UMTS

Broadband on the move Facilitating the ICT Revolution


NTPC’s 1 Broadband Forum 2007-8 February, 2008 Theodossis Tompras 2

Broadband access provides users with high speed and always-on connectivity to the Internet. Due to its superiority, broadband is seen as the way for consumers and firms to exploit the great potentials of new applications. This has generated a policy debate on how to stimulate adoption of broadband technology. This working paper, provides an overall theoretical/policy approach on the issue of developing mobile broadband networks and the spectrum, cost, efficiency and social welfare incentives relating to wireless broadband evolution, irrespective the technology solutions used.

1

Greek NRA for the Telecom sector.

2

Theodossis Tompras, is an executive of the Legal & Regulatory Affairs Department of WIND Hellas, Attorney at Law by profession. Before joining WIND Hellas, he worked for various leading Greek Law Firms. He graduated from National & Kapodestrian University of Athens/Law School and holds an MBA in Telecoms from Athens University of Economics & Business, a Diploma in Tax Law and a Diploma in Risk Management-VaR. e-mail: [email protected]. The content of this paper is based only on disclosed & open access facts/data and does not necessarily reflect the official position of WIND Hellas. Responsibility for the information and views expressed lies entirely with the authors. Theodossis Tompras Attorney at Law Legal & Regulatory Affairs Department - WIND Hellas Telecommunications S.A. -1-

Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1304043


The theoretical, technological and social background of this paper is based mainly on: ▪

Atkinson, “Deep Competitiveness”

▪

Gonzalez, Barroso, Vilaverde & Alonso, “Public policies for broadband development in the European Union: New trends for universalization of services”

▪

Gunasekaran & Harmantzis “Emerging wireless technologies for developing countries” (2006)

▪

Rysavy, “EDGE, HSPA and LTE The mobile broadband advantage” (2007)

▪

Proenza, “The road to broadband development in developing countries is through competition driven by wireless

▪

Lehr, Sirbu & Gillet, “Wireless is changing the policy calculus for municipal broadband” (2006)

▪

Skogseid, “Market driven development of broadband infrastructure in rural areas”

and voip” (2005)

▪

Ford, Koutsky & Spiwak “Network neutrality and industry structure” (2006)

▪

Distaso, Lupi & Manenti, “Platform Competition and Broadband Uptake: Theory and Empirical Evidence from the

▪

Crandall, Lehr & Litan, Brookings Institution, “The Effects of Broadband Deployment on Output and Employment:

▪

Scimemi & Tompras “Evolving on moving ground, Absorbing introduced regulatory risk, Case study”

European Union” (2005). A Cross-sectional Analysis of U.S. Data” (2007) ▪

Lamanauskas & Korsakaite, “Assessment of Future Guidelines for Regulatory Policy on the Basis of Technical and Managerial Analysis of Broadband Penetration” (2006)

▪

Gillet, Lehr, Osorio & Sirbu, “Measuring broadband’s economic impact” (2006)

▪

Pentland, Fletcher & Hasson “DakNet: rethinking connectivity in developing nations” (2004)

▪

See Wu, “Network Neutrality, Broadband Discrimination” (2005)

Theodossis Tompras Attorney at Law Legal & Regulatory Affairs Department - WIND Hellas Telecommunications S.A. -2-

Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1304043


Index

▪

Introduction

▪

Wireless Data Market

▪

Trends

▪

Wireless Technology Evolution and Migration

▪

Broadband-Wireless Deployment Considerations

▪

Feature and Network Roadmap

▪

Competing Technologies

▪

Market Fit

▪

Comparison of Wireless Technologies

▪

Spectral Efficiency

▪

Cost and Volume Comparison

▪

Competitive Summary

▪

Macroeconomic incentives for efficient investment

▪

Deployment of wireless broadband country-wide

▪

Applications and service model innovations for sub-urban economies

▪

Applications and eradication for rural wireless deployment

▪

Conclusion

▪

Technology Index



Introduction

The ICT Revolution: The Industrial Revolution during the past two centuries produced the most development in the history of mankind. But that period of unparalleled growth will be overshadowed by the current technological revolution, namely, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) revolution. The evolution of internet access

This revolution will not only benefit individual citizens but will have a tremendous impact on national economies and the global economy as a whole. The increased importance of information and communication technologies (ICT) as the major “General Purpose Technology” underlying the knowledge economy and, consequently, the rapid increase in investment in ICT, are considered by many as the key factor of the acceleration of productivity growth experienced by the United States during the last decade. Probably, of the many technologies that fall under the Theodossis Tompras Attorney at Law Legal & Regulatory Affairs Department - WIND Hellas Telecommunications S.A. -4-


ICT umbrella, Internet is the one that has had the biggest impact in terms of cost savings and profitability increases in business. As a result of ever-increasing global connectivity, the amount of information that can be transmitted electronically has grown exponentially 3 , resulting in unprecedented ease of communication in most of the countries. The network readiness of a country indicates the ability of its principal stakeholders -government, public authorities, vendors, operators, citizens and in general ICT businesses- to leverage the potential of information and communication technology (ICT). As broadband becomes more widely diffused in developing countries, there is great potential to broaden economies of scale by increasing the number of people who are connected. The hot issue for the stakeholders is wireline and wireless 4 next generation networks 5 (NGNs). Off course this is not the entire case of ICT Revolution. ICT Revolution equals to total convergence under technological neutrality in an all IP environment and has different forms and models referring between others to spectrum resources (i.e. UHF allocation, GSM refarming), WiMax allocation (mobility), costumers meshing, sites deployment, access networks, horizontal development e.t.c. and covers horizontally and vertically the entire telecom and -for the first timemedia market: Three dimensions of convergence -The moto is all IP: Everything (content) through everything (platforms)Horizontal: Vertical: NGNs, WBE & internet:

Across platforms, all IP no matter if it is wireline or wireless Along the value chain No longer a dividing line NGN brings all IP world to the customer

Total convergence, Wireline & Wireless NGN:

3 Results of ECTA’s bi-annual Broadband Scorecard announced, on September 5th, 2007, show that broadband penetration in the EU has reached an all time high and has now drawn parallel with the US and Japan. The growth, at 16%, is largely the result of increased competition from new entrant telecoms providers using Local Loop Unbundling (LLU), cable and alternative technologies. These results come after a slow down in growth in the previous six month period. Eight EU countries now have broadband penetration levels above 20% and Northern Europe leads the table with the Netherlands having the highest penetration at 33%, followed by Denmark, Finland and Sweden. And, for the first time, average penetration in the EU15 countries is, at 19.9%, comparable with the average penetration of 19.6% in the US and 20.2% in Japan1. 4 Many authors refer to wireless NGNs as Wireless Broadband Evolution (WBE) or NG Mobile Networks (NGMN). 5 According to ITU-T Recommendation on year 2001 Next Generation Network (NGN) is: A packet-based network able to provide telecommunication services and able to make use of multiple broadband, QoSenabled transport technologies and in which service-related functions are independent from underlying transport-related technologies. It offers unrestricted access by users to different service providers. It supports generalized mobility which will allow consistent and ubiquitous provision of services to users. In this perspective, the debate is focused in the architecture of wireline NGA implementation issues and related economic/regulatory implications, as current upgrades of copper and fibre access networks being carried out in a number of Member States. Respectively on NGN architecture Next Generation Access (NGA) is a term by which: As the term NGN is often used as a catch-all phrase with regard to access networks, a NGA network is generally meant to be a packet switching (IP)-based access network reaching from multi-functional access and aggregation nodes to the end-users. Such a NGA network can be made of fibre, copper utilizing xDSL technologies, coaxial cable, powerline communications, wireless technologies, or hybrid deployments of these technologies, e.g. combining fibre and copper Theodossis Tompras Attorney at Law Legal & Regulatory Affairs Department - WIND Hellas Telecommunications S.A. -5-


Wired versus wireless networks: Compared to wireless technologies, wired networks give

the same level of connectivity in selected places but they lack ubiquity and affordability 6 . Wireless networks can be deployed much faster with less initial investment; they also offer more flexibility in terms of adapting to changing bandwidth requirements. Although some of the equipment and electronics cost have declined, the cost of civil engineering, site acquisition, and laying fiber or copper cables remains high. It is essential, therefore, to undertake cost versus benefit analyses when considering the deployment of wireless versus wired networks. Wireless networks are easy to deploy and the service can be provided within days. As proposed by Pentland 7 , wireless technology will be the first viable infrastructure to serve rural and underdeveloped areas 8 and this is the case also for speeding the rollout of broadband services -via cutting edge technologies- at a relevant cost.

Wireless broadband boasts some big benefits over wired broadband networks 9 . Affordable wireless broadband access has the power to transform the economy by inducing investment and innovation in e-commerce, e-education, telecommuting, e-health, agriculture, e-entertainment, egovernment and almost every other economic activity. Statement I

More important, however, is the fact that the Internet is on its way to become a day-to-day utility, where affordable and ubiquitous broadband wireless access will be seen as an extension of everyday life. From satellite to femtocell (wireless 3G at home):

6 Refer to the debate on NGNs and NGA. 7 Pentland, Fletcher & Hasson “DakNet: rethinking connectivity in developing nations” (2004). 8 The rationale behind this assertion is that after the invention of the telephone, it took nearly 100 years for wired telephones to reach a population of one billion people around the world. With the invention of cellular communications, it took about 20 years to reach the same one billion people. 9 In the United States, some cities have started the initial phase of deploying city-wide wireless networks with the goal of making ubiquitous broadband a reality. In some cases, a city's goals are merely to improve overall efficiency of government services and to deliver low-cost fixed broadband wireless Internet services to low-income communities and small businesses.



Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS)/High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) 10 technology and its evolution to beyond Third Generation (3G) will compete with any and all mobile wireless technologies available today and in the future. Building on the phenomenal success of Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) 11 , the GSM/UMTS ecosystem, unmatched by any other mobile wireless technology and possibly unmatched by any other communication technology ever, is not just a future dream 12 . It is here now. UMTS/HSPA has many key technical and business advantages over other mobile wireless technologies. Whereas other wireless technologies show great potential on paper, UMTS today has global commercial deployments providing customers mobile broadband service. Operators worldwide are now deploying High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) 13 , one of the most powerful cellulardata technologies ever developed. HSDPA, which will be widely deployed in 2006, follows the successful deployment of UMTS networks around the world and, for many of these networks, is a relatively straightforward upgrade. In fact, some operators will deploy UMTS enhanced with HSDPA immediately upon their initial launch. The UMTS to HSPDA upgrade is similar to Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) 14 , which has already proven to be a remarkably effective upgrade to GSM networks, and is now supported by a large number of operators and vendors worldwide. High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA1) 15 will quickly follow HSDPA, with the combination of the two technologies being called simply High Speed Packet Access (HSPA). HSPA is strongly positioned to be the dominant mobile data technology for the rest of the decade. To leverage operator investments in HSPA, standards bodies are examining a series of enhancements to create “HSPA Evolution,” also referred to as “HSPA+.” HSPA Evolution represents a logical development of the Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) approach, providing the stepping-stone to an entirely new Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 16 radio platform called 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE). LTE, which uses Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple (OFDM) 17 , should be ready for deployment in the 2009 time frame. Simultaneously, standards bodies, recognizing the significant worldwide investments in GSM networks, are now defining enhancements that will significantly increase EDGE data capabilities through an effort called Enhanced GSM/EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN).

10 UMTS/HSPA represents tremendous radio innovation and capability, which allows it to support a wide range of applications, including voice and data on the same devices. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) with HSPA will eventually add to voice capacity and reduce infrastructure costs. In the meantime, UMTS enjoys high circuit-switched voice spectral efficiency and can combine voice and data on the same radio channel. 11 GSM/UMTS has an overwhelming global position in terms of subscribers, deployment, and services. Its success will marginalize other wide-area wireless technologies. 12 With relative ease, operators can transition their General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) networks to EDGE and their UMTS networks to HSDPA/HSUPA and, in the future, to HSPA+ and LTE. In some cases operators can attain these improvements by upgrading the software in their platforms (i.e., no hardware change required). 13 In current deployments, HSDPA users under favorable conditions regularly experience throughput rates well in excess of 1 megabit per second (Mbps). These peak user-achievable throughput rates will increase with planned enhancements of HSDPA. 14 EDGE technology has proven extremely successful and is widely deployed on GSM networks globally. EDGE improvements will be able to more than quadruple current EDGE throughput rates. 15 HSUPA users under favorable conditions will experience peak achievable rates close to 1 Mbps in the uplink. 16 The 3GPP roadmap provides operators maximum flexibility in deploying and evolving their networks. The roadmap is comprised of three avenues, including the continued evolution of GSM system capabilities, UMTS evolution and 3GPP LTE. Each technology is designed to coexist harmoniously with the others. 17 OFDM approaches may provide high spectral efficiency and high peak rates. However, HSPA+ systems could match OFDM-based approaches in spectral efficiency and peak data rates in 5+5 MHz radio allocations through the use of equalizers and interference cancellation techniques. Theodossis Tompras Attorney at Law Legal & Regulatory Affairs Department - WIND Hellas Telecommunications S.A. -7-


Combined with these improvements in radio-access technology are new approaches to infrastructure, such as IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) and System Architecture Evolution (SAE). These will facilitate new types of services, the integration of legacy and new networks, the convergence between fixed and wireless systems, and the transition from circuit-switched approaches for voice traffic to a fully packet-switched model. Statement II

The result is a balanced portfolio of complementary technologies that provides operators maximum flexibility in how they enhance their networks over time as well as support both voice and data services. SWOT analysis of wireless/wireline technologies use

18

Wireless Data Market By June 2007, a staggering 2.5 billion subscribers were using GSM/UMTS -fully 37 percent of the world’s total 6.6 billion population-. Informa’s World Cellular Information Service, projects over 3 billion GSM/UMTS customers by 2009, with 511 million of these subscribers using UMTS services. Statement III

“This level of wireless technology growth exceeds that of almost all other lifestyle-changing innovations”. Chris Pearson, 3G Americas President Clearly, GSM/UMTS has established global dominance. Although voice still constitutes most cellular traffic, wireless data now exceeds well over 10 percent of ARPU. In the United States, wireless data is close to 15 percent ARPU for GSM operators. This number could easily double within three years, and operators across North and South America are confirming this growth with their reports of rising data ARPU.

Trends Users are adopting wireless data across a wide range of applications, including e-mail, game downloads, instant messaging (IM), ringtones, and video. Wireless data in enterprise applications like group collaboration, enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), and database access is also gaining acceptance. The simultaneous adoption by both 18 source Rysavy, “EDGE, HSPA and LTE The mobile broadband advantage” (2007) Theodossis Tompras Attorney at Law Legal & Regulatory Affairs Department - WIND Hellas Telecommunications S.A. -8-


consumers, for entertainment-related services, and businesses, to enhance productivity, increases the return-on-investment potential for wireless operators. Computing itself is becoming more mobile, and notebook computers and smartphones are now prevalent. In fact, all mobile phones are becoming “smart,” with some form of data capability, and leading notebook vendors are now offering computers with integrated 3G capabilities. Computer manufacturers are also experimenting with new form factors, such as ultra-mobile PCs. Lifestyles at home and at work are increasingly mobile, with more people travelling more often for business or pleasure or in retirement. Meanwhile, the Internet is becoming progressively more intertwined with people’s lives, providing communications, social networking, information, enhancements to memberships and subscriptions, community involvement, and commerce. Wireless access to the Internet in this environment is a powerful catalyst for the creation of new services. It also provides operators and other third-party providers many new business opportunities. With data constituting a rising percentage of total cellular traffic, it is essential that operators deploy data technologies that meet customer requirements for performance and are spectrally efficient, especially as data applications can demand significantly more network resources than traditional voice services. Operators have a huge investment in spectrum and in their networks; data services must leverage these investments. It is only a matter of time before today’s more than two billion cellular customers start taking full advantage of data capabilities. This presents tremendous opportunities and risks to operators as they choose the most commercially viable evolution path for migrating their customers. The EDGE/HSPA/LTE evolution paths provide data capabilities to address market needs, delivering ever-higher data throughputs, lower latency and increased spectral efficiency. Meanwhile, smartphones, which emphasize a rich computing environment on a phone, represent the convergence of the personal digital assistant, a fully capable mobile computer, and a phone, all in a device that is only slightly larger than the average cellular telephone. Many users would prefer to carry one device that “does it all.” Smartphones, originally targeted for the high end of the market, are now available at much lower price points and affordable to a much larger market segment. In fact, Berg Insight predicted in July 2007 that the global shipments of smartphones running advanced operating systems would reach 113 million units by the end of the year. Increasing at an average annual compound growth rate of 25.6 percent, shipments are forecasted to reach 365 million units by 2012. Smartphones will then account for over 22 percent of all handsets worldwide, compared to 10 percent today. Analysts project similar growth, expecting 333 million smartphones sold in 2011.7 Although wireless data has always offered a tantalizing vision of always-connected mobile computing, adoption has been slower than that for voice services. In the past several years, however, adoption has accelerated; finally, some might say, and thanks to a number of key developments. Networks themselves are much more capable, delivering higher throughputs at lower cost. Awareness of data capabilities has increased, especially through the pervasive success of Short Message Service (SMS), wireless e-mail, downloadable ringtones, and downloadable games. Widespread availability of services has also been important. The features found in cellular telephones are expanding at a rapid rate and today include large color displays, graphics viewers, still cameras, movie cameras, MP3 players, instant messaging clients, e-mail clients, Push-to-talk over Cellular (PoC), downloadable executable content capability, and browsers supporting multiple formats. All these capabilities consume data. Meanwhile, smartphones, which emphasize a rich computing environment on a phone, represent the convergence of: 1) the personal digital assistant; 2) a fully capable mobile computer; and 3) a phone in a device that is only slightly larger than the average cellular telephone. As a consequence, this rich network and device environment is spawning the availability of a wide range of wireless applications and content. Because of its growing size -and its unassailable potential- application and content developers simply cannot afford to ignore this market. And they aren’t. Consumer content developers are already successfully providing downloadable ringtones and games. Enabled by 3G network capabilities, downloadable and streaming music and video Theodossis Tompras Attorney at Law Legal & Regulatory Affairs Department - WIND Hellas Telecommunications S.A. -9-


are not far behind. In the enterprise space, all the major developers now offer mobilized “wireless-friendly” components for their applications 19 . Voice & data traffic on UMTS networks

