Should India allow 3G/4G on 2G spectrum?
05-02-2010
India could re-work its spectrum revenue strategy to accommodate the new challenging technology
Alcatel-Lucent today became the first equipment company to announce a radio module that permits mobile broadband services such as HSPA and LTE on frequencies currently reserved for GSM.
A mobile operator can upgrade its base stations with the module, but continue to use the network for GSM in the 900MHz band or 1800MHz band, and then add support for HSPA or LTE when the local regulator permits it, according to Andre Mechaly, vice president for wireless networks strategy at Alcatel-Lucent. Since the module uses a software-defined radio, adding support for HSPA only involves changing the software configuration, he said
Alcatel-Lucent's competitors are also working on such products. Ericsson is waiting for a standard defining how to allow the radio technologies to coexist, and expects to release products in March, Hans Beijner, radio product marketing manager at Ericsson, said.
Currently, operators are looking for additional spectrum in which they can offer mobile broadband to more users with better coverage and faster speeds, according to Sylvain Fabre, research director at Gartner's Carrier Network Infrastructure group.. Refarming their existing spectrum holdings to use faster radio technologies will be an important part of that, he says. The pressure is now on regulators to speed up the process
Mohit Agrawal's blog, (http://www.telecomcircle.com/2009/12/spectrum-refarming/) details the progress and dynamics of spectrum re-farming. "Recently European Union officially ratified the updated GSM Directive which allows 900MHz frequency to be used for 3G and eventually 4G. This means governments across the region will now be obliged to allow operators to use 900 MHz spectrum band to roll out 3G and other high-speed technologies. The usual spectrum band for 3G services is 2.1 GHz but many operators are planning to use the existing 2G spectrum (850 MHz and 900 MHz) for 3G services"
Agarwal quotes Ovum?s analysis of the benefits of UMTS900. It indicates that "UMTS900 provides between 44% (in urban areas) and 119% (rural areas) increased coverage per Node-B compared with UMTS2100....All 3G applications can be provided and used cost efficiently over much larger area as the coverage radius in 900 MHz is almost double than that of 2100 MHz spectrum"
Besides, "radio wave propagation loss is less in 900 MHz, so fewer base stations are required leading to cost savings of around 50?70% compared with networks deployed in 2100MHz core-band 3G spectrum. These coverage and cost-saving benefits mean that operators can bring 3G services to less-densely populated areas that were previously uneconomical to cover"
"Since fewer base stations are required for UMTS 900 roll-out than UMTS 2100, the customer experience is better due to fewer hand-overs. Lower frequency band have a higher in-building penetration. Over 70% of phone calls are now made indoors and UMTS 900 can help improve the Quality of Service (QoS)"
"The operator business is getting complex with many operators having to manage 2G, 3G and LTE networks. It is expected that with the stabilization of LTE by 2016/17, the operators would switch off their 2G networks (so far Japan is the only country to switch off 2G networks). However, due to the migration to UMTS 900, it is possible that the operators could switch off the 2G networks much before the expected timelines. This would help the operators save on opex for running multiple networks and would also make the operations less complex requiring fewer people"
"However, there are a few challenges that would hold the operators back from switching off 2G networks: The the 2G users would need to replace their handsets to be able to use the 3G network. The carrier would need to provide handset subsidy to encourage the users to replace their handsets but then the benefits have to be substantially higher than the costs involved. Moreover, with voice tariffs dipping, roaming revenues are a significant portion of the revenues. In case an operator decides to switch off the 2G networks, the users from other 2G networks will not be able to log on to the operator's network. This loss of revenues may not be sufficiently covered by any opex savings or ARPU upside"
"Another interesting option is that the operators carve out a portion of their 900 MHz spectrum for 3G roll out while retaining the rest for 2G. This would allow them not to participate in the 3G spectrum auctions and have substantial savings. Are the Indian operators listening?" India will have to re-work its spectrum revenue strategy to accommodate this new challenging twist in technology
Source: Alcatel statements, and www.telecomcircle.com
Alcatel-Lucent today became the first equipment company to announce a radio module that permits mobile broadband services such as HSPA and LTE on frequencies currently reserved for GSM.
