TMCnet News
4G: Mobile's taxonomy breaks free(Total Telecom Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Mobile operators and equipment manufacturers have been talking about the move to so-called "4G" networks and services for some time, but what has become clear is that the term 4G can mean different things to different people. The evolution of mobile networks from 1G, 2G, 2.5G through to 3G has largely followed fairly well-defined paths set out by standards bodies, and each evolutionary step has generally adhered to certain criteria that determine whether or not a service is, say, "3G". Of course the standards bodies such as 3GPP are working towards the next phase that will be called "4G". But a 4G standard evolving from WCDMA/HSDPA/LTE, for example, is still some time away. Indeed Tom Quirke, direct of marketing in the global marketing and communications division at Motorola in the U.K., told Total Telecom at this week's ITU Telecom World 2006 in Hong Kong that a 4G standard is currently likely in around 2013. Some vendors and operators are, however, starting to use 4G to describe what are indeed next-generation mobile networks. In the view of John Roese, CTO of Nortel Networks, the three main next-generation mobile networks LTE, cdma2000 Revision C (UMB), and mobile WiMAX are all 4G networks. Roese said all three should be called 4G since they break completely with what came before and represent more of a "revolution" than an evolution. LTE, WiMAX and UMB will all have a completely different radio interface, OFDM, and will be IP based with a flat, data architecture. They also promise speeds of more than 100 megabits per second. But on a more worrying level, these "4G" technologies will also require more spectrum, as pointed out by Paul Callahan, VP of business development at cdma2000 EV-DO network specialist Airvana. "You'll need more spectrum," Callahan commented, "and a lot of it." Vendors such as Nokia appear to stick more closely to the standardisation path and refuse to call LTE a 4G technology, for example. Motorola's Quirke, however, said it's important not to get too bogged down in the taxonomy of mobile technology. "The wisest thing is to do what your customer wants," commented Quirke. "Our response is to our customers." Indeed it's clear that in the increasingly competitive mobile environment, vendors are ever more in thrall to mobile operator whims and decisions. Callahan from Airvana commented that if operators say they want it, you have to build it and fast. "You need operators to make a big commitment," Callahan said. Callahan gave the example of U.S. operator Sprint, which more or less killed off developments of EV-DV technology meant to be the follow-up to EV-DO or 1XRTT by deciding it would deploy EV-DO instead. "It's all the operators," he added. "They call the shots the technology decisions they make change our lives." Indeed Sprint Nextel has already decided it will deploy mobile WiMAX, which it is calling its 4G network. In the process the U.S. operator pretty much quashed the U.S. aspirations of TDD UMTS proponent IPWireless. In a further example, Callahan added that his company built a base station specially for a customer that was taking part in the recent U.S. spectrum auctions. The base station was built to enable EV-DO connectivity in airplanes, for example. But the customer failed to win any spectrum. Callahan said Airvana, whose business is mainly as an OEM supplier to Nortel Networks and Qualcomm, is now actively looking for new customers for this base station. Copyright 2006 Terrapinn Ltd |