20

This market data is encouraging. But realistically, the market is still in relative infancy. Though consumer awareness of services is higher than ever before, many people still do not understand the true range of data options available to them. For example, only recently have operators started encouraging smartphone subscribers to use their phones as modems for their laptops. However, a number of powerful catalysts will spur wireless data innovation. Pricing for unlimited usage plans has declined by as much as a third, encouraging greater numbers of users to adopt data services. Operators are seeing considerable success with sales of music. New capabilities such as video sharing will soon be enabled by IMS, which will also facilitate fixed/mobile convergence and seamless communications experiences that span cellular and Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) networks. Location-based services, mobile commerce, and other application enablers will help fuel growth too. A number of other powerful catalysts are spurring wireless-data innovation. Pricing for unlimited usage has declined substantially for both laptop and handset plans, thus encouraging greater numbers of users to adopt data services. Operators are seeing considerable success with music sales. New services such as video sharing are being enabled by IMS, which will also facilitate FMC and seamless communications experiences that span cellular and Wi-Fi networks. Meanwhile, users are responding enthusiastically to location-based services, banks are letting their account holders manipulate their accounts using handheld devices, and users have an increasing number of mobile options for real-time travel information and manipulation of that information. In the enterprise space, the first stage of wireless data was essentially to replace modem connectivity. The next is to offer existing applications on new platforms like smartphones. But the final, and much more important, change is where jobs are reengineered to take full advantage of 19 A recent article in Network Computing surveyed major enterprise application vendors, including IBM, Oracle, Salesforce.com, SAP, and Sybase, and found comprehensive support for mobile platforms from each of these vendors. 20 source Rysavy, “EDGE, HSPA and LTE The mobile broadband advantage” (2007). Leading vendors data. Theodossis Tompras Attorney at Law Legal & Regulatory Affairs Department - WIND Hellas Telecommunications S.A. - 10 -


continuous connectivity. All this takes time, but the momentum -in the direction of increased efficiency, increased convenience, and increased entertainment, all fueled by wireless data- is unstoppable. The key for operators is enhancing their networks to support the demands of consumer and business applications as they grow, along with complementary capabilities such as IP-based multimedia. This is where the GSM family of data technologies is particularly compelling. Not only does it provide a platform for continual improvements in capabilities, but it does so over huge coverage areas and on a global basis. In the aftermath of GSM networks deployment, there are now nearly 75 million UMTS customers worldwide across 135 commercial networks. Fifty-one operators in 33 countries are offering HSDPA services, and an additional 54 operators have committed to the technology. It is likely that most UMTS operators will deploy HSDPA for two main reasons: One, the incremental cost of HSDPA is relatively low; and two, HSDPA makes such efficient use of spectrum for data that it results in a much lower overall cost per megabyte of data delivered. This is consistent with wireless data's global growth. Last year's global revenues from mobile data services exceeded $100 billion, and data revenue growth remained strong into 2006 with Q1 growth of 17 percent from a year ago, according to Informa Telecoms and Media. Based on current growth trends, the telecom market anticipates that by 2010, wireless data share of total ARPU will be 22.6%, translating to actual global industry revenue of $166 billion. Statement IV

Wireless data is a huge market, one where success will be driven by the efficiencies and capabilities of the underlying technologies. The econometric evidence worldwide confirms the results of the theoretical models developed and indicates that while inter-platform competition drives broadband adoption, while competition in the market for DSL services does not play a significant role. Historical data also confirm that lower unbundling prices stimulate broadband uptake. Social welfare data are comforting in light of the fact that significant additional investment in lastmile broadband and complementary infrastructure is occurring as broadband continues to evolve. This investment will increase the capabilities of broadband to support higher data rates and new services, while at the same time contributing to expanding the range of facilities-based “bit paths” into the home, increasing consumer choice and intensifying broadband competition. Data revenues will continue to be driven by the ongoing deployment of advanced technologies, improvements in handsets, and global subscription growth. From a device perspective, analysts project the following sales of WCDMA handsets, including WCDMA/EDGE handsets: 2004: 22 million 2005: 50 million 2006: 112 million 2007: 225 million 2008: 310 million Analyst firm Gartner, predicts that sales of HSDPA handsets will reach 2.1 million this year and will increase to 89.3 million by 2009. There are notable the throughput requirements necessary for different applications: Microbrowsing (e.g., Wireless Application Protocol [WAP]): 8 to 32 kilobits per second (kbps) Multimedia messaging: 8 to 64 kbps Video telephony: 64 to 384 kbps General purpose Web browsing: 32 kbps to more than 1 Mbps Theodossis Tompras Attorney at Law Legal & Regulatory Affairs Department - WIND Hellas Telecommunications S.A. - 11 -


-

Enterprise applications, including e-mail, database access, and VPNs: 32 kbps to more than 1 Mbps Video and audio streaming: 32 to 384 kbps

It is notable that GPRS and EDGE already satisfy the demands of many applications. With HSPA, applications operate faster and the range of supported applications expands even further.

Wireless Technology Evolution and Migration In the technology index dellow, we discus the evolution and migration of wireless-data technologies from EDGE to LTE as well as the evolution of underlying wireless approaches. Progress happens in multiple phases, first with EDGE, and then UMTS, followed by evolved 3G capabilities such as HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA+, and eventually LTE. Meanwhile, underlying approaches have evolved from Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) to CDMA, and now from CDMA to OFDMA, which is the basis of LTE. Wireless evolution

21

Broadband-Wireless Deployment Considerations Much of the debate in the wireless industry is on the merits of different radio technologies, yet other factors are equally important in determining the services and capabilities of a wireless network. These factors include the amount of spectrum available, backhaul, and network topology. Statement V

21 source Rysavy, “EDGE, HSPA and LTE The mobile broadband advantage” (2007). Theodossis Tompras Attorney at Law Legal & Regulatory Affairs Department - WIND Hellas Telecommunications S.A. - 12 -


Spectrum has always been a major consideration for deploying any wireless network, but it is particularly important when looking at high-performance broadband systems. HSPA and HSPA+ can deliver high throughput rates on the downlink and uplink with low latency in 5 MHz channels when deployed in single frequency (1/1) reuse. By this we mean that every cell sector (typically three per cell) in every cell uses the same radio channel(s). An OFDMA approach in a 5 MHz radio channel will yield a marginal performance advantage. To achieve higher data rates requires wider radio channels, such as 10 or 20 MHz wide channels in combination with emerging OFDMA radio technologies. However, very few operators today have access to this much spectrum. It was challenging enough for GSM operators to obtain UMTS spectrum. If delivering very high data rates is the objective, then the system must minimize interference. This result is best achieved by employing looser reuse, such as having every sector use only one-third of the available radio channels (1/3 reuse). Backhaul is another factor. As the throughput of the radio link increases, the circuits connecting the cell sites to the core network must be able to handle the increased load. With many cell sites today serviced by just a small number of circuits, each able to carry only 1.5 Mbps, operators will have to invest in significant backhaul capacity upgrades to obtain the full benefit of nextgeneration wireless technologies. An OFDMA system with 1.5 bps per hertz (Hz) of spectral efficiency in 10 MHz on three sectors has up to 45 Mbps average cell throughput. Additionally, any technology’s ability to reach its peak spectrum efficiency is somewhat contingent on the system’s ability to reach the instantaneous peak data rates allowed by that technology. For example, a system claiming spectrum efficiency of 1.5 bps/Hz (as described above) might rely on the possibility to reach 100 Mbps instantaneously to achieve this level of spectrum efficiency. Any constraint on the transport system below 100 Mbps will restrict the range of achievable throughput and in turn impact the spectral efficiency of the system. The mismatch between today’s backhaul capabilities and radio performance is one reason that typical user rates on 3G systems are lower than theoretical rates. Operators are enhancing their backhaul approaches, and there are many available and emerging wireline technologies -such as VDSL and optical Ethernet- as well as competitive point-to-point microwave systems that make this possible. But it will take time and in any case this is a per case solution. Finally, the overall network topology also plays an important role, especially with respect to latency. Low latency is critical in achieving very high data rates, because of the way it affects TCP/IP traffic. How traffic routes through the core network -how many hops and nodes it must pass through- can influence the overall performance of the network. One way to increase performance is by using flatter architectures, meaning a less hierarchical network with more direct routing from mobile device to end system. The core EPS network for 3GPP LTE emphasizes such a flatter architecture. In summary, it can be misleading to say that one wireless technology outperforms another without a full understanding of how that technology will be deployed in a complete system that also takes spectrum into account. Statement VI

Wireless broadband evolution is technology neutral 22 .

22 See Wu, “Network Neutrality, Broadband Discrimination” (2005), where is stated: “… the concept of network neutrality is not as simple as some IP partisans have suggested. Network design is an exercise in tradeoffs. . . . IP’s neutrality is actually a tradeoff between upward (application) and downward (connection) neutrality. If it is upward, or application neutrality that consumers care about, principles of downward neutrality may be a necessary sacrifice”. Theodossis Tompras Attorney at Law Legal & Regulatory Affairs Department - WIND Hellas Telecommunications S.A. - 13 -


Feature and Network Roadmap Operators first enhanced their networks to support data capability through the addition of GPRS infrastructure in GSM networks, with the ability to use existing cell sites, transceivers, and interconnection facilities. Since installing GPRS, GSM operators have largely upgraded data service to EDGE, and any new GSM network includes EDGE capability. Following GSM development, operators deployed UMTS/HSPA worldwide. Although UMTS involves a new radio access network, several factors facilitate deployment. First, most UMTS cell sites can be collocated in GSM cell sites enabled by multiradio cabinets that can accommodate GSM/EDGE as well as UMTS equipment. Second, much of the GSM/GPRS core network can be used. This means that all core-network elements above the Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) and Mobile Switching Center (MSC) -the Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN), the Home Location Register (HLR), billing and subscriber administration systems, service platforms, and so forth- will need at most a software upgrade to support 3G UMTS/HSPA. And while early 3G deployment used separate 2G/3G SGSNs and MSCs, all new MSC and/or SGSN products are capable of supporting both GSM and UMTS radio-access networks. New features such as HSDPA, HSUPA, and MBMS are being designed so that the same upgraded UMTS radio channel can support a mixture of terminals, including those based on 3GPP Release 99, Release 5, and Release 6. In other words, a network supporting Release 5 features (for example, HSDPA) can support Release 99, Release 5, and Release 6 terminals (for example, HSUPA) operating in a Release 5 mode. Alternatively, a network supporting Release 6 features can support Release 99, Release 5, and Release 6 terminals. This flexibility assures the 23 maximum degree of forward and backward compatibility, enchasing cost effectiveness . Once deployed, operators will be able to minimize the costs of managing GSM/EDGE and UMTS networks, because these networks share many of the same aspects, including: ▪ Packet-data architecture ▪ Quality of Service (QoS) architecture ▪ Subscriber account management ▪ Service platforms Deployment of UMTS occurred in several stages, beginning with a portion of the coverage area having UMTS and then progressing through widespread UMTS coverage and in many cases users largely don’t even need to know to what type of network they are connected, because their multimode GSM/UMTS devices can seamlessly hand off between networks. The changes being planned for the core network are another aspect of evolution. Here, the intent by vendors in UMTS development was to reduce the number of nodes that packets need to be traversed. This in most cases resulted in both reducing deployment costs and reduced latency. The key enabling technology was the Evolved Packet System. The following table shows the forward looking trend of the rollout of EDGE/HSPA/LTE features over time. Expected UMTS/LTE Feature and Capability Availability

