3G/mobile broadband industry news from the UMTS Forum
21 July 2010
South Korea’s SK Telecom and Japan’s KDDI and SOFTBANK MOBILE have joined forces to discuss and develop interoperable contactless payment solutions, with credit card, membership service and coupon functions, for use in NFC (Near Field Communication) handsets. The move represents a milestone for the Japanese and South Korean mobile carriers as they lead the sector in touch-and-go mobile payments.
Australia’s Optus and its vendor partner Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) have successfully trialled LTE technology in the 2100 MHz band. The extensive field tests were carried out over 10 MHz of spectrum, using pre-commercial LTE USB dongles. The LTE trial, which was conducted in metropolitan Sydney as part of the first phase of LTE testing on the Optus mobile network, has achieved peak download speeds of over 50 Mbps and upload speeds of 20 Mbps. A number of LTE-enabled services have been demoed, including high-definition video conferencing, 3D video streaming and gaming.
T-Mobile Czech Republic has expanded its 3G network coverage to another Moravian city, making mobile broadband services available to 87% of the residents of Olomouc in North Moravia. Following Prague, Plzen, Brno and Ceske Budejovice, Olomouc is the fifth city in the Czech Republic covered with T-Mobile’s WCDMA/HSPA network, which enables peak downlink speeds of up to 14.4 Mbps. New users can try mobile internet free of charge. Nokia Siemens Network is T-Mobile’s network vendor partner for the upgrade.
South Korea’s SK Telecom has outlined its new strategy aimed at boosting mobile data usage. In addition to its plans to significantly improve 3G network performance, the operator plans to launch South Korea`s first LTE commercial network in 2011, expecting to achieve nationwide coverage by 2013. SK Telecom will also set up 15,000 open ‘T Wi-Fi Zones’ during 2010 - 5,000 more than previously planned. The company plans to introduce unlimited data service and m-VoIP.
Ericsson to Support Telkomsel in Mobile Broadband Data Traffic Management
Indonesia’s Telkomsel has selected Ericsson to deliver its Dynamic End-to-End Policy Control solution, enabling service differentiation for the operator’s 86 million subscribers. Ericsson’s cost-efficient data traffic management technology will enable Telkomsel to handle mobile data traffic more effectively and provide better service offerings to its customers, based on their network use and needs.
Thailand’s dtac has launched a 3G mobile broadband USB modem, branded “dtac aircard flip 158”. The modem features a flipping USB plug that provides convenient use and better reception when the aircard is upright. It uses the RX diversity technology to improve and stabilize reception at the boundaries of cell sites. With a postpaid SIM card, the dtac aircard flip 158 is available at THB2,990 (US$93) with 300 hours of free internet usage included. With a prepaid SIM card, the new data card is available at THB2,700 with 60 hours of free internet usage.
HTC has decided to launch its latest smartphone HTC Wildfire exclusively on Telstra’s Next G network in August. The HTC Wildfire features a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen and HTC’s Friend Stream application, which seamlessly gathers social network updates from the user’s various accounts into in a single stream. The device is equipped with a 5-megapixel camera with auto focus and LED flash, as well as a 3.5mm audio jack and micro SD card slot. The HTC Wildfire will launch in Australia in August.
WiMAX equipment manufacturer Alvarion has formally announced its support for the TD-LTE standard. The vendor will provide the next-generation networks that use TDD (Time Division Duplexing) spectrum, incorporating TD-LTE technology into its 4Motion solution. The unified 4Motion solution will support migration to future evolutions of WiMAX and TD-LTE technologies. Alvarion expects to run TD-LTE field trials in the first quarter of 2011.
Ericsson has this week showcased its complete end-to-end TD-LTE solution at a China Mobile event in Shanghai. The demo was performed using a USB dongle with a TD-LTE chipset from ST-Ericsson and involved video-on-demand and video streaming applications with the use of a live camera. Ericsson has carried out TD-LTE interoperability testing with ST-Ericsson, and is currently finalising tests with two other chipset/terminal vendors.
| Upcoming Events endorsed by or with the participation of the UMTS Forum | ||
|
||
For a full list please see events supported by the
UMTS Forum |
||
leave-mobilennium@list.umts-forum.org