Aircom: Big Capex Savings Comes to Operators Who Deploy HSPA+ Now
By Lynnette Luna
Network planning firm Aircom International is arguing that HSPA+ technology makes better short-term commercial sense for UMTS/HSPA operators as they contemplate their strategies for migrating to the next generation of mobile broadband networks.
Based on its own analysis of network infrastructure requirements, Aircom said HSPA+ is a compelling alternative to Long Term Evolution (LTE) because the technology's deployment offers significantly reduced capital expenditure investment compared with LTE. For a US operator, for instance, that capex reduction for AT&T or T-Mobile could be as much as $1.19 billion. In the UK, that capex savings is about $500 million. Most importantly, Aircom said HSPA+ can meet the demand for faster data services and increased capacity--the reasons operators are moving to LTE.
HSPA+ technology offers up to 21Mbps without any additional antenna infrastructure or second carrier - allowing users to experience mobile broadband around five times faster than the current average of 3.6Mbps, Aircom said. HSPA+ also allows mobile operators to control service provisioning and prioritisation, delivering Quality of Experience (QoE) and Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees.
"There is great pressure on operators to upgrade their networks and improve the level of service they deliver to consumers and enterprise customers," said Fabricio Martinez, services director with Aircom. "The so-called ‘iPhone effect' is piling pressure on to existing infrastructure. There is a real and immediate need for operators to upgrade their networks, but LTE is not the answer--today at least."
Aircom predicts HSPA+ will allow operators to see a return on investment in three years, which, by the way, offers the perfect time to upgrade to LTE, when the technology's ecosystem has matured, devices are in the market and the price of equipment has fallen.
T-Mobile USA recently announced it now covers 30 million potential subscribers with HSPA+ (the 21 Mbps version) with plans to cover 100 million by the end of 2010. AT&T (NYSE:T) recently announced that it now plans to roll out HSPA+ to more than 250 million potential subscribers by 2010. The move is a reversal of the plans it announced last September--that it had no intention of deploying HSPA+ but rather would accelerate its LTE plans. [FierceBroadbandWireless]
Nokia Will Start Making HSPA Modems
By Phil Goldstein
Nokia said it will start making HSPA dongles for laptops in early 2009, challenging Huawei, Ericsson and others in the wireless modem market.The world's largets handset maker said its HSPA dongles will be sold mostly through carriers and bundled with services. The company has declined to name a price point.
Tapio Markki, Nokia's vice president for hardware platform components, said the company is uniquely positioned to enter into the market because of its experience developing 3G technology, and that the move represents an opportunity for Nokia to enter into a strong market. "The market for HSPA modems is expected to grow very rapidly during the coming years," he said.
Huawei recently announced that it had shipped more than 20 million embedded mobile broadband devices worldwide, and Ericsson, along with Lenovo, announced a partnership with AT&T Mobility in October to reduce the cost of HSPA-embedded laptops. [FierceWireless]
GSMA-backed Group Initiates Mobile Broadband Campaign
By Sue Marek
On the eve of the WiMAX World conference in Chicago, the GSMA, along with 17 mobile carriers and vendors including Qualcomm, Vodafone, Microsoft and Orange, today announced an initiative to promote the use of notebook PCs pre-installed with HSPA mobile broadband technology.
Specifically, the group said they will spend about $1 billion to get a graphic service mark that says "mobile broadband" attached to HSPA-enabled notebook computers with the goal of making customers aware of which laptops have the technology.
During an interview with FierceWireless, Michael O'Hara, chief marketing officer of the GSMA, said that although no U.S. GSM operators are named in the press release, the group does believe it will have a big impact on the U.S. market. "We have a working group the represents major operators from across the world that are working on this initiative," O'Hara said.
However, Ovum Research analyst Steven Hartley questioned the need for such an initiative. In a research note, Hartley said, "Mobile broadband uptake is already growing rapidly without it. It could be argued that any promotion is better than nothing, but it looks a lot like the initiative is designed as a defense move against WiMAX branding." [FierceWireless]
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