24

Year

2007

2008

Features HSDPA devices up to 7.2 Mbps peak network rates Release 6 HSUPA-capable networks and devices Radio enhancements such as mobile equalization possibly combined with receive diversity that increase peak speeds and network capacity Initial IMS-based services (for example, video sharing) Initial FMC offerings (IMS, UMA, femtocells) HSPA VoIP networks available through Release 7, QoS, IMS

23 It is also notable that most UMTS terminals today support GSM, thus facilitating use across large coverage areas and multiple technology networks. 24 source Rysavy, “EDGE, HSPA and LTE The mobile broadband advantage” (2007). Theodossis Tompras Attorney at Law Legal & Regulatory Affairs Department - WIND Hellas Telecommunications S.A. - 14 -


Enhanced IMS-based services (for example, integrated voice/multimedia/presence/location) Networks and devices capable of Release 7 HSPA+, including MIMO, boosting HSPA peak speeds to 28 Mbps Evolved EDGE capabilities available to significantly increase EDGE throughput rates Greater availability of FMC LTE introduced for next-generation throughput and latency performance using 2X2 MIMO Advanced core architectures available through EPS, primarily for LTE but also for HSPA+ HSPA+ peak speeds further increased to peak rates of 42 Mbps based on Release 8 Most new services implemented in the packet domain over HSPA+ and LTE

2009

2010+

LTE enhancements such as 4X2 MIMO and 4X4 MIMO

Competing Technologies Although GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA networks are dominating global cellular technology deployments, operators are deploying or plan to deploy other wireless technologies 25 to serve both wide and local areas, these in most cases are 4G, WiMax and off course WiFi, used in most cases in hybrid commercial solutions.

Market Fit 3G and WiMAX technologies, today enabled, encompass a huge range of evolving capability. But how well do these technologies actually address market needs ? The following table matches technology capabilities with different market segments. Wireless Technology Fit for Market Needs Segmentation Variable Fixed versus Mobile

Enterprise versus Consumer

Urban versus Rural

Developed versus Emerging Markets

26

Wireless Data Market Needs

Wireless Technology Fit

Fixed

Broadband capability must compete against wireline options. Continuous coverage not required.

3G not intended to compete against wireline approaches. Fixed WiMAX will compete in this area, though mostly in regions where wireline is not available. Wireline systems are evolving toward 100 Mbps, which will make it difficult for wireless systems to compete directly.

Mobile

Good throughput is necessary, but it does not have to meet landline performance. Continuous coverage in coverage areas. Nationwide service offerings.

3G is now available in most major markets, with fallback to 2.5G services in other areas.

Enterprise

Nationwide service offerings. Unlimited usage service plans. Choice in devices, including modem cards, smartphones, and datacapable mobile phones.

3G technologies will provide coverage in top markets, with fallback to 2.5G for other areas. Mobile WiMAX will potentially offer service in densely populated areas. All technologies will likely have unlimited usage service plans. 3G technologies will have the widest device selection and strongest economies of scale.

Consumer

Wide range of feature phones with multimedia capabilities.

3G technologies will have the greatest selection of multimedia feature phones.

Urban

High capacity to serve large numbers of subscribers. Broadband speeds desirable.

3G, municipal Wi-Fi, and eventually mobile WiMAX will all provide broadband services in urban areas.

Rural

Good coverage in low density areas achieved through large radius cells. High data throughputs are a lesser priority.

These areas in the Americas are most likely to be served by 2.5G technologies in the near term and 3G in the longer term.

Developed

Value-added services such as broadband data and wireless e-mail.

3G networks can provide broadband data. Mobile WiMAX networks will eventually be able to offer broadband services, too. 3G operators are likely to provide the greatest number of value-added services.

Emerging

Basic telephony services supporting high-density

UMTS, CDMA2000, and WiMAX can all provide

25 Refer to the “Technology index”. 26 source Rysavy, “EDGE, HSPA and LTE The mobile broadband advantage” (2007). Theodossis Tompras Attorney at Law Legal & Regulatory Affairs Department - WIND Hellas Telecommunications S.A. - 15 -


Application Type

populations. Data is a lower priority.

basic telephony services with data options.

Laptop

High data throughputs.

3G can deliver high data throughputs and is available in PC Card and embedded formats. Mobile WiMAX will eventually be able to do the same in some areas.

Smartphone

Medium data throughputs and wide coverage areas.

2.5/3G is the best choice because of data support and wide coverage areas.

Feature Phone for Multimedia

High data throughputs and wide coverage areas.

3G is the best choice because of data support and wide coverage areas.

Comparison of Wireless Technologies As already stated Wireless Broadband Evolution is technology neutral, meaning that in broadbandalizalization 27 the actual technology used in purpose to deliver broadband services to end users is just not the case. However, in order to compare the different wireless technologies’ potentials can be achieved by, looking at throughput 28 , latency 29 , spectral efficiency, and market position. In this paper we are going to examine only the issues of spectral efficiency and market position.

Spectral Efficiency When referring to spectral efficiency in the field of Wireless Broadband Evolution, the scope is to allow a larger choice of services and technologies (technology neutrality) and thereby to maximise competition in the use of the bands, while ensuring that services remain coordinated and protecting the continued operation of already deployed services 30 . In particular, the 27 The term was used as such by NTPC’s President at InfoCom 2007 Conference. 28 Data throughput is an important metric for quantifying network throughput performance. Unfortunately, the ways in which various organizations quote throughput statistics vary tremendously, which often results in misleading claims. The intent of this paper is to realistically represent the capabilities of these technologies. One method of representing a technology’s throughput is what people call “peak throughput” or “peak network speed.” This refers to the fastest possible transmission speed over the radio link, and it is generally based on the highest order modulation available and the least amount of coding (error correction) overhead. Peak network speed is also usually quoted at layer 2 of the radio link. Because of protocol overhead, actual application throughput may be 10 to 20 percent lower (or more) than this layer-2 value. Even if the radio network can deliver this speed, other aspects of the network -such as the backhaul from base station to operator-infrastructure network- can often constrain throughput rates to levels below the radio-link rate. Another method is to disclose throughputs actually measured in deployed networks with applications such as File Transfer Protocol (FTP) under favorable conditions, which assume light network loading (as low as one active data user in the cell sector) and favorable signal propagation. This number is useful because it demonstrates the highend actual capability of the technology. This paper refers to this rate as the “peak userachievable rate.” However, average rates are lower than this peak rate, and no precise guideline can be provided. Unless the network is experiencing congestion, the majority of users should experience throughput rates higher than one-half of the peak achievable rate. 29 Latency is defined as the round-trip time it takes data to traverse the network. Each successive data technology from GPRS forward reduces latency, with HSDPA having latency as low as 70 milliseconds (msec). HSUPA brings latency down even further, as will 3GPP LTE. Ongoing improvements in each technology mean all these values will go down as vendors and operators fine-tune their systems. Figure 14 shows the latency of different 3GPP technologies. 30 In this framework European Commission intends to allow the use of GSM spectrum, besides for GSM, also for panEuropean electronic communication services other than GSM. As a first step, this would include UMTS. This requires new harmonised technical conditions for the spectrum band in question which would be defined pursuant to a Commission Decision to be adopted based on Decision 676/2002/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 7 March 2002 on a regulatory framework for radio spectrum policy in the European Community (hereinafter Radio Spectrum Decision). Already on this perspective European Union issued on July 25th, 2007 a draft Directive, repealing Directive 87/372/EEC. A repeal of the GSM Directive would allow overcoming the present limitation of spectrum usage to GSM, but must be complemented by appropriate technical harmonisation measures to preserve the present harmonised status of the band, and to guarantee the protection of the GSM services currently using the bands. As a result, new systems will coexist alongside with GSM systems in the 900 MHz band. And moreover, it would contribute to the economic development of the sector by facilitating the deployment of advanced mobile communication services. It will open new revenue streams to operators and increase the demand for equipment (network infrastructure and new generations of terminals). Theodossis Tompras Attorney at Law Legal & Regulatory Affairs Department - WIND Hellas Telecommunications S.A. - 16 -


measures taken in this perspective would benefit European citizens by reducing significantly the hurdles to the deployment of advanced mobile communication services and overcoming the geographical digital divide. In the case of GSM refarming, systems other than GSM (at a first stage UMTS) are expected to develop and spread throughout Europe more rapidly geographically, especially in rural areas. The same is the scope relating to the issue of the UHF refarming 31 . New high-performing wireless data and multimedia services (e.g. internet browsing and mobile TV) need access networks such as 3G mobile networks using UMTS technology that offer higher data rates than GSM. The measure would also increase the quality of services and lower the cost for the consumer 32 . Furthermore, in order to better understand the reasons for deploying the different data technologies and to better predict the evolution of capability, it is useful to examine spectral efficiency. The evolution of data services will be characterized by an increasing number of users with ever-higher bandwidth demands. As the wireless data market grows, deploying wireless technologies with high spectral efficiency will be of paramount importance. Keeping all other things equal, such as frequency band, amount of spectrum, and cell site spacing, an increase in spectral efficiency translates to a proportional increase in the number of users supported at the same load per user or, for the same number of users, an increase in throughput available to each user. Delivering broadband services to large numbers of users can be best achieved with high spectral efficiency systems, especially since the only other alternatives are using more spectrum or deploying more cell sites. However, increased spectral efficiency comes at a price. It generally implies greater complexity for both user and base station equipment. Complexity can arise from increased numbers of calculations performed to process signals or from additional radio components. Hence, operators and vendors must balance market needs against network and equipment cost. Statement VII

All the major wireless technologies achieve comparable spectral efficiency through the use of comparable radio techniques.

