Nokia Siemens Networks

LTE: Ready to roll

Facts and figures confirm that LTE is gaining momentum even faster than many people expected.  unite takes a closer look at some recent news from the market.

In its latest report, the Global Mobile Supplier’s Association confirmed a 35% increase in LTE network commitments in the previous six months, for a total of forty-two LTE networks in twenty-one countries. 

And these commitments are translating into LTE contracts. One of the most recent announcements is from Telenor Denmark, which is making full upgrade of its current 2G and 3G radio network for nationwide EDGE and HSPA+ services based on the LTE-capable Flexi Multiradio Base Station and a new IP backbone network. The result will be one simplified network for 2G, 3G and LTE.

“This is the largest network upgrade we have ever made. We are improving capacity, stability and speed and will be able to offer consumers better mobile broadband services. The agreement with Nokia Siemens Networks will both deliver immediate network improvements and build a network that is ready to meet future consumer demands,” said Henrik Clausen, CEO for Telenor in Denmark

Another such commitment was made by the multinational service provider Zain Bahrain.  Zain is joining forces with Nokia Siemens Networks to manage the transition from 3G to an all-IP flat network architecture, paving the way for services like internet High Speed Packet Access (I-HSPA) as well as LTE.

“In today’s business, you have to pre-empt what consumers want,” said Mohammed Zainalabedin, General Manager, Zain Bahrain. “In the mobile broadband era we need a scalable and versatile platform; Nokia Siemens Networks is providing us with Flexi Base Station, I-HSPA flat architecture, Evolved Packet Core and software upgrade to LTE that answer our needs. This project will not merely create a world class network but indeed, a showcase for the entire group’s operations.”

Industry-wide cooperation a key requirement

Other reports reflect the growing commitment to creating the widest possible ecosystem for LTE and to avoiding the fragmentation of technical solutions.

The One Voice Initiative, for example, which was announced on November 4, 2009, brings together most of the world’s biggest industry players, including Vodafone, AT&T, Orange and Verizon, along with equipment providers such as Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks, who have agreed on a technical profile for transmitting voice and SMS over LTE networks.
 
By following the jointly defined technical profile, the industry can help guarantee international roaming and interoperability for LTE voice and SMS services, ensuring subscribers continuity of these vital services – all while offering service providers a smooth and well-defined path to LTE.

End-to-end interoperability of LTE devices is another area requiring deep cooperation

To drive a healthy LTE ecosystem, Nokia Siemens Networks is conducting LTE interoperability tests with Qualcomm, and when Qualcomm launched their new multi-mode 3G/LTE chipset, the tests with Nokia Siemens Networks were explicitly mentioned as an example of interoperability tests for dual carrier HSPA+ and LTE.

Nokia Siemens Networks is also performing tests with four leading device vendors across several frequency bands required in different regions, including AWS, 700 MHz and 2100 MHz. The tests cover several steps in end-to-end network configuration based on commercial LTE hardware, including the Flexi Multiradio Base Station and the Evolved Packet Core, and standards compliant software.

Focus on commercial solutions

To ensure smooth adoption of LTE, the availability of fully-fledged commercial solutions is crucial. Marc Rouanne, head of Nokia Siemens Networks’ Radio Access business unit, stresses how important this is to the success of LTE: “Our focus is on commercial hardware and software, not pre-commercial intermediate solutions. We’ve already shipped LTE-capable Flexi Base Station to over 100 customers and we recently conducted the world’s first LTE handover test using a commercially available base station and fully standards compliant software.”

In fact, the LTE handover test is the first to be fully compliant with the LTE standard, the 3GPP Release 8, March 2009 baseline. Compliance with this baseline is essential to ensure backwards compatibility of all future LTE devices and is the foundation for a smooth evolution to commercial LTE networks. Standards compliant LTE solutions are a prerequisite for successful commercial network rollouts that support a wide variety of devices from many different vendors.

In another recent milestone, Nokia Siemens Networks made the first LTE call using a commercial base station and software that is, again, fully compliant with the 3GPP Release 8 March 2009 baseline.  This is more evidence of the readiness of Nokia Siemens Networks’ products for early commercial deployments worldwide.

In the fast-moving times in the evolution of mobile networks, these are all important steps on the road to the commercial deployment of LTE.

For more information on the complete, end-to-end LTE offering supplied by Nokia Siemens Networks, as well as more information on our market-leading record of LTE deals, please click here.

To share your thoughts and opinions about LTE with the rest of our readers, please register with us below.