3G/mobile broadband industry news from the UMTS Forum
28 January 2011
Huawei has deployed Wide Band AMR (Adaptive Multi-Rate)technology for Canada’s WIND Mobile, allowing the operator to provide HD Voice service to its customers across the country. The HD Voice service boosts voice frequency bandwidth to 50-7000 Hz over the operator’s Huawei-delivered core network. The announcement represents the first commercial offering of HD Voice in Canada.
T-Mobile USA and Samsung have exclusively launched the Galaxy S HSPA+ smartphone. Powered by the Android 2.2 operating system, the Galaxy S is T-Mobile’s first smartphone capable of delivering peak download speeds of up to 21 Mbps. The device features a Super AMOLED touch screen display. T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network is currently available in 100 major metropolitan areas, reaching approximately 200 million people nationwide.
Indian operator Bharti Airtel has inaugurated its 3G HSPA network in the South-West state of Karnatka, its largest telecom circle by revenue market share. The operator offers 3G price plans with personalised data usage limits. Time-based plans aimed at light data users bill services by the hour, while ‘flexi-shield’ plans cap usage and charges for heavy users. Bharti Airtel plans to deploy its 3G network in 13 out of all 22 telecom circles where it holds 3G licences by March 2011.
Sierra Wireless has added a new HSPA+ mobile broadband product to its AirPrime SL Series of wireless embedded modules. The SL809x offers multi-band HSPA+ technology (up to 14.4 Mbps for downlink / 5.7 Mbps for uplink) plus quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE within a 25x30mm form factor. Operating over an extended temperature range, the device supports voice, antenna diversity and GPS. It’s available in two variants, covering different sets of frequency bands for global coverage.
US operator MetroPCS has expanded its LTE network to four new metropolitan areas: Atlanta, Jacksonville, Miami and Orlando. Accessible on the Samsung Craft LTE-enabled handset, the no-annual-contract LTE service gives users unlimited talk, text and LTE web browsing with service plans ranging from US$40-60 per month. Including the four new markets, MetroPCS has rolled out its LTE network to 13 metropolitan areas.
Ericsson has been chosen by Thailand’s DTAC to modernise its nationwide 2G network and prepare its infrastructure for the introduction of mobile broadband services based on WCDMA/HSPA and LTE. Ericsson will deploy a nationwide GSM/EDGE network, while readying DTAC to offer mobile broadband services based on WCDMA/HSPA/LTE technology. The contract includes Ericsson's RBS 6000 multi-standard radio base stations, MSC Server Blade Cluster and User Data Management, as well as its mobile packet core and circuit core solutions.
Swisscom has upgraded its mobile network in Davos with HSPA+ technology in time for the World Economic Forum (WEF). The upgrade has doubled data capacity, boosting downlink data speeds in central Davos up to 42 Mbps. The volume of data transmitted on Swisscom’s mobile network has quadrupled over the past twelve months. The operator expects this trend to continue, given the increasingly widespread use of smartphones and laptops with mobile broadband access.
Ericsson Selected by Telefónica O2 UK as Northern Vendor
Telefónica O2 has selected Ericsson for a major network modernisation programme in the north of the UK. The Swedish vendor will supply and deploy multi-standard base stations, as well as the core network infrastructure, to all O2 sites in the north of the UK, allowing for improved 3G performance and scalability for data growth. The partnership will deliver greater coverage, voice and data capacity for O2 customers via its new generation network that’s specifically designed to handle significant growth in smartphone devices and applications.
SK Telecom has selected Samsung, LG-Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks as key equipment suppliers for its LTE network. Samsung and LG-Ericsson will supply switching equipment, while all three companies will provide base stations. The South Korean operator intends to offer LTE services in central Seoul by July 2011, with plans to extend coverage to metropolitan areas and six other cities by 2012. Data modems will be offered initially: the operator also plans to launch other devices including smartphones and tablet PCs by end of this year.
LightSquared has won a crucial waiver from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), allowing it to build a nationwide, terrestrial-only wholesale LTE network. The conditional ruling enables LightSquared to bypass a requirement that devices connected to its network be able to communicate with satellites. Thus its wholesale customers will be able to provide either dual-mode or terrestrial-only devices as part of an integrated satellite-terrestrial broadband service.
TeliaSonera has unveiled its first LTE-embedded laptop, the Samsung X430. The device has a 14-inch LED-screen and battery life of eight hours. The embedded modem is LTE/WCDMA/HSPA/GSMA compatible. TeliaSonera operates LTE networks in Sweden (Stockholm), Finland (Helsinki and Turku), Denmark (Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense and Aalborg) and Estonia (Tallinn, Tartu and Kohila), with LTE pilots in Latvia and Lithuania.
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