3G/mobile broadband industry news from the UMTS Forum
11 December 2009
Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) has been contracted by Softbank Mobile for a DC-HSPA (dual-cell HSPA) upgrade. The deployment of the DC-HSPA technology, which involves carrier aggregation in the downlink, will enable the Japanese operator to deliver evolved mobile broadband services with peak downlink speeds of up to 42 Mbps. Softbank will utilise its existing 1.5 GHz spectrum band for the upgrade.
Latin American and African mobile pre-paid services provider Millicom International Cellular has launched its 2G and 3G mobile network operations in Rwanda. The group has deployed 3G infrastructure in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, and other major cities. Millicom, which was awarded its licence in December 2008, operates under the Tigo brand.
Singapore’s M1 has launched the iPhone 3GS this week. The device is available on an array of price plans tailored for the iPhone customers, who can purchase the smartphone at no upfront cost on the Take3 programme, with monthly fees starting from SG$36 (US$30) on the iPhone Value plan. Other value-added services bundled with the iPhone 3GS include unlimited free calls to three M1 numbers, per-second billing and discounts of up to 35% on subscription fees with the Multi-line Saver programme.
SmarTone Macau has selected Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) as sole network solution provider for its 2G and 3G mobile networks deployment. The company plans to roll out an advanced HSPA+ network, which can evolved to 4G LTE through simple software upgrade. SmarTone Macau, which won its UMTS licence in September this year, intends to launch 3G services by the second half of 2010.
Bouygues Telecom has chosen Alcatel-Lucent as the sole supplier and network integrator for its planned LTE trial. The French operator will utilise Alcatel-Lucent’s end-to-end LTE solution in its existing 1800 MHz spectrum band. Bouygues Telecom’s LTE field trial program is scheduled to begin in 2010 at a number of sites in the western part of France. It will enable the operator to evaluate the performance of LTE technology and the potential to introduce new multimedia applications and advanced mobile broadband services.
Canada’s new wireless carrier DAVE Wireless (Data & Audio Visual Enterprises Wireless) has announced that its 3G HSPA network has been validated by the first test call. The network, which is also HSPA+ ready, has been deployed by Ericsson. DAVE Wireless is on schedule to launch commercial 3G mobile broadband services in early 2010. DAVE Wireless holds licences that cover more than half of Canada's population in 10 of the 13 largest markets, including Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa.
Hitachi has acquired Nortel’s next generation packet core assets, including software products that support the transfer of data over existing and next generation wireless networks, for a total of US$10 million. The acquisition is aimed at boosting Hitachi’s global next-generation mobile communication system business. It will enable the Japanese vendor to develop EPC (Evolved Packet Core) for LTE network equipment.
T-Mobile has embarked on a commercial trial in the Czech Republic of its 3G HSPA network ahead of the official launch scheduled for January 2010. The new network is based on HSPA technology, with equipment supplied by Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN). During the trial stage, download and upload speeds will reach 3 Mbps and 1.5 Mbps respectively. Initially, the 3G HSPA network will be available in Prague and will be expanded to reach the largest Czech cities by the end of 2010.
South Africa’s Cell C plans to invest ZAR5 billion (US$600 million) in an HSPA+ upgrade scheduled for 2010. Currently, the operator is negotiating with equipment suppliers and will announce further details of its HSPA+ contract in early 2010. The move to HSPA+ technology will enable Cell C to provide peak downlink rates of up to 21 Mbps, which is three times faster than mobile broadband speeds currently available in the South African mobile market.
Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) has successfully completed IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)-compliant voice calls and SMS messaging using 3GPP-standardized LTE equipment at its R&D centres in Germany and Finland. The development, which has demonstrated the viability of the One Voice approach to Voice over LTE (VoLTE), marks an important step towards commercial voice over LTE deployments.
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