A mobile operator can upgrade its base stations with the module, but continue to use the network for GSM in the 900MHz band or 1800MHz band, and then add support for HSPA or LTE when the local regulator permits it, according to Andre Mechaly, vice president for wireless networks strategy at Alcatel-Lucent. Since the module uses a software-defined radio, adding support for HSPA only involves changing the software configuration, he said
Alcatel-Lucent's competitors are also working on such products. Ericsson is waiting for a standard defining how to allow the radio technologies to coexist, and expects to release products in March, Hans Beijner, radio product marketing manager at Ericsson, said.
Currently, operators are looking for additional spectrum in which they can offer mobile broadband to more users with better coverage and faster speeds, according to Sylvain Fabre, research director at Gartner's Carrier Network Infrastructure group.. Refarming their existing spectrum holdings to use faster radio technologies will be an important part of that, he says. The pressure is now on regulators to speed up the process
Mohit Agrawal's blog, (http://www.telecomcircle.com/2009/12/spectrum-refarming/) details the progress and dynamics of spectrum re-farming. "Recently European Union officially ratified the updated GSM Directive which allows 900MHz frequency to be used for 3G and eventually 4G. This means governments across the region will now be obliged to allow operators to use 900 MHz spectrum band to roll out 3G and other high-speed technologies. The usual spectrum band for 3G services is 2.1 GHz but many operators are planning to use the existing 2G spectrum (850 MHz and 900 MHz) for 3G services"
Agarwal quotes Ovum?s analysis of the benefits of UMTS900. It indicates that "UMTS900 provides between 44% (in urban areas) and 119% (rural areas) increased coverage per Node-B compared with UMTS2100....All 3G applications can be provided and used cost efficiently over much larger area as the coverage radius in 900 MHz is almost double than that of 2100 MHz spectrum"
Besides, "radio wave propagation loss is less in 900 MHz, so fewer base stations are required leading to cost savings of around 50?70% compared with networks deployed in 2100MHz core-band 3G spectrum. These coverage and cost-saving benefits mean that operators can bring 3G services to less-densely populated areas that were previously uneconomical to cover"
"Since fewer base stations are required for UMTS 900 roll-out than UMTS 2100, the customer experience is better due to fewer hand-overs. Lower frequency band have a higher in-building penetration. Over 70% of phone calls are now made indoors and UMTS 900 can help improve the Quality of Service (QoS)"
"The operator business is getting complex with many operators having to manage 2G, 3G and LTE networks. It is expected that with the stabilization of LTE by 2016/17, the operators would switch off their 2G networks (so far Japan is the only country to switch off 2G networks). However, due to the migration to UMTS 900, it is possible that the operators could switch off the 2G networks much before the expected timelines. This would help the operators save on opex for running multiple networks and would also make the operations less complex requiring fewer people"
"However, there are a few challenges that would hold the operators back from switching off 2G networks: The the 2G users would need to replace their handsets to be able to use the 3G network. The carrier would need to provide handset subsidy to encourage the users to replace their handsets but then the benefits have to be substantially higher than the costs involved. Moreover, with voice tariffs dipping, roaming revenues are a significant portion of the revenues. In case an operator decides to switch off the 2G networks, the users from other 2G networks will not be able to log on to the operator's network. This loss of revenues may not be sufficiently covered by any opex savings or ARPU upside"
"Another interesting option is that the operators carve out a portion of their 900 MHz spectrum for 3G roll out while retaining the rest for 2G. This would allow them not to participate in the 3G spectrum auctions and have substantial savings. Are the Indian operators listening?" India will have to re-work its spectrum revenue strategy to accommodate this new challenging twist in technology
Source: Alcatel statements, and www.telecomcircle.com