Cost and Volume Comparison So far, it is understood that different technologies equal to differential technical capabilities and also, in many cases different wireless technologies have similar technical attributes. This is for the simple reason that they employ many of the same approaches. However, there is a point of comparison where the differences between the technologies diverge tremendously; namely, the difference in volume involved, including subscribers and amount of infrastructure. This translates to dramatically reduced costs for the highest volume solutions, specifically GSM/UMTS. Based on projections and numbers already presented in this paper, 3G subscribers on UMTS will number in the many hundreds of millions by the end of this decade, whereas emerging wireless technologies such as IEEE 802.16e-2005 will number in the tens of millions subscribers.

31 On June 2007, the UMTS Forum carried out a technical study in order to assess the feasibility to create a 112 MHz sub-band while maintaining the national broadcasting services requirements in the remaining 470-750 MHz band, using the country of Belgium as an example. 32 3G and 3G+ mobile networks are currently confined to higher frequencies which offer less favorable propagation characteristics than the 900 MHz band, and therefore create higher network deployment costs. Furthermore, the use of higher frequency is less suited to penetrate buildings, to the detriment of service quality and consumer prices. Theodossis Tompras Attorney at Law Legal & Regulatory Affairs Department - WIND Hellas Telecommunications S.A. - 17 -


Volume of subscribers across wireless technologies-trend

33

Although proponents for technologies such as mobile WiMAX point to lower costs for their technology, there doesn’t seem to be any inherent cost advantage to these alternatives, even on an equal volume basis. And when factoring in the lower volumes, any cost advantage is debatable. Some have pointed to lower IPR costs with OFDM based solutions, and perhaps IPR will be less centralized with OFDM than with CDMA. However, OFDM-related IPR issues are still very much in their early stages, and it could take years for these issues to be fully understood and resolved. The advantages of high volume can be seen in projections for GSM handsets. At this year’s 3GSM World Congress, GSM Association CEO Rob Conway, indicated that the organization’s “Emerging Market Handset” initiative would enable sub-$15 devices by 2008. This follows the successful availability of sub-$30 handsets. As for UMTS/HSPA versus CDMA2000, five times higher deployment could translate to significant cost gains. For example, research and development amortization results in a four-to-one difference in base station costs. Similarly, just as GSM handsets are much less expensive than 1xRTT handsets, UMTS wholesale terminal prices will soon be significantly lower than EV-DO terminal prices.

Competitive Summary The following table summarizes the competitive position of the different technologies than can support the Wireless Broadband Evolution. Competitive Position of Major Wireless Technologies Technology

34

EDGE/HSPA/LTE

CDMA2000/UMB

IEEE 802.16e WiMAX

Subscribers

Over 2.5 billion today; 3.4 billion expected by 2009

351 million today; slower growth expected than GSM/UMTS

Less than 100 million by 2012

Maturity

Extremely mature

Extremely mature

Emerging/immature

Adoption

Cellular operators globally

Cellular operators globally

Extremely limited to date

Coverage

Global

Global with the general exception of Western Europe

None

Devices

Broad selection of GSM/EDGE/UMTS/HSPA devices

Broad selection of 1xRTT/EV-DO devices

None yet; initial devices likely to emphasize data

Radio Technology

Highly optimized TDMA for EDGE, highly optimized CDMA for HSPA, highly optimized OFDMA for LTE

Highly optimized CDMA for Rev 0/A/B, highly optimized OFDMA for Rev C

Optimized OFDMA in Wave 1, highly optimized OFDMA in Wave 2

Spectral Efficiency

Very high with HSPA, matches OFDMA approaches in 5 MHz with HSPA+

Very high with EVDO Rev A/B

Very high, but not higher than HSPA+

33 source Rysavy, “EDGE, HSPA and LTE The mobile broadband advantage” (2007). 34 source Rysavy, “EDGE, HSPA and LTE The mobile broadband advantage” (2007). Theodossis Tompras Attorney at Law Legal & Regulatory Affairs Department - WIND Hellas Telecommunications S.A. - 18 -


Throughput Capabilities

Peak downlink user-achievable rates of over 3 Mbps today, with significantly higher rates in the future

Peak downlink user-achievable rates of over 1.5 Mbps, with significantly higher rates in the future

Peak downlink user achievable rates will depend on network design

Latency

As low as 70 msec with HSPA today, with much lower latency in the future

As low as 70 msec with EV-DO Rev A, with much lower latency in the future

To be determined

Voice Capability

Extremely efficient circuit-voice available today; smoothest migration to VoIP of any technology

Extremely efficient circuit-voice available today EV-DO radio channels with VoIP cannot support circuit-voice users

Relatively inefficient VoIP initially; more efficient in later stages Voice coverage will be much more limited than cellular

Simultaneous Voice and Data

Available with UMTS today

Not available today Available with VoIP

Potentially available, though initial services will emphasize data

Efficient Spectrum Usage

Entire UMTS radio channel available for any mix of voice and high-speed data

Radio channel today limited to Either voice/medium speed data or highspeed data only

Efficient for data centric networks only until later versions

Macroeconomic incentives for efficient investment In order to generate growth, connectivity needs to be translated into economic activities; hence the strategic importance of ICT for delivering large benefits to consumers in terms of new or improved products and services. In this perspective public initiatives implemented by central and local governments to stimulate broadband adoption can be classified in two broad categories: i) policies aimed at assisting the build up of broadband networks and ii) policies aimed at enhancing competition through telecom markets openness and access to infrastructures. 35

One of the main challenges for regulation, regardless if we are referring to mainly to wireline NGNs, is how to ensure that potential investors in assets that may constitute enduring economic bottlenecks can be confident that they will be allowed to earn an appropriate level of return. In an environment where access to non-replicable assets is regulated, it is important that the regulated price that the owner of a non-replicable asset can charge its own and third party downstream divisions will allow an appropriate rate of return on its investments. This return should adequately reflect the degree of risk faced at the time the investment is made. Given that, absent competition, the incentives for investment to realise dynamic benefits from innovation, for example new technologies, are modest, it is important to note that regulators should be concerned with incentives for efficient investment. Otherwise, this may result in reduced benefits to end consumers. Whilst this is true for lower levels of competition, it is worth noting that at some point the incentives to innovate may diminish as competition intensifies and the benefits from innovation are competed away more quickly. However, it is not the role of regulators to provide operators with incentives to make particular investments at a particular point in time. Rather, they should endeavour to ensure that the incentives for efficient investment are not distorted, and that regulation prevents the exploitation of market power. Where regulation prevents a bottleneck asset owner from leveraging market power into higher returns downstream, resulting in the bottleneck asset owner deciding not to deploy NGA, efficient investment incentives have not been distorted. In this case, the incentive to invest is based on the ability to leverage market power in the bottleneck asset into a downstream market. If the business case for this investment relied upon such leveraging of market power into downstream markets by the bottleneck asset owner, it would not be an efficient investment. 35 In most cases this issue is not debated in wireless technologies, due to the fact that wireless applications emerge as the alternative -to the already deployed wireline- infrastructure. Theodossis Tompras Attorney at Law Legal & Regulatory Affairs Department - WIND Hellas Telecommunications S.A. - 19 -


However, efficient investment incentives could be distorted by regulation 36 if, in the face of demand uncertainty, regulation does not take into account the level of risk incurred at the point of investment, for example in the rate of return or more generally the terms of regulated access products. The decisions that NRAs take on requirements to support today’s wholesale markets/access could therefore affect both the bottleneck asset owners’ incentives to make an investment in w/line or w/less NGNs, as well as the incentives of competitive operators to invest in current broadband infrastructure. Off course the NRAs’ role is not to protect commercial investments against market risks that may arise, for example from the emergence of new technology developments that supersede some operators’ current market propositions. However, it may be appropriate for NRAs to consider operators’ interests in terms of the availability of wholesale inputs, throughout the life of their investments. On the regulatory side the debate of w/line or w/less NGNs focuses on: ▪ Standards and standardization ▪ Investment incentives vs effective competition ▪ Access especially in w/line NGNs ▪ QoS across networks (no network barriers) ▪ Numbering issues (especially VoIP) ▪ Regulatory neutrality ▪ Spectrum trading and allocation ▪ Enabling regulatory regime that fosters innovation, investment and affordable access to W/line and W/less NGNs and facilitates migration to them, ▪ Innovative Regulatory Policies that must be developed in order to facilitate ICT Revolution

Deployment of wireless broadband country-wide Given the increasing evidence of the benefits of ICT in general and of broadband in particular, policy makers should adopt measures that promote, or at least do not inhibit, the growth of broadband. A network infrastructure with pure connectivity alone (meaning a wireline one) is not enough to enhance the socio-economic class of a community. Statement VIII

