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LTE: The mobile broadband big bang
With the demand for mobile data services predicted to go through the roof, Long Term Evolution (LTE) will add a whole new dimension to mobile broadband. Offering benefits such as extreme efficiency and even more personalized experience, it will also help bridge the gap between traffic and revenue growth.
Mobile: The broadband big bang
The growth rate of mobile broadband has been truly staggering, with 186 million subscribers worldwide at the end of 2008.
Through a range of attractive tariffs, widespread HSPA networks, snazzy new 3G devices and cheap USB modems; mobile broadband has successfully tapped the mass market and is showing no signs of slowing down.
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By 2014, the number of mobile broadband subscribers is predicted to grow by 1000%, and Ovum estimates that there will be more than 2 billion mobile broadband users generating annual revenues of USD 137 billion globally.
The need to drive down costs
This explosion in data traffic is putting increasing pressure on CSPs to be operationally efficient. In a nutshell, subscriber and traffic growth will considerably outstrip revenue growth. Networks will need to carry more data for much less revenue per MByte. To remain profitable, the key will be to adopt technologies that achieve significantly lower costs per MByte of transmitted data.
LTE addresses this need for efficiency and innovation, providing the capacity to carry the projected growth in data traffic, while delivering an ‘all IP’ experience with both data and voice carried over the same IP network, smoothly interworking with legacy equipment. With LTE, the win-win for subscribers, in much faster mobile broadband services at lower prices, will also be a revenue driver for CSPs.
LTE: A step change for new services
LTE has all the ingredients to create an enhanced broadband market in which everyone and everything will be connected, transforming how users receive, consume and interact with information and content distributed over mobile networks.
With mass market deployment, it will create a super-fast, extremely efficient and highly reliable mobile network to support the delivery of a wide range of services to multiple devices. In the process, LTE will transform how users receive, consume and interact with information and content distributed over mobile networks.
LTE is on the road and picking up speed
LTE offers peak data rates of up to 173 Mbps in the downlink and 58 Mbps in the uplink, (ten times faster than today’s HSPA) and can coexist with both 3G and 2G systems.
Latency will also be exceptionally low at 10–20 ms, improving performance for gamers and web surfers, as well as true real-time applications such as VoIP.
LTE has higher spectral efficiency than HSPA, so CSPs can squeeze more data into their available spectrum. Plus, with LTE you can re-use existing site infrastructure such as antennas, feeder cables, masts, hardware racks and power supply elements.
For all these reasons and more, LTE will support much cheaper capacity upgrades than the deployment of new base stations based on existing technologies.
Ready for LTE?
According to Informa LTE has found unanimous global acceptance by operators in all regions and backgrounds. They describe LTE as the overwhelming choice as the next generation access technology, with over 100 operators globally expressing their intention to deploy LTE and about 10 operators planning to launch in 2010.
Nokia Siemens Networks is already delivering LTE-ready flat architecture (direct tunnelling based on I-HSPA). We were the first vendor to demonstrate LTE technology - achieving data transfer rates of up to 160 Mbps, and to complete a successful handover between LTE and HSPA networks. Our solution will enable a software-based upgrade to LTE, helping to minimize roll-out times and costs.
The actual timing for LTE launches will depend on many factors, but the future is starting now, and the future of mobile broadband is LTE.
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LTE 2010 in Which Frequency Bands
I personally find it impossible to understand any MNO deploying LTE in 2010 when voice over LTE has not been solved and where HSDPA is alredy deployed. Which frequency bands and which countries? I wonder if these planned LTE deployments will be in countries where WiMAX is already being deployed?
Remember to quote the REAL data speeds!
Dear NSN - Great to hear the optimism about LTE but also a bit scary for the folks - like myself - who have been through the classic boom-bust cycle several times. Have we happily forgotten about the nearly disastrous start for 3G? It seems that now that mobile broadband has finally found its place little criticism is applied to beginnings of the same hype for LTE. To me this is rule number one: Don't quote peak data speeds. Quote the ones you think might really happen. Then possibly you will get the support of people who have heard it all before!
LTE - voice and frequency
To GrahamMacDonald :
Our view about how voice will be handled in LTE is as follows - as LTE is first and foremost for mobile broadband data usage at least in the beginning, voice can fallback to underlying GSM/WCDMA networks. Another alternative is e.g to use NSN fast track voice over LTE where you can use the existing MSC server to handle voice calls. And in longer term IMS can be used.
Frequencies are dependent on the country - but the most likely first frequencies will be 2.6GHz, 2.1GHz/AWS, 1800MHz, 1500MHz for capacity and 700MHz (Europe digital dividend or U.S band) and 900MHz for coverage.
U.S., Japan followed by West European countries seem to be going fastest to LTE.
About speeds
To claushetting:
Yes I remember the early 3G times too. I have to agree with you on the fact that peak rates are practically never achieved except in labs.
But I would raise a couple of points here:
- I think we are in quite a different stage than what it was for early 3G. The 384 kbps was not really adequate for users who had heard about 2Mbps being hyped. When HSPA came, is started to be enough for most applications that require some Mbps to really work. In LTE the peak rates are not watered down in the beginning in a similar way as 3G. (We could talk about 343 Mbps too for LTE but not doing that as 4x4 MIMO is not likely in the beginning, but 2x2 MIMO is)
- the real datarates a user gets are just so hard to say in as simple way as peak rates ... I think in reality you will get anywhere between 1-20 Mbps in an LTE cell. If you are lucky and alone in the cell next to antennas you will get even more.
- peak rates identify the feature/s implemented in the network - e.g. in HSPA it is easier to say we have 21 Mbps peak rate feature than we have 64QAM or we have feature that increases the average user throughput by x%...
But the same concerns you have are voiced also elsewhere in the industry, by operators, by vendors, by consumers. I would hope we get to a common understanding in the industry of how the capabilities should be expressed.
LTE speeds
Hi Kai - thanks for your clarification - it makes sense. I would still be very, very careful of stating 100 megabits rather than the likely real rates of 1-20 megabits. There's a huge difference there and it really warps the expectation level for everyone. I have spoken to people who sincerely believe that LTE within a year or two will leave anything else - including e.g. fibre networks - behind. This is absurd. I wish you well and hope that NSN will be the voice of reason in the perception-game. PS thanks for your reply.