3G/mobile broadband industry news from the UMTS Forum
17 December 2010
T-Mobile USA and Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) have joined forced to develop an HSPA standard, named Long Term HSPA Evolution, capable of delivering peak downlink rates of more than 650 Mbps. The companies have been promoting standardisation of the new technology, aiming to make it available for commercial deployment by 2013. The proposed key features of Long Term HSPA Evolution were accepted during the plenary meeting of 3GPP RAN held on 7-10 December 2010.
Batelco Group has signed a contract with China’s ZTE to carry out a 2G and 3G upgrade in Bahrain. Thanks to the cost-effective pricing and efficient implementation process of ZTE’s wireless solutions, the move is aimed at reducing Batelco's capital and operating expenditure. The deal is an expansion of Batelco’s existing partnership with ZTE across the operator’s markets, including India, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
Swedish telecoms regulator PTS has opened an auction for wireless frequencies in the 800 MHz band. PST plans to sell off six licences of 2x5 MHz each. The regulator has imposed coverage requirements on one of the licences, obliging the winner to roll out mobile broadband to homes and businesses currently without broadband services. The cost of this rollout has been fixed at SEK150-300 million (US$22-44 million). There is also a spectrum cap of 2×10 MHz on the amount of frequencies one bidder can purchase. The deadline for applications is 31 January 2011.
NII Holdings has announced that its Brazilian unit, Nextel Brazil, has won 20 MHz of spectrum in the 1.9-2.1 GHz frequency band auctioned by the Brazilian telecoms regulator, Anatel. Its bids totalled US$714.4 million. The operator was granted 11 out of 13 regional licences won by Nextel cover major Brazilian metropolitan markets, totalling approximately 182.4 million people, or 97% of the Brazilian population. Nextel Brazil plans to launch nationwide commercial 3G services in the next 12 to 18 months.
ZTE has become the first Chinese vendor to enter the Japanese smartphone market following the launch of the Libero device jointly developed with SoftBank. Powered by the Android 2.2 operating system, the smartphone, which is also known as the SoftBank 003Z or ZTE Blade, will be available in Japan before the end of 2010. ZTE and SoftBank have also announced that both companies will collaborate to launch eight models of terminal products on the Japanese market between October 2010 and March 2011.
Finland’s Elisa has signed a contract with Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) for the first phase of its LTE network rollout, as well as GSM and UMTS modernisation with Single RAN. Under the contract, NSN will deploy its Flexi Multiradio Base Stations and high capacity Multicontroller platform in the operator’s network. The common platform will enable Elisa to significantly reduce operational costs for GSM, 3G and LTE networks.
MetroPCS has added three new markets to its LTE footprint, including Boston, New York City and Sacramento, covering nine metropolitan areas in total. The operator offers unlimited mobile broadband services with no annual contract, starting at US$55 per month, which includes voice, text and LTE data service. The service is available on the LTE-enabled Samsung Craft smartphone, which retails at US$299 after a US$50 instant rebate.
ZTE has launched its own branded devices on the Spanish market. Running on the Android 2.1 Éclair operating system, the new devices are the ZTE Link, an intelligent touchscreen telephone, and the ZTE V9, a tablet PC with a 7-inch TFT screen. The HSDPA-enabled ZTE Link features a 2.8-inch touchscreen and a 3.2-megapixel camera. The ZTE V9 tablet PC supports peak data download speeds of 7.2 Mbps and up to 5.76 Mbps in the upload. Both devices will be available on the Yoigo network.
3 UK has revamped its mobile data price plan, branded The One Plan, removing the previous 1 GB cap and giving customers unlimited data access. The One Plan now offers customer 2,000 any-network minutes, 5,000 Three-to-Three minutes, 5,000 texts and unlimited data, with monthly fees starting from GBP25. Following a GBP400-million upgrade, 3 UK’s 3G network covers more than 97.3% of the UK population.
LG Electronics has unveiled a high-end smartphone with a dual-core processor, the LG Optimus 2X. Equipped with NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 processor, the HSPA-enabled LG Optimus 2X offers advanced multimedia features and enables faster web browsing, smoother gameplay and instant multitasking. The Android 2.2-powered smartphone also features HD video playback and recording with HDMI mirroring and exceptional graphics performance.
The Global Certification Forum (GCF) has extended its mobile device certification scheme to encompass LTE technology. The GCF Certification process can now be applied to LTE devices designed to operate in the 700 MHz or 800 MHz European Digital Dividend band. Other bands suitable for the deployment of LTE will be included in the scheme from January 2011. The development represents an important milestone in creating mass-market LTE devices.
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