Globe Telecom expanding network capacity
Globe Telecom, Inc. will employ a multi-pronged strategy to expand capacity and improve performance this year, citing growing customer demand for voice and data services. In a statement, the telco, a joint venture between Ayala Corp. and Singapore Telecommunications Ltd., revealed that the improvements will cover all product types, including postpaid and prepaid services.
According to Globe Telecom, it would have more robust infrastructure support through greater capacity and network availability, optimization, and improved monitoring systems including disaster recovery management.
As per Ernest L. Cu, President and Chief Executive of Globe Telecom, this year, they will continue to build on service quality as a key differentiator for Globe. They will implement a proactive approach in meeting the upsurge in voice and data requirements across all customer segments, including the larger enterprises. Optimizing their existing assets will help ensure a wider coverage, whether indoors or outdoors. They will also improve power and transmission management to meet quality objectives in terms of network availability and capacity.
Mr. Cu stated that the capacity expansion has the full support of the firm’s board, which recently approved a significant amount for network plans this year. The firm’s capital expenditures hit $500 million last year.
Globe Telecom has close to 12,000 base stations and over 6,500 cell sites to support its 2G, 3G and WiMAX services. It has more than 25 million mobile subscribers, with over a million broadband users.
AT&T on track with new high-speed network in 2011 (USA)
The largest US telecommunications group AT&T is accelerating the launch of a new high-speed wireless network based on a technology called LTE.
AT&T plans to start deploying the new 4G network beginning in mid-2011 and complete the nationwide launch by the end of 2013, much sooner than had been expected.
AT&T’s decision to start the building of its 4G network reflects competition in the US market where Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel have already launched 4G networks based on LTE and WiMax respectively.
Ralph de la Vega, Chief Executive of AT&T’s wireless unit promised that AT&T’s network would be the fastest and deliver the best customer experience.
In advance of the LTE launch, AT&T and Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile USA unit have both enhanced the data speed of their existing wireless networks by deploying a ‘bridging’ technology called HSPA+ which delivers significantly faster data download speeds than traditional 3G networks.
Mr de la Vega also announced that AT&T had completed the upgrade of its extensive 3G network to HSPA+, delivering up to 6 megabits per second (Mbps) download speeds.
KT plans to launch WiBro Galaxy Tab (South Korea)
KT, the second largest operator in South Korea, is reportedly set to offer a version of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab device which supports WiBro network connectivity.
The Galaxy Tab is already available from operators SK Telecom and LG Uplus, supporting 3G and WiFi connectivity. WiBro is the South Korean implementation of WiMAX.
WiBro, which stands for wireless broadband, differs from Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity) in that it allows users to get solid Internet connections even while in moving vehicles. It’s also normally cheaper and faster at playing videos than service provided over the 3G network.
The move by KT to sell a WiBro-compatible Galaxy Tab could also help secure the future of the network. KT has invested heavily in WiBro, seeing it as the best network to handle the rapidly increasing amount of data transmissions over wireless systems.
ITU declares WiMAX and LTE can be classed as 4G network (Switzerland)
The decisions at ITU World Radiocommunication Seminar 2010 (WRS-10) held earlier this month has revealed that contrary to the technical specifications and in a move that will delight marketing people, both LTE and WiMAX can now officially be called 4G technologies.
In the opening statement, the ITU determined that LTE-Advanced and WirelessMAN-Advanced should be accorded the official designation of IMT-Advanced. This accords them the status of 4G technologies, as far as the technology side is concerned.
However, the ITU also stated that although it is recognized that 4G can also be applied to the forerunners of the IMT-Advanced technologies, LTE and WiMAX, and to other evolved 3G technologies that offer a substantial level of improvement in performance and capabilities with respect to the initial 3G systems now deployed.
The detailed specifications of the IMT-Advanced technologies will be provided in a new ITU-R Recommendation expected in early 2012.
The decision of the ITU to adopt a more marketing based approach to a technology decision will be especially good news in the USA, where T-Mobile has been touting its HSPA+ network as being 4G, and drawing ire from the LTE and WiMAX operators who were trying to reserve that declaration for their own “not quite 4G either” technologies.
However, that still wont excuse PR firms regularly sending them press releases about their latest 4G product without also specifying which technology platform it is based on.
Sequans, Nokia Siemens Networks bring commercial TD-LTE closer
Succeed in interoperability testing across all available bands, proving maturity of the TD-LTE ecosystem
Marking a defined step forward in TD-LTE commercialization, Sequans, a leading chipset platform provider, and Nokia Siemens Networks have successfully conducted interoperability trials of the technology in the 2.3 GHz, 2.5 GHz and 2.6 GHz frequency bands. The demonstration tested the interoperability of Nokia Siemens Networks’ TD-LTE infrastructure equipment with Sequans’ SQN3010 platform.
