Mobile, since the introduction of HSPA technology, the number of people signing up to mobile internet packages has expanded dramatically and today, more than 90% of data generated by T-Mobile’s 430,000 broadband subscribers is related to its HSPA network.

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A tender worth $6 billion to supply equipment for 93 million mobile phone lines on the global system for mobile communications, or GSM, platform has been decided to be scraped by the board of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.

Scarcity of GSM lines have been suffered by the state run Indian telco, in its bid to increase its subscriber’s addition pace to match the bigger rivals Bharti Airtel Ltd., Reliance Communications Ltd. and privately held Vodafone Essar Ltd.

A report submitted to the Indian government by a panel set up for the restructuring of BSNL and led by, adviser to the country’s Prime Minister Sam Pitroda led to this decision. Changes in BSNL’s procurement processes and procedures have been suggested by the panel in consultation with the Central Vigilance Commission, the country’s federal corruption regulator.

It has also been alleged that the cancelling of the whole tender process has also been suggested by the panel.
Controversies hit the much-delayed tender due to various issues including legal and government directives right from the start. First BSNL was dragged to the local court by the telecom equipment maker Nokia Siemens Networks after it was disqualified for the tender, as it didn’t meet “techno-commercial criteria.

L.M. Ericsson Telephone Co., Huawei Technologies Co, Alcatel-Lucent, ZTE Corp. and Nortel Networks Corp included in the list of bidders.

Zain Jordan considers LTE roll out

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A number of offers by international equipment vendors are currently being studied by Zain Jordan for the introduction of Long Term Evolution (LTE). Offers to build 4G infrastructure from companies like Motorola, Ericsson, Huawei and Nokia Siemens Networks is on Zain’s cards.

According to Zain CEO Abdel Malek Al Jaber, he is awaiting a decision by the telecoms watchdog, the TRC, on the award of the necessary licenses which will hopefully lead to the launch of a trial network later this year, ahead of an official launch in early 2011.

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www.WirelessFederation.com/news: With an aim to offer media-rich services to both its residential and business clients, Ericsson has been contracted by TeliaSonera for the up gradation of its broadband access network from ADSL to VDSL2.

EDA 1200 based on VDSL2 technology and related installation services will be delivered by Ericsson under the agreement.

TeliaSonera operations in Sweden, Denmark and Norway are covered in the contract according to which one million access lines based on VDSL2 technology will be supplied by Ericsson to the operator.
Deployment starts in Sweden and will run over the next 12 months.

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