Such policies should be divided into those that affect the demand for broadband services and those that expand the supply of such services. Since the estimates made here are derived from state level experience, we close with two basic observations about broadband policies at the state level. It is a fact that states have few policy levers that affect the overall demand for broadband, however, ▪ given that the demand for broadband is price elastic, the most effective policies are likely to be those that increase competition in the delivery of broadband services, this equals to no regulatory holidays for incumbent’s investments. ▪ with respect to the supply side, the most important state policies involve incentives to build network capacity 37 . The ultimate goal for stakeholders is to ensure a balanced economic development portfolio. 36 see the debate on “Regulatory risk”. 37 To understand the magnitude of the capacity challenge, consider that by itself, YouTube currently consumes as much bandwidth as the entire Internet required in 2000, while users upload 65,000 videos and download a staggering 100 million videos every day. Theodossis Tompras Attorney at Law Legal & Regulatory Affairs Department - WIND Hellas Telecommunications S.A. - 20 -


In the US, it is estimated that for every one percentage point increase in broadband penetration in a state, employment is projected to increase by 0.2 to 0.3 percent per year 38 . However, due to the fact that broadband is an important basic infrastructure that is expected to produce spillover and wide-reaching benefits across the economy, it will take time for the full effects of broadband to be realized. In any case the early indications of significant positive economic impacts already reported in advanced western economies, on key macroeconomic data such as jobs and output growth are indicative and supportive of the widespread view that broadband is indeed essential infrastructure. It should be noted, however, that increased use will require an expansion of supply, specifically greater investment by service providers in broadband infrastructure, which already is facing capacity constraints as new applications, such as video streaming, become ever more popular. It is critical, therefore, that new regulatory policies not reduce investment incentives for these carriers. Finally, there is one important way in which policy makers can and should expand both demand and supply of broadband services. That is to continue the process of increasing the amount of radio spectrum available for commercial uses and subject to flexible market allocation. Expansion of wireless services will both add to the competitive supply of broadband “bit paths” into homes and businesses and expand the range of complementary services that will further increase demand for broadband capacity. The stronger the competition among broadband providers, the higher the demand -at the retail level- should go. In this view, a robust national ICT policy -competitive enough- needs to be grounded in a simple understanding: Like it or not, in an increasingly global economy most nations enact policies to tilt the choice of corporations to invest there. This means that the Hellenic State States needs to develop a comprehensive competitiveness policy focused on ensuring that broadband services will be evolved at every level. This, between others, requires, 39 i) overhaul new taxes that constitute barriers for the broadband evolvement , ii) create incentives for strong corporate partnerships, that can undertake and complete excessive network investments, iii) make the ICT Revolution and the digital transformation of the economy a national goal. Statement IX

Macroeconomic data vividly illustrate that broadband access does enhance economic growth and performance, and that the assumed economic impacts of broadband are real and measurable. In this perspective regulatory policy initiatives must be taken at: i)

society level: To implement the computerization of schools and other establishments of education and training; To promote the life-long learning and education style of personal development; With these and presumable other action lines, to create the social - cultural environment, favorable to the growth of broadband demand.

ii)

household level:

38 Crandall, Lehr & Litan, Brookings Institution, “The Effects of Broadband Deployment on Output and Employment: A Cross-sectional Analysis of U.S. Data” (2007). Between 1998-2002 in the US, broadband added about 1-1.4% to employment growth rate. 39 Unfortunately the Greek state by increasing the Mobile Subscribers’ Tax, is moving in the opposite direction, undermining the Wireless Broadband Evolution. Theodossis Tompras Attorney at Law Legal & Regulatory Affairs Department - WIND Hellas Telecommunications S.A. - 21 -


-

To provide motivation for people to acquire broadband related technical means; To encourage people to connect to Internet using different wireless or wireline motifs; To aggregate purchasing of broadband by the state.

iii)

market level (wide approach): To promote content development; To ensure full range of e-government services; To initiate and support programs dedicated to develop new technologies, applications, safety.

iv)

market level (narrow approach): To promote competition in the market; To promote the Infrastructure investment; To promote legacy infrastructure provision; With these action lines and others, to create a stable political and regulatory environment, favorable to the growth of broadband market and to development and investments into new forms of rich content.

As ubiquitous wireless technologies and services continue to expand, it is necessary to design new and appropriate applications. The social goal of ubiquitous connectivity is to provide increased access to information for all members of the community; its economic goal is to develop information as a commodity along with knowledge products and services. The confluence of these two goals brings together people, information infrastructure, content, and applications. Statement X

Therefore, simultaneous development of innovative applications and new service models are needed.

Applications and service model innovations for metropolitan & sub-urban economies Applications driving ubiquitous connectivity in metropolitan areas Metro-zone wireless access is a crucial part of the strategy to grow a country's welfare surplus. This infrastructure brings low-cost IP services not only to local residents but also to temporary visitors. Wireless broadband access can also facilitate the deployment of innovative business solutions and platforms in the interest of the public (i.e. e-gov, e-tranport e.t.c.) by creating incentives to encourage telecommuters. It would offer them the convenience of conducting business from their homes and provide broadband as a necessary everyday tool. Users could also choose from various access speed options, ranging from a guaranteed 128 kbps to several Mbps. This infrastructure would be especially helpful in urban settings, as it would be more productive for some employees to work from their home, enabling them to save time and commuting costs. This also aids the local economy by providing easy IP access to businesses, especially to a mobile workforce. A metro-zone broadband wireless network can create a surplus of value especially for small businesses than the use of cable or xDSL. A wireless broadband access network can supersede the wireline last-mile, allowing local businesses to more effectively develop, manage and sell their products and services. Broadband helps businesses save on telephone costs by using broadband phone service (VoIP) and video-conferencing to save operational expenses. With a modern wireless communication infrastructure, business operations could move away from the main cities to less dense sub-urban areas, allowing their employees to work from any location virtually and eliminating the need for face-to-face contact. Theodossis Tompras Attorney at Law Legal & Regulatory Affairs Department - WIND Hellas Telecommunications S.A. - 22 -


The IT service economy and most of the high-tech parks are focused on the urban segment of the population, frequently at the expense of growth in the sub-urban cities. To achieve unified growth and to bring small towns and cities into the growing knowledge economy, there needs to be some form of ICT infrastructure that can address all the developmental issues. A small town can have a mini-IT park that would not need gigabytes of broadband connectivity; megabytes would suffice and it could be easily accomplished with the support of wireless broadband, irrespective the technology used. Another application could be neighbourhood-based networks. Since many small businesses and activities are neighbourhood-based, one needs to tailor the network and content so that they appeal to the local community. Each neighbourhood with access to the network can form an association using its own infrastructure to develop its community. Statement XI

There can also be unique services and content for each neighbourhood; this kind of network can serve as a forum for idea exchange, education, and community enrichment.

Applications and eradication for rural wireless deployment The ability of wireless broadband to provide ready access to any remote part of a country and the speed even by using hybrid solutions (i.e. femtocells with wireline access, satellite with Wi-Fi last mile e.t.c.) that can be deployed, means that more and more rural areas can be online-enabled in a short period of time. The infrastructure for rural environments should have multi-functional communication capabilities while also being robust and sustainable. ICT can provide effective tools and techniques for a variety of applications such as e-education, e-health, e-learning, egovernance, e-entertainment, etc. e-Education: Affordable broadband technologies may enable new ways of teaching and learning among the rural population. Wireless technologies can connect rural schools and colleges to urban institutes, thereby spreading education in a more pervasive manner. This also facilitates improvement of the education system by reducing the access in advanced knowledge data bases in remote areas. e-Health: Connectivity for health facilities has been identified as a priority in order to enhance the quality of healthcare in many ICT projects around the world. An interesting health application, already developed in certain rural areas in Greece, is using wireless technologies for linking a rural clinic to a larger hospital, thus enabling data, voice, and video transmissions between a rural patient and his doctor and the city-based clinic. e-Tourism/e-Village: Connectivity in the rural areas have already become in the 90s a strategic investment for all Greek villages. The main goal is to attract people from all around the world to travel to rural regions of Greece or to sell local handicrafts, agriculture, horticulture, and other local products via the website. This portal can also provide comprehensive information about a area/village.