The TD-LTE interoperability trial was conducted at Nokia Siemens Networks’ R&D center in Hangzhou, China. The Open Lab in Hangzhou can be used by major TD-LTE smartphone and terminal manufacturers around the world to test the interoperability and functionality of their devices across TD-LTE networks. During the recent interoperability testing, Nokia Siemens Networks used its standard-compliant TD-LTE infrastructure solution comprising the award-winning Flexi Multiradio Base Station and its core network solution including the Flexi NS (Network Server) and the Flexi NG (Network Gateway).
Sequans has leveraged its leadership in the WiMAX market to become one of the first to deliver a TD-LTE chip solution, enabling TDD operators worldwide,†said Craig Miller, vice president of marketing and business development, Sequans. We are focused intently on the development of a robust TD-LTE ecosystem that includes global infrastructure vendors such as Nokia Siemens Networks.â€
These trials are extremely important for network operators with TDD spectrum assets, particularly in China, India and Japan as well as other regions including Europe, where TDD licenses in the 2.6 GHz spectrum have been awarded recently,†said Thorsten Robrecht, head of LTE product management, Nokia Siemens Networks. Performing the test with Sequans’ chipset that is targeted for use in TD-LTE trials across China, India and Japan will thus speed up the commercialization of TD-LTE.â€
Nokia Siemens Networks is at the forefront of TD-LTE development and commercialization, closely working with telecom operators and device manufacturers around the world. Fully prepared and committed to support LTE activities, it is actively participating in tests and trials for both Frequency Division Duplexing LTE (FDD-LTE) and Time Division Duplexing LTE (TD-LTE). Earlier this year, Nokia Siemens Networks successfully demonstrated TD-LTE trials during Shanghai World Expo, and TD-LTE data calls at the company’s R&D center in Hangzhou and at Taiwan’s National Chiao Tung University.
About Sequans Communications
Sequans Communications is a 4G chipmaker, supplying LTE and WiMAX chips to equipment manufacturers and mobile operators worldwide. Founded in 2004 to address the WiMAX market where it is now a global leader, Sequans expanded in early 2009 to address the LTE market. Sequans chips are inside leading WiMAX networks worldwide and will soon be inside LTE networks. Sequans is based in Paris, France with additional offices throughout the world, including USA, United Kingdom, Israel, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and China. www.sequans.com
About Nokia Siemens Networks
Nokia Siemens Networks is a leading global enabler of telecommunications services. With its focus on innovation and sustainability, the company provides a complete portfolio of mobile, fixed and converged network technology, as well as professional services including consultancy and systems integration, deployment, maintenance and managed services. It is one of the largest telecommunications hardware, software and professional services companies in the world. Operating in 150 countries, its headquarters are in Espoo, Finland. www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com
Taiwanese WiMAX operators seek to lower infrastructure costs
Taiwanese WiMAX operator Tatung InfoComm states that it is in discussions with fellow operators Fitel, Global Mobile, Vee TIME and Vmax over joint procurement of base station equipment.
The companies hope to minimize unit procurement costs and boost interoperability. According to reports, if the talks are successful joint procurement could begin as early as the first half of next year.
ETSA announces winner of 4G spectrum auction (Estonia)
The Estonian Technical Surveillance Authority (ETSA) has announced that mobile network operator Eesti Mobiiltelefon (EMT) and fixed line telco Elion Enterprises, along with two other Finnish companies, have successfully bid for spectrum in the 2500MHz -2690MHz band.
According to reports, citing LETA/Postimees Online, six blocks of spectrum were made available by the regulator, and eleven bids by nine companies were received for the frequencies. Saunalahti Group and Dial Media, both of which are connected to Estonian triple-play provider Elisa, bagged 2x20MHz of frequency-division duplex (FDD) spectrum, suitable for ‘4G’ services using technology such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and WiMAX, while Elion was awarded 2x10MHz of FDD spectrum.
EMT bagged not only 2x20MHz of FDD frequencies but laid claim to two 20MHz blocks of time-division duplex (TDD) spectrum. The winning bidders will now be required to make the relevant payments for their concessions, which have not been revealed by the regulator.
Tele2 Estonia has, meanwhile, claimed that it will contest the results of the auction, claiming that the winning bids made by both of Elisa’s subsidiaries were unrealistic.
