MobilenniuM Express
3G Industry news from the UMTS Forum
21 February 2009

Europe’s golden opportunity to capitalise on digital dividend
The UMTS Forum has urged European member states to unite in their support for a common band plan to re-use ‘digital dividend’ frequencies in the UHF band for mobile broadband services. Growing momentum for spectrum harmonisation by Member States, says the Forum, will benefit mobile subscribers and industry alike.

Alcatel-Lucent Unveils New Elements of its Long Term Evolution (LTE) Wireless Broadband Portfolio
Alcatel-Lucent has unveiled an LTE software module that enables mobile network operators to upgrade rapidly to LTE technology. The LTE software module, which is part of the company's enhanced NodeB solution, will be commercially available in mid-2009. It integrates into existing base station cabinets, enabling evolution to LTE via a software-only upgrade.

Orange Joins Forces with HP to Bring the Internet to Everyone via Mobile Broadband
Orange has formed a strategic partnership with the Hewlett Packard  to drive consumer adoption of mobile broadband across Europe.  Under the three-year pan-European deal, Orange and HP will co-distribute and market a range of consumer notebooks and HP Minis, which will be also available bundled with mobile and/or fixed broadband access.

ZTE and CSLNWM to Build the World's First SDR-based HSPA+ Network
Hong Kong-based mobile operator CSL New World Mobility (CSLNWM) has selected ZTE to build a SDR (Software Defined Radio) based HSPA+ network in Hong Kong. As a result, CSLNWM's existing infrastructure in Hong Kong will be upgraded with a fully integrated 2G/3G all-IP SDR-based network. ZTE and CSLNWM have already successfully completed testing of the HSPA+ network capability to deliver HSPA+ (64QAM) services, which can provide peak download speeds of up to 21 Mbps.

Qualcomm and Nokia Plan to Develop Advanced Mobile Devices
Nokia is planning to develop high-end WCDMA/HSPA-based devices using latest baseband chips from Qualcomm. The devices, which will be initially targeted at North America, will be based on S60 software on Symbian operating system and will utilize Qualcomm's advanced Mobile Station ModemT (MSMT) MSM7xxx-series and MSM8xxx-series chipsets. The first mobile devices will be available in mid-2010.

Verizon Wireless Fosters Global LTE Ecosystem as Verizon CTO Dick Lynch Announces Deployment Plans
Verizon Wireless has revealed its LTE deployment plans, with Sweden’s Ericsson and France’s Alcatel-Lucent contracted as primary radio access network vendors for Verizon’s initial LTE network deployments at 700 MHz band in the US. Verizon has also selected Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent and Starent Networks as packet core vendors for the LTE roll-out. Alcatel-Lucent and Finland’s Nokia Siemens Networks have been selected as key suppliers for the IP Multi-Media Subsystem (IMS) network. Verizon aims to launch its LTE network in the US from 2010.

China Mobile, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone Trials Confirm LTE as a Next Generation Candidate for Seamless Global Mobile Services
China Mobile, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone have conducted joint laboratory trials of the Time Division Duplex (TDD) version of LTE (TD-LTE), showing that the technology is capable of operating effectively in unpaired as well as paired spectrum. The LTE testing alliance, which has also conducted field tests of LTE Frequency Division Duplex (LTE FDD), aims to develop a converged LTE FDD and TD-LTE system to enable an effective solution for both FDD (paired) and TDD (unpaired) spectrum.