Truth has a way of coming out, sooner or later. Bert ----------------------------------- http://www.rethink-wireless.com/2010/05/27/lte-trials-mount-problematic-sub-1ghz-bands.htm LTE trials mount in problematic sub-1GHz bands German and US carriers focus on low frequencies, but business case may be tough By CAROLINE GABRIEL Published: 27 May, 2010 Deutsche Telekom plans to begin a user trial of LTE in its newly acquired 800MHz spectrum in Germany this year, hard on the heels of Telefonica O2 in the UK and Germany. With Verizon Wireless deploying LTE initially in 700MHz, the early focus is very much on low frequencies, even though many experts question whether carriers really can get a decent return on their investment in these bands. A new study from network planning firm Aircom finds that US carriers could save $1.2bn by relying on HSPA+ instead of building out LTE. And Tommy Ljunggren - head of mobile networks at the only commercial LTE carrier, TeliaSonera - was dismissive of Europe's 800MHz digital dividend band at the recent LTE World Summit. This was echoed by supplier NEC, whose director of global LTE strategy, Dr Sharam Niri, told MobileEurope: "Why would you do it? It's not a useful solution in Europe - you don't see the benefits of LTE - you can't achieve much more throughput than with good HSPA coverage. So what are you offering?" The answer is that many carriers do not have optimal spectrum for LTE, and they have different and sometimes conflicting objectives for building 4G. One is to reduce the cost of delivery of heavy duty data services by investing in the higher capacity and greater spectral efficiency of the new technologies. But these profitable data services rely on intensive build-outs to cover areas of high demand and population - which means the smaller cells and higher capacity of frequencies above 2GHz. However, in some cases carriers cannot get their hands on that optimal mobile data spectrum, as in the US, where the 2.5GHz band is largely controlled by Clearwire, and the new allocations for Verizon and AT&T are in 700MHz. For high frequency capacity, they will have to refarm 3G bands or wait for new allocations. Niri added in the interview that cellcos were coming round to the idea that LTE "will not map onto the macro 3G network, and will require a roll-out of far smaller cell sizes of between 100 and 200 meters". The other reason for the focus on low bands is that many carriers have rural coverage targets to meet, as in Germany. The large cells of 800MHz are ideal for covering sparse populations, though arguable HSPA+ would be a more efficient technology choice, as Aircom claims. These rural targets may be in commercial conflict with the real profit potential for LTE, urban data. However, Deutsche Telekom says it will start user trials in underserved areas this year, an exercise already begun, even before the recent auctions, by Vodafone Germany. And UK regulator Ofcom has granted O2 a trial license to begin LTE testing in the 800MHz band, using equipment from Huawei. O2 is already carrying out trials in 2.6GHz, and now wants to evaluate LTE in the digital dividend spectrum. Licenses in both bands will be auctioned simultaneously, probably near the end of this year. The 800MHz test will take place in the northern English city of Carlisle during the third quarter, partly to assess interference potential between between mobile LTE and existing television broadcast services. Meanwhile, Verizon Wireless plans to share spectrum and build-out with some rural carriers to accelerate its own coverage of underserved areas. For first stage users, it claims it will not go short of devices for its LTE network, which goes live in Boston and Seattle later this year. Speaking at a Barclays Capital conference, CEO Lowell McAdam said: "I think you will be surprised at the number and variety of LTE devices that we bring to the table" at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January. McAdam said Verizon had progressed from field trials to the pre-commercial phase of its deployment and will start adding 'friendly users' soon in its two initial cities plus Erie, Pennsylvania, where rural models are being tested. He also said pricing would change as users moved to connect five or six different gadgets to an LTE connection. This would drive them to purchase megabytes of data. "I think this concern over unlimited megabytes on a smartphone will go away as we bring new devices and new applications onboard," he told the conference. He was also dismissive of the controversy over how LTE will support voice. "By 2012 the voice we sell on LTE will be VoIP," he commented. Meanwhile, Aircom estimates that the cost of the US' GSM carriers, AT&T and T-Mobile, migration to 21Mbps HSPA+ would cost $594m, while national LTE networks would cost $1.78bn. AT&T is upgrading to HSPA+ but stopping at the 14Mbps variant while TMo will go for 21Mbps and do 4G at a future date, almost certainly via a partnership. "By deploying 21Mbps HSPA+ they resolve most of their capacity issues," Aircom told ConnectedPlanet. "Once you get to 1 Mbps per second to the customer it doesn't really matter. There will be some subtle differences between the HSPA+ and LTE services, but at the end of the day the weakness in coverage in a new LTE network will outweigh in gains in performance." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.