According to Toomas Tiivel, Tele2 Estonia’s chairman, the company found that during the contest two clearly fictitious and unrealistic bids by Elisa’s Finnish subsidiaries qualified … From the point of view of operators, the conditions of the contest were reasonable but unfortunately there were companies who maliciously took advantage of them and thus obstruct competition. They have reason to believe that these two bids will be withdrawn by bidders. If that is not done, Tele2 intends to dispute the results of the contest since they estimate that the conditions of the contest were manipulated.
Econet’s investment to reach $900 million soon (Zimbabwe)
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe’s CEO Douglas Mboweni has stated that the GSM, 3G and WiMAX operator is in the middle of investing an additional USD300 million in its networks to bring total investment to date to USD900 million.
According to Mr Mboweni, from the time the company started operating in October 1999 up to the time they published their financial results in February this year they had spent about US$600 million. Amid February this year and part of next year they are looking at putting another US$300 million to upgrade the equipment that they have and also extend network coverage throughout the country. Econet has seen its subscriber base grow from 1.2 million in March 2009 to over five million as of last month.
As per Mboweni, the company would set its next subscriber target at the beginning of the next financial year in March depending on service demand. On another topic, asked to explain the reasons behind the reported problems subscribers had been having accessing services, disruptions sometimes occurred as a result of upgrades to network systems, mainly due to sourcing technology from different suppliers, including Sweden’s Ericsson and ZTE of China.
LTE Services in the US Will Generate More than $940 Million in 2015, Says ABI Research Forecast
When it comes to mobile network infrastructure discussions, LTE is the name on everyone’s lips. Yet the very meaning of the acronym Long-Term Evolution†is a hint that it isn’t going to happen overnight. LTE’s deployment as the mainstay 4G technology will take place gradually, and won’t even begin to gather real steam until 2013. Nonetheless, LTE is forecast by ABI Research to generate $942 million in service revenue in the United States in 2015, with nearly a further $650 million to come from Western Europe.
The LTE service revenue growth curve for Western Europe is practically a straight line,†notes ABI Research director Philip Solis. That contrasts sharply with constantly accelerating revenue growth in the US, and is largely due to the sometimes exorbitant amounts European network operators paid for their 3G spectrum: many of those operators want to squeeze every drop of value from their 3G investments before migrating to 4G.â€
In the US, though, carriers such as Sprint deployed WiMAX, and began publically advertising 4G as each city rolled out starting in late 2008. Other carriers, not wanting to be left out in the cold, started jumping on the 4G bandwagon, with Verizon Wireless already launching LTE, and AT&T Wireless bringing its announced launch date forward in 2011.
Although carriers will appreciate LTE’s bandwidth efficiency and users its higher data speeds and lower latency, voice will only start to enter the LTE picture in a meaningful way in 2013 or 2014,†adds research analyst Xavier Ortiz. Existing networks still provide voice services with great coverage and reliability. Using LTE for voice will mean completely abandoning the tried-and-true legacy TDM backhaul and replacing it with IP backhaul at considerable cost. Carriers will only make that leap when 4G can truly replace 2G and 3G for voice, although ABI Research recommends doing it sooner rather than later.â€
ABI Research’s LTE and LTE-Advanced†study (http://www.abiresearch.com/research/1003359) gives an LTE and LTE-Advanced standards overview and update, considering trends, network architecture, and the elements that make up that architecture, as well as approaches and strategies. Forecasts include device and equipment shipments broken down by region, as well as subscribers, service revenue and ARPU.
It is part of the 4G Research Service (http://www.abiresearch.com/products/service/4G_Research_Service).
ABI Research provides in-depth analysis and quantitative forecasting of trends in global connectivity and other emerging technologies. From offices in North America, Europe and Asia, ABI Research’s worldwide team of experts advises thousands of decision makers through 30+ research and advisory services. Est. 1990. For more information visit www.abiresearch.com, or call +1.516.624.2500.
HTC challenges Samsung for first LTE smartphone
The Android smartphone competition is increasingly focused on a two-way conflict between HTC and Samsung, and they have shifted their rivalry to LTE.
Samsung has already created an LTE feature phone for MetroPCS and is tipped to summarize with a full smartphone in the first half of next year, but HTC is also planning a 2011 launch.
This shows LTE handsets coming to market well ahead of expectations, and the two vendors will be particularly keen to gain the initial slot at Verizon Wireless, given the high profile that first movers get in the US. HTC benefited from having the first with Android device at T-Mobile, Motorola with the first Droid device at Verizon, and HTC again with the first WiMax smartphone at Sprint.
Samsung has been too late into the open smartphone sector to claim first prize, but is catching up fast with Galaxy S.
