MobilenniuM Express
3G Industry news from the UMTS Forum
15 May 2009

América Móvil Launches World's First SDR-enabled GSM/UMTS Converged Network Using Huawei's SingleRAN Solution
América Móvil has launched a SDR (Software Defined Radio)-based GSM/UMTS converged network in Panama, with the support of China’s Huawei. The Chinese vendor has supplied its SingleRAN solution, including SDR-enabled base station, allowing the operator to provide end users with reliable voice and data services from GSM and UMTS 1900 MHz networks simultaneously.

New Technology Brings Significant Increase in Mobile Network Capacity and Phone Battery Life
Finish mobile operator Elisa has made the world’s first Circuit-Switched-over-HSPA (CSoHSPA) call in cooperation with Nokia Siemens Networks. The new technology allows operators to increase the capacity of their 3G networks up to 100% cost effectively, while end users can save handset battery power, which can increase talk time by up to 50%. The CSoHSPA feature, standardised as part of 3GPP Release 7, is part of HSPA evolution, or HSPA+. The trial call was conducted in Elisa’s live 3G network using R&D prototype devices supplied by Nokia.

Vodacom Launches the Latest Android Phone
South Africa’s mobile group Vodacom has unveiled the latest Andriod-based handset, HTC Magic. The HSDPA-enabled HTC Magic will be available to Vodacom’s prepaid and postpaid customers in South Africa. For contract customers the operator will offer two price plans, starting from R450 (US$53) per month.

Vodafone to Redefine the Mobile Internet Experience
Vodafone has become the first mobile operator to launch a platform for applications developers in an effort to stimulate a new generation of mobile internet applications. In exchange for a revenue share, the initiative will enable content partners and developers to create a range of attractive mobile internet services that can be rolled out to all Vodafone customers. Vodafone will open its billing system to third-party developers, allowing customers to directly pay for applications.

Japanese Operators Exceed 100 Million 3G Subscribers
The U.S. mobile phone chip maker Qualcomm has welcomed Japan’s achievement of exceeding 100 million 3G subscribers in April. According to the figures released by Japan’s Telecommunications Carriers Association, the total number of mobile customers in Japan reached 107.5 million, of which 99.6 million were 3G users. Of the total number of 3G users, 69.1 million were on WCDMA networks run by NTT DoCoMo, Softbank and Emobile, while 30.5 million on KDDI’s CDMA2000 1x network.

Orange Launches 'Comes With Music' Service Exclusively on the Nokia 5800 in the UK
Nokia has confirmed that U.K. operator Orange will exclusively bundle the Nokia 5800 touchscreen device with Nokia’s music download service, branded Comes With Music. Starting on 29 May, Orange will offer unlimited access to the Nokia Comes With Music platform with over 6 million tracks as part of two-year contracts starting from £24.47 per month.

Verizon Wireless Selects G&D As Supplier Of Smart Cards For LTE Network Launch
U.S. operator Verizon Wireless has selected Germany’s SIM card supplier Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) to provide special LTE-enabled Java-based SIM cards for the operator’s planned LTE 700 MHz mobile broadband network. The G&D Java-based SIM cards from the G&D SkySIM product line will enable Verizon Wireless to provide innovative next-generation data services to its customer base.

Option and Sharp build the new 3G Sidekick LX for T-Mobile USA
ZTE has completed the TD-LTE (Time Division LTE) Phase I test in cooperation with China Mobile, Vodafone and China’s Ministry of Industry and Information. In the TD-LTE test, which measures high bandwidth network capacity, ZTE achieved the peak downlink speed of 39 Mbps using 10 MHz of spectrum, while also realizing 20 MHz bandwidth support. The downlink peak rate attained TM500’s upper limit of 61.228 Mbps on third-party test user equipment (UE).