Theodossis Tompras Attorney at Law Legal & Regulatory Affairs Department - WIND Hellas Telecommunications S.A. - 23 -


Conclusion The EDGE/HSPA/LTE family of technologies provides operators and subscribers a true mobilebroadband advantage. The continued use of GSM and EDGE technology through ongoing enhancements allows operators to leverage existing investments. With UMTS/HSPA, the technologies’ advantages provide for broadband services that will deliver increased data revenue and provide a path to all-IP architectures. With LTE, the advantages offer a best-ofbreed longterm solution that matches or exceeds the performance of competing approaches. In all cases, the different radio-access technologies can coexist using the same core architecture. Today, HSDPA offers the highest peak data rates of any widely available wide-area wireless technology. With continued evolution, peak data rates will continue to increase, spectral efficiency will increase, and latency will decrease. The result is support for more users at higher speeds with more applications enabled. Application scope will also increase, with QoS control and multimedia support through systems such as IMS. Greater efficiencies will translate to more competitive offers, greater network usage, and increased revenues. The migration and benefits of the evolution from GPRS/EDGE to HSPA and then to LTE are both practical and inevitable. When combined with the ability to roam globally, huge economies of scale, widespread acceptance by operators, complementary services such as messaging and multimedia, and a wide variety of competitive handsets and other devices, the result is a compelling technology family for both users and operators. Today, over 135 commercial UMTS/HSDPA networks and 181 UMTS networks are already in operation. UMTS/HSPA offers an excellent migration path for GSM operators as well as an effective technology solution for greenfield operators. EDGE has proven to be a remarkably effective and efficient technology for GSM networks. It achieves high spectral efficiency and data performance that today supports a wide range of applications. Evolved EDGE, available in the 2007 timeframe as part of Release 7, will greatly enhance EDGE capabilities, more than quadrupling throughputs. Whereas EDGE is extremely efficient for narrowband data services, the UMTS/HSPA radio link is efficient for wideband services. Unlike some competing technologies, UMTS today offers users simultaneous voice and data. It also allows operators to support voice and data across their entire available spectrum. Combined with a comprehensive QoS framework and multimedia support, a network employing both EDGE and UMTS provides an optimal solution for a broad range of uses. HSDPA has significantly enhanced UMTS by providing a broadband data service with userachievable rates that often exceed 1 Mbps in initial deployments and that now exceed 3 Mbps in some commercial networks. Today’s devices support peak network rates of 7.2 Mbps, and the technology itself has a theoretical maximum network rate of 14 Mbps. Latency is very low, often below 100 msec. Not only are there continual improvements in radio technology, but improvements to the core network through flatter architectures -particularly EPS- will reduce latency, speed applications, simplify deployment, enable all services in the IP domain, and allow a common core network to support both LTE and legacy GSM/UMTS systems. HSPA and its advanced evolution can compete against any other technology in the world, and it is widely expected that most UMTS operators will eventually upgrade to this technology. While HSDPA improves throughput speeds and spectral efficiency for the downlink, HSUPA improves these for the uplink. Other innovations, such as MIMO, will be deployed over the next several years. Evolved HSPA+ systems, with peak rates of 42 Mbps, will largely match the throughput and capacity of OFDMA-based approaches in 5 MHz. 3GPP adopted OFDMA with 3GPP LTE, which will provide a growth platform for the next decade. With the continued growth in mobile computing, powerful new handheld computing platforms, an increasing amount of mobile content, multimedia messaging, mobile commerce, and location services, wireless data has slowly but inevitably become a huge industry. EDGE/HSPA/LTE provides one of the most robust portfolios of mobile-broadband technologies, and it is an optimum framework for realizing the potential of this market. Theodossis Tompras Attorney at Law Legal & Regulatory Affairs Department - WIND Hellas Telecommunications S.A. - 24 -


However, ICT not a panacea. ICT infrastructure, along with necessary improvements in other key physical infrastructural areas like roads, airports, dams, electricity, bridges, etc., is necessary for emerging markets to become competitive in the global economy. Although ICT is not a panacea for every problem, nor is it an end in itself, it is a huge step toward reaching out to equalize the huge disparities between different communities in the same country. The digital divide is another challenge that can be addressed by building an ICT infrastructure for rural areas so that they can address the needs of the poor (e-eradication). By erecting ICT infrastructure in all tiers of the economy, it is possible to make every individual a global citizen by providing connectivity to everyone. The success of capacity building depends not only on technical analysis but also on its integration within the broader social, economic, and political environments. There must be also support for alternative -to wireline- broadband technologies. Since we believe ubiquitous broadband is a daily necessity for every citizen and business, it is essential for policymakers to explore options such as public–private partnerships (ΣΔΙΤ) to build wireless infrastructure throughout the country, thereby promoting competition in the broadband market. After deploying the ICT infrastructure, focus should shift to the use of technology. Giving connectivity alone does not solve all the problems; to be sustainable it should facilitate the needs and resolve the communication challenges of each stakeholder in every tier of the economy. The true potential is realized only when people participate in a meaningful way with others, beyond their boundaries. On the other hand, small businesses should explore additional options with connectivity, finding ways to perform their businesses more efficiently than before. Last, but not least, the government should provide e-governance and all critical services to their citizens.



Technology index UMTS/HSPA Technology Universal Mobile Telecommunications System has garnered the overwhelming majority of new 3G spectrum licenses, with well over 100 commercial networks already in operation. Compared to emerging wireless technologies, UMTS technology is mature and benefits from research and development that began in the early 1990s. It has been thoroughly trialed, tested, and commercially deployed. UMTS deployment is now accelerating with stable network infrastructure and attractive, reliable mobile devices with rich capabilities. UMTS employs a wideband CDMA radio-access technology. The primary benefits of UMTS include high spectral efficiency for voice and data, simultaneous voice and data capability for users, high user densities that can be supported with low infrastructure cost, support for highbandwidth data applications, and a clean migration to VoIP in the future. Operators can also use their entire available spectrum for both voice and highspeed data services. Additionally, operators will be able to use a common core network that supports multiple radioaccess networks, including GSM, GPRS, EDGE, WCDMA, HSDPA, and evolutions of these technologies. This common core network can use the same network elements as GPRS, including SGSN, GGSN, MSC, and HLR. This is called the UMTS multi-radio network, and it gives operators maximum flexibility in providing different services across their coverage areas (see Figure 10). WCDMA is spectrally more efficient than GSM, but it is the wideband nature of WCDMA that provides its greatest advantage—the ability to translate the available spectrum into high data rates. This wideband technology approach results in the flexibility to manage multiple traffic types, including voice, narrowband data, and wideband data. 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) Although HSPA and HSPA+ offer a highly efficient broadband wireless service that will likely enjoy success for the remainder of the decade, 3GPP is also working on a project called Long Term Evolution. LTE will allow operators to achieve even higher peak throughputs in higher spectrum bandwidth. Initial possible deployment is targeted for 2009. UMTS Release 99 Data Capabilities In UMTS Release 99, the maximum theoretical downlink rate is just over 2 Mbps. Although exact throughput depends on the channel sizes the operator chooses to make available, the capabilities of devices, and the number of users active in the network, users can obtain peak throughput rates of 350 kbps in commercial networks. Peak downlink network speeds are 384 kbps. Uplink peak network throughput rates are also 384 kbps in newer deployments, with user-achievable peak rates of 350 kbps30. This satisfies many communications-oriented applications. HSDPA High Speed Downlink Packet Access is a tremendous performance upgrade for packet data that delivers peak theoretical rates of 14 Mbps. Peak user-achievable throughput rates in initial deployments are well over 1 Mbps, three times faster than Release 99 data, and will increase over time with enhanced terminals and network capabilities. Specified as part of 3GPP Release 5, operators are now deploying HSDPA around the world. In the United States, Cingular Wireless will have HSDPA service in most major markets by the end of 2006. HSDPA is fully backward compatible with UMTS Release 99, and any application developed for Release 99 will work with HSDPA. The same radio carrier can simultaneously service UMTS voice and data users as well as HSDPA data users. HSDPA also has significantly lower latency, measured today on some networks as low as 70 msec on the HSDPA data channel. HSDPA achieves its high speeds through techniques similar to those that amplify EDGE performance past GPRS, including higher order modulation, variable coding, and soft combining, as well as through the addition of powerful new techniques such as fast scheduling. HSDPA Theodossis Tompras Attorney at Law Legal & Regulatory Affairs Department - WIND Hellas Telecommunications S.A. - 26 -


takes WCDMA technology to an elevated performance level for providing broadband services, and it has the highest theoretical peak throughput of any cellular technology currently available. The higher spectral efficiency and higher data rates not only enable new classes of applications but also support a greater number of users accessing the network. HSDPA achieves its performance gains from the following radio features: High-speed channels shared in both the code and time domains Short TTI Fast scheduling and user diversity Higher order modulation Fast link adaptation Fast Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) Whereas HSDPA optimizes downlink performance, High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) which uses the Enhanced Dedicated Channel (E-DCH)- constitutes a set of improvements that optimizes uplink performance. These improvements include higher throughputs, reduced latency, and increased spectral efficiency. HSUPA is standardized in Release 6. HSUPA will result in an approximately 85 percent increase in overall cell throughput on the uplink and an approximately 50 percent gain in user throughput. HSUPA also reduces packet delays. Such an improved uplink will benefit users in a number of ways. For instance, some user applications transmit large amounts of data from the mobile station, such as sending video clips or large presentation files. For future applications such as VoIP, improvements will balance the capacity of the uplink with the capacity of the downlink. HSUPA achieves its performance gains through the following approaches: An enhanced dedicated physical channel A short TTI, as low as 2 msec, which allows faster responses to changing radio conditions and error conditions Fast Node-B-based scheduling, which allows the base station to efficiently allocate radio resources Fast Hybrid ARQ, which improves the efficiency of error processing Evolution of HSPA (HSPA+) Wireless and networking technologists are developing a continual series of enhancements for HSPA, some of which are being specified in Release 6 and Release 7, and some of which are being studied for Release 8. The goals of HSPA+ are to: Exploit the full potential of a CDMA approach before moving to an OFDM platform in 3GPP LTE. Achieve performance comparable to LTE in 5 MHz of spectrum. Provide smooth interworking between HSPA+ and LTE that facilitates operation of both technologies. As such, operators may choose to leverage the SAE planned for LTE. Allow operation in a packet-only mode for both voice and data. Be backward compatible with previous systems while incurring no performance degradation with either earlier or newer devices. Facilitate migration from current HSPA infrastructure to HSPA+ infrastructure. What makes such enhancements attractive is that no changes are required to the networks except increased capacity within the infrastructure to support the higher bandwidth. Moreover, the network can support a combination of devices, including both earlier devices that do not include these enhancements and those that do. Device vendors can selectively apply these enhancements to their higher performing devices. Theodossis Tompras Attorney at Law Legal & Regulatory Affairs Department - WIND Hellas Telecommunications S.A. - 27 -


