3G/mobile broadband industry news from the UMTS Forum
25 June 2010
Orange UK is trialling its Mobile High Definition (HD) Voice service across the operator’s HSPA network in the South of England. A full nationwide roll-out of the service is planned before the end of September. Mobile HD Voice technology will offer a superior customer experience thanks to a wider speech bandwidth of 50–7000 Hz and the use of the WB-AMR (Wideband Adaptive Multi-Rate) speech codec, virtually eliminating the distance between callers by providing users with crystal clear calls. The UK trial follows the commercial launch of the service by Orange in Moldova.
Australia’s Telstra and Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) have achieved peak download speeds of 100 Mbps in the operator’s LTE trial, using 2.6 GHz frequency band. The tests were carried out between Mount Hope and Mount Burrumboot in central Victoria over a distance of 75 km. The trial used NSN’s commercially-available LTE-ready Flexi Multiradio Base Station and Evolved Packet Core (EPC), with pre-commercial LTE USB dongles from third-party vendors.
T-Mobile has completed a 18-month WCDMA upgrade of its GSM network in the Czech Republic. In addition to a significant network expansion in Prague, the 3G services will be available in Brno and Plzen by the end of June, with most regional towns covered by the end of September. T-Mobile is also currently testing HSPA+ technology with peak downlink speeds of up to 21 Mbps.
Poland’s telecoms market regulator UKE plans to auction both 2.6 GHz and 790-862 MHz frequency bands in a single auction. According to UKE, the 2.6 GHz band will be available immediately after the auction. Frequencies in the 790-862 MHz range, which is currently controlled by the military, will also be made public in the near future.
Mosaic Telecom, a rural service provider in the US, has selected Nokia Siemens Networks’ (NSN) 3GPP standard compliant femtocell network solution and Airvana’s 3G HSPA femtocell to provide personalized 3G coverage using the advanced wireless services (AWS) spectrum. According to NSN, the femtocell mini base station is an important part of the 3G expansion strategy in rural areas.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has announced plans for a consultation process ahead of the auction of digital dividend spectrum. The consultation will start with issue of a public discussion paper in the third quarter of 2010, which will set out planning and allocation issues plus options for new spectrum licences. The final switch-off of analogue television is scheduled by 31 December 2013 in Australia’s largest cities. The ACMA will release 126 MHz of broadcasting spectrum in the 694-820 MHz range.
O2, Orange, and Vodafone have unveiled a joint pilot of an Integrated Mobile Broadcast (IMB) system which will commence in central London and Slough in October 2010. The technology will be provided by Ericsson, IPWireless, and Streamezzo. The multi-operator pilot will run for three months and will assess how mobile broadcast services can be deployed using shared network infrastructure. The new mobile broadcast system is capable of delivering data intensive services, such as mobile TV, in a more efficient way.
Apple has sold three million iPads in the 80 days since launch in the US. Developers have created over 11,000 new apps for iPad that take advantage of its Multi-Touch user interface, large screen and high-quality graphics. iPad will also run almost all of the 225,000+ apps on the App Store, including apps for iPhone or iPod touch. iPad is 0.5 inches thin and weighs 1.5 pounds, and delivers up to 10 hours of battery life. The HSPA-enabled model was launched at the end of April.
TeliaSonera is planning to expand its LTE services to Sweden’s second largest city, Gothenburg, following the commercial launch in Stockholm in December 2009. The rollout will be supported by Nokia Siemens Networks. The vendor will supply Flexi Multiradio Base Station technology under the two-year radio network contract. TeliaSonera is committed to expand its Swedish LTE network to 25 cities across the country by 2010.
Sweden’s 3 has introduced the DOVADO 3GN router in a bundle with its mobile broadband subscriptions. The solution can completely replace a traditional fixed broadband connection. The DOVADO 3GN router supports mobile broadband downlink speeds of up to 16 Mbps that 3 Sweden’s Turbo 3G (HSPA+) network can deliver. By connecting a 3 modem to the router's USB port, the DOVADO 3GN creates a WiFi zone where computers, smartphones, gaming consoles, and other devices can share the same mobile broadband connection.
Thailand’s dtac has partnered with Samsung to launch the Data Phone Kit, targeted at the teenage market segment. The package comprises the Samsung Candy handsets and Happy Candy mobile data price plans, which include unlimited access to social networking (Facebook and Twitter) and chat services (Palringo and Google Talk) for two months.
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