3GPP Network Sharing Enhancements for LTE
Last week I was interviewed for a forthcoming report on mobile network sharing and it prompted me to catch up on the latest 3GPP developments in this area. As network sharing becomes widespread in the mobile industry, a range of new capabilities are under development in 3GPP. These will provide network operators with much greater [...]
LTE Carrier Aggregation comes to fruition
In the first few months of 2013 there have been signs that LTE Carrier Aggregation (CA) is coming to fruition, with a series of announcements of demonstrations, trials and launch plans by network operators and equipment manufacturers, including: Ericsson, Qualcomm Technologies and Sierra Wireless provided the first public demonstration of LTE Carrier Aggregation at Mobile World Congress (MWC) [...]
Voice over LTE (VoLTE) faces a technology and marketing battle
The latest “Evolution to LTE Report” from the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) includes, among other things, a (very short) list of Voice over LTE (VoLTE) launches around the world. Over two years ago I expressed my concern at the lack of long term solutions for voice over LTE. While the situation is gradually becoming clearer, there is [...]
Enhanced small cells are the key to traffic boom
One of the major themes of 3GPP Release 12 (due for completion in 2014) is enhanced support for small cells in LTE. With mobile network traffic expected to increase dramatically over the coming years, the ability to reuse spectrum many times in dense usage areas will make small cells crucial. In a previous post on [...]
Mobile broadcasting comes of age in LTE eMBMS
At this month’s International Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2013) in Las Vegas, Verizon Wireless announced plans to launch a video broadcast service based on eMBMS, the LTE variant of the 3GPP Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS). Amid reports that a number of network operators are considering eMBMS, Verizon took the opportunity of CES to demonstrate [...]
NTT DoCoMo provides 3G/4G indoor coverage with dual-mode femtocells
NTT DoCoMo has announced that it will launch the world’s first combined HSDPA/LTE femtocells in December 2012, to enable improved indoor coverage for both 3G and 4G mobile handsets. Shops and offices will be able to offer high quality 3G and 4G coverage and users will be able to drop back to slower HSDPA services [...]
Yota launches world’s first “commercial” LTE-Advanced network
Earlier this month, Russian network operator Yota reported it had launched the world’s first commercial LTE-Advanced network, using equipment supplied by Huawei. The network comprises 13 base stations in Moscow and Yota has reported downlink data at up to 300Mbit/s. However, Yota has admitted that it will not have terminals available until 2013 and the [...]
Summary of 3GPP Standards Releases for LTE
Working in the UK, where commercial LTE services are still not available, it is easy to forget that standardisation of LTE has been underway for many years. The first 3GPP standards were frozen way back in 2008, in 3GPP Release 8, and no fewer than five 3GPP releases containing LTE aspects have now received attention [...]
Everything Everywhere 4G launch put on ice
Last month I welcomed the fact that Ofcom had expedited the introduction of 4G in the UK by allowing Everything Everywhere to launch LTE services in advance of the UK’s forthcoming auction of 4G spectrum. Today, Everything Everywhere revealed its 4G plans in more detail. Under its new brand of “EE” it will offer LTE services [...]
Ofcom decision accelerates introduction of UK 4G
After years of delays to the introduction of fourth generation (4G) mobile services in the UK, yesterday Ofcom announced a decision that could see the launch of LTE services in the UK in the autumn of 2012. Ofcom has approved an application by Everything Everywhere to use its existing 1800MHz spectrum for the delivery of [...]
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