Another capability being standardized is Multiple Input Multiple Output. MIMO refers to a technique that employs multiple transmit antennas and multiple receive antennas, often in combination with multiple radios and multiple parallel data streams. The most common use of the term “MIMO” applies to spatial multiplexing. The transmitter sends different data streams over each antenna. Whereas multipath is an impediment for other radio systems, MIMO actually exploits multipath, relying on signals to travel across different communications paths. This results in multiple data paths effectively operating somewhat in parallel and, through appropriate decoding, in a multiplicative gain in throughput. 3G LTE LTE uses Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) on the downlink, which is well suited to achieve high peak data rates in high spectrum bandwidth. WCDMA radio technology is about as efficient as OFDM for delivering peak data rates of about 10 Mbps in 5 MHz of bandwidth. However, achieving peak rates in the 100 Mbps range with wider radio channels would result in highly complex terminals and is not practical with current technology. It is here that OFDM provides a practical implementation advantage. Scheduling approaches in the frequency domain can also minimize interference, and hence boost spectral efficiency. On the uplink, however, a pure OFDMA approach results in high Peak to Average Ratio (PAR) of the signal, which compromises power efficiency and ultimately battery life. Hence, LTE uses an approach called SC-FDMA, which has some similarities with OFDMA but will have a 2 to 6 dB PAR advantage over the OFDMA method used by other technologies such as IEEE 802.16e. LTE goals include: Downlink peak data rates up to 100 Mbps with 20 MHz bandwidth Uplink peak data rates up to 50 Mbps with 20 MHz bandwidth Operation in both TDD and FDD modes Scalable bandwidth up to 20 MHz, covering 1.25 MHz, 2.5 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz, and 20 MHz in the study phase. 1.6 MHz wide channels are under consideration for the unpaired frequency band, where a TDD approach will be used Increase spectral efficiency over Release 6 HSPA by a factor of two to four Reduce latency to 10 msec round-trip time between user equipment and the base station and to less than 100 msec transition time from inactive to active The overall intent is to provide for an extremely high-performance radio-access technology that offers full vehicular speed mobility and that can readily coexist with HSPA and earlier networks. Because of scalable bandwidth, operators will be able to easily migrate their networks and users from HSPA to LTE over time. 4G LTE will address the market needs of the next decade. After that operators might deploy Fourth Generation (4G) networks using LTE technology as a foundation. There are no official standards efforts or formal definitions yet for 4G, but preliminary research is focusing on technologies capable of delivering peak rates of 1 Gbps, being fully IP based, and supporting full network agility for handovers between different types of networks, e.g., 4G to 3G to WLAN. The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has a framework for 4G in ITU-R Working Party 8F and has published a document, Recommendation ITU-R M.1645, entitled “Framework and overall objectives of the future development of IMT-2000 and systems beyond IMT-2000.” Another ITU objective is to make innovative services available in a new globally harmonized spectrum. The high suggested 4G data rates will require channel bandwidths larger that what would be available in current spectrum. Some companies are attempting to co-opt the term “4G” to refer to wireless systems that promise performance beyond current 3G systems. However, all these systems are on par with HSPA/HSPA+ and LTE, and their use of the term “4G” is largely Theodossis Tompras Attorney at Law Legal & Regulatory Affairs Department - WIND Hellas Telecommunications S.A. - 28 -


WiMAX Like GSM/UMTS, WiMAX is not a single technology; it’s a family of interoperable technologies. The original specification, IEEE 802.16, was completed in 2001 and intended primarily for telecom backhaul applications in point-to-point line-of-sight configurations using spectrum above 10 GHz. This original version of IEEE 802.16 uses a radio interface based on a single-carrier waveform. The IEEE has completed a mobile broadband standard, IEEE 802.16e-2005, which adds mobility capabilities including support for radio operation while mobile, handovers across base stations, and handovers across operators. Operators could start deploying mobile WiMAX in the 2007 to 2008 time frame. Current WiMAX profiles emphasize time-division-duplex operation. The principal difference from HSDPA is IEEE 802.16e-2005’s use of OFDMA. As discussed in the “Technical Approaches (TDMA, CDMA, OFDM)” section above, OFDM provides a potential implementation advantage for wide radio channels (e.g., 10 to 20 MHz). In 5 to 10 MHz radio channels, there is no evidence indicating that IEEE 802.16e-2005 will have any significant performance advantage on the downlink. In reference to economies of scale, GSM/UMTS/HSPA subscribers number in the billions. However, even by the end of the decade the number of WiMAX subscribers is likely to be quite low. For example, Senza Fili Consulting in a Trendsmedia Telebriefing on June 21, 2006, projected only 16 million subscribers worldwide by the end of 2010. Finally, from a technology standpoint, mobile WiMAX on paper may be slightly more capable than today’s available versions of HSPA. But by the time mobile WiMAX becomes available, it will actually have to compete against evolved HSPA systems that will offer similar capabilities and enhanced performance. And by then, LTE will not be that far from being available for deployment. Wireless data business models must also be considered. Today’s cellular networks can finance the deployment of data capabilities through a successful voice business. Building new networks for broadband wireless mandates a large amount of capacity per subscriber. Consumers who download 1 gigabyte of data each month represent a 10 times greater load on the network that a 1,000-minute a month voice user. It is not clear how easily the available revenue per subscriber will be able to finance large-scale deployment of network capacity. Although there is discussion of providing voice services over WiMAX using VoIP, mobile voice users demand extremely wide coverage, including indoor coverage. Matching the cellular footprint with WiMAX would require massive—and unlikely—operator investments. Despite numerous attempts, no terrestrial wirelessdata-only network has ever succeeded as a business41. Flash OFDM Flash OFDM is a proprietary wireless-networking technology developed by Flarion Technologies. Qualcomm purchased this company for a reported $600 to $800 million in 2006. A number of operators in Asia and Europe have trialed Flash OFDM. The first commercial network was launched in Slovakia in 2005 by T-Mobile Slovakia using frequencies released from NMT analog service in the 450 MHz band. Another deployment commitment is in Finland, where the government has granted an operating license in the 450 MHz band for a nationwide network. Flash OFDM is based on OFDM in the 1.25 MHz radio channels. It employs frequency hopping in the tones (subchannels), which provides frequency diversity and enables 1/1 reuse. The network is all IP-based and implements voice functions using VoIP. Flarion claims typical downlink speeds of 1 to 1.5 Mbps and average uplink speeds of 300 to 500 kbps, with typical latency of less than 50 msec. From a spectral efficiency point of view, Flash OFDM claims to achieve approximately the same downlink value as HSPA, in combination with mobile receive diversity, and approximately the same uplink value as HSUPA. Because the technology is proprietary, details are not available for an objective assessment. Although Flash OFDM has a time to market advantage in that its Theodossis Tompras Attorney at Law Legal & Regulatory Affairs Department - WIND Hellas Telecommunications S.A. - 29 -


equipment is already available, it has major disadvantages in that support is available only from a limited vendor base and the technology is not based on open standards. It is not clear at this time whether Qualcomm intends to pursue deployment and development of the Flash OFDM technology or whether it intends to use the technology as a base for designing future OFDM systems. IEEE 802.20 IEEE 802.20 is a mobile-broadband specification being developed by the Mobile Broadband Wireless Access Working Group of the IEEE. Initial contributions are similar in nature to IEEE 802.16e-2005, in that they use OFDMA, specify physical layer (PHY) and Medium Access Control (MAC) networking layers, address flexible channelization to 20 MHz, and provide peak data rates of over 100 Mbps. With vendors focused heavily on LTE, UMB, and WiMAX for next-generation wireless services, it is not clear whether there is sufficient momentum in this standard to make it a viable technology. At this time, no operator has committed to the possible standard. Wi-Fi and Municipal Wi-Fi Systems In the local area, the IEEE 802.11 family of technologies has experienced rapid growth, mainly in private deployments. In addition, operators -including cellular operators- are offering hotspot service in public areas such as airports, fast-food restaurants, and hotels. For the most part, hotspots are complementary with cellular-data networks, because the hotspot can provide broadband services in extremely dense user areas and the cellular network can provide broadband services across much larger areas. Various organizations are looking at integrating WLAN service with GSM/UMTS data services. The GSM Association has developed recommendations for SIM-based authentication of hotspots, and 3GPP has multiple initiatives that address WLAN integration into its networks, including 3GPP System to WLAN Interworking, UMA, IMS, and EPS. Many cities are now deploying metro Wi-Fi systems that will provide Wi-Fi access in downtown areas. These systems are based on a mesh technology, where access points forward packets to nodes that have backhaul connections. Although some industry observers are predicting that these systems will have an adverse effect on 3G data services, metro Wi-Fi and 3G are more likely to be complementary in nature. Wi-Fi can generally provide better application performance over limited coverage areas, whereas 3G systems can provide access over much larger coverage areas. Metro systems today are still quite immature and face the following challenges: Today’s mesh systems are all proprietary. The IEEE is developing a mesh networking standard—IEEE 802.16s—but this may not be ready until 2008. Even then, it is not clear that vendors will adopt this standard for outdoor systems. Coverage in most metro systems is designed to provide an outdoor signal. As such, the signal does not penetrate many buildings in the coverage area and repeaters are needed to propagate the signal indoors. Many early network deployments have experienced poorer coverage than initially expected, and the number of recommended access points per square mile has increased steadily. Operation is in unlicensed bands in the 2.4 GHz radio channel. Given only three relatively non-overlapping radio channels at 2.4 GHz, interference between public and private systems is inevitable. Though mesh architecture simplifies backhaul, there are still considerable expenses and networking considerations in backhauling a large number of outdoor access points. No proven business models exist. Nevertheless, metro networks have attracted considerable interest, and many projects are proceeding. Technical issues will likely be resolved over time, and as more devices support both 3G and Wi-Fi, users can look forward to multiple access options.
