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provision of services through an all-IP core network, and Release 5 specifications focus on providing data rates up to approximately 10Mb/s to support packet-based multimedia services. MIMO systems are the work item in Release 6 specifications, which will support even higher data transmission rates up to 20Mb/s. HSDPA is evolved from and backward compatible with WCDMA systems.
To succeed, HSDPA must compete with CDMA2000 EV-DO and WiMAX. This might be difficult as, in Japan, KDDI’s CDMA2000 is generally considered as being much more successful, faster and smoother than DoCoMo’s and Vodafone’s UMTS / WCDMA.
Mobile Triple Play and converged multimedia services will also put new demands on the core network. Evolution to all-IP service delivery is a natural step of both fixed and mobile communications and IMS is a key component of the operator’s long-term network evolution towards all-IP.
Will HSDPA dethrone WiMAX?
WiMAX arrived too late to make a major impact on the fixed broadband market but, with hindsight, I believe that this would nothave had a major impact even if it hard arrived a year or so earlier.
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environment. There will be plenty of such opportunities – just think digital cameras for one – sharing those ‘Kodak’ moments with people on the other side of the wireless broadband connections. Now these technologies are theoretically also available on mobile networks, but they are far too expensive, too cumbersome and, with the dozen or so different technologies used, certainly not seamless and universal.
Last year, for the first time, I began to report on HSDPA and, at a very interested analysts’ conference in Shanghai, Ericsson was once again enthusiastic about this technology. Now a year later it has the first trials in place.
Theoretically, yes, it all looks great and fantastic. The pics on the mobile phones look better than the one on 2G phones but, on the other hand, the hype is more of the same. I can’t see operators rushing into this. Most are still coming to grips with the first generation 3G, and they are now already being forced to look at the first upgrade, with many more to come. Apart from the obvious costs involved for the operators, they would still need to change their business models, otherwise HSDPA will end up on the same pile as WAP, GPRS, MMS, POC, and half a dozen variations on the theme. It is this change in business modeling that is required before mobile operators will ever be able to successfully enter the wireless broadband market beyond a few niche applications. |
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It is mainly moving into those broadband markets that don’t have DSL, or where only ADSL is available. Wireless has the potential to compete with fixed systems in these markets, but it often does not constitute more than 10%-25% of the total broadband market, and here it will also compete with satellite and BPL. Furthermore, the closer to populated areas, the bigger the threat that fixed line operators will extend their reach.
So, while it is still a strong contender in this space, we started to direct our consideration of WiMAX to new markets and have been talking about wireless broadband taking over where mobile data has failed. The mobile technology is not well positioned to deliver high-speed, low cost broadband in a wireless environment – partly for technological reasons and partly because of the business models currently being used by mobile operators.
WiMAX could build this wireless grid in an open fashion, thus providing content and service providers with an economically viable way to develop new services for a wireless
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The mobile operators do have the advantage of having systems in place for billing, customer service and so on, and that makes them formidable competitors to anyone daring to enter their turf with WiMAX. But if WiMAX does deliver, it will certainly upset the mobile market – it will be the biggest disruption this industry has seen in its entire history.
So, let the games begin.
IP Multimedia systems (IMS)
A new mobile platform has been developed that makes seamless communications possible between fixed and mobile networks. Called IPMultimedia System (IMS), it sits between the access layer and the services layer and allows for more efficient IP services, as well as the opportunity to develop more multimedia services.
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