With operators poised to roll out LTE services, much of the hard work has been done in terms of development by vendors. The next stage will see communications service providers bring the technology to market and the focus now shifts to commercial realities. Co-sponsored feature: Nokia Siemens Networks

As 2009 draws to a close the stage is set for the New Year to see the world's first LTE (Long Term Evolution) mobile networks in action. There has been a flurry of industry activity to roll out commercial-grade equipment and demonstrate all-important compliance with LTE standards – but now much of the hard work has been done and it is over to communications service providers to bring the technology to market over the next few years.

“The ramp-up in LTE offerings is coming just in time for many communications service providers faced with rapidly rising data traffic in their networks, while also needing to implement new types of services and applications,” says Kai Sahala, head of strategic solution sales, radio access at Nokia Siemens Networks. “The transition to the 'internet of things' – as billions of machines, devices and objects of varying nature get connected – is now in play, and LTE has the right architecture and efficiency to support new customer experiences and business opportunities, which will increasingly be the battleground for differentiation between communications service providers.”

Accelerating demand

The demand for high bandwidth networks is noted by the GSM Association (GSMA), which has recently reported that the rate of growth of high-speed packet access (HSPA) mobile broadband connections has increased by nearly two-thirds in the last year, according to figures from the Wireless Intelligence database. That means there are now more than 9 million new HSPA connections being added globally every month, compared with 5.5 million a year ago, and demand is accelerating.

“HSPA technology continues its phenomenal growth as thousands of operators, vendors, application and service providers back the technology, ensuring the presence of a vibrant and competitive ecosystem,” says Dan Warren, director of technology at the GSMA. “This expanding ecosystem also encompasses the next generation of GSM technologies, HSPA+ [HSPA Evolution] and LTE.”

As the GSMA notes, there are now 62 HSPA+ network commitments around the world, with 36 running live commercially, and the next benchmark for the mobile broadband peak downlink data speed will be 21 Mbits/s. More than 50 mobile operators have already committed to LTE plans, trials or deployments that will take this speed well beyond 100 megabits. “LTE is widely regarded as the de facto mobile broadband technology that will be adopted by the vast majority of mobile operators globally,” the GSMA reports.

LTE milestones

This autumn, LTE has reached several new milestones, and they are about more than raw data speeds. “A key initiative is One Voice, in which a group of leading industry players, including Nokia Siemens Networks, AT&T, Orange, Telefonica, TeliaSonera, Verizon, Vodafone, Nokia and others, has defined a preferred way to ensure the smooth introduction and delivery of voice and SMS services on LTE networks worldwide,” says Sahala. “It is a technical profile based on existing functionality that all industry stakeholders, including network vendors, service providers and handset manufacturers, will use to offer compatible LTE voice solutions.”

One Voice builds on the functions of the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), as defined by 3GPP, as the best approach to meeting customer expectations for service quality, reliability and availability when making the move from existing circuit switched telephony services to IP-based LTE services. “This is an important step as the objective of the initiative is to ensure the widest possible ecosystem for LTE and to avoid the fragmentation of technical solutions,” adds Sahala. “Now LTE will not only serve as broadband access for higher data traffic, but also for voice and SMS services.”

Another achievement requiring much cooperation is interoperability testing across networks and devices. “We are conducting end-to-end LTE interoperability testing with four leading device vendors across several frequency bands that are required in different regions, including AWS, 700 MHz and 2100 MHz,” says Sahala.

“The tests cover several steps in end-to-end network configuration based on commercial LTE hardware, including our Flexi Multiradio Base Station and Evolved Packet Core, and standards compliant software. The availability of commercial LTE terminals from multiple vendors and proven interoperability is a prerequisite for any communications service provider to launch commercial LTE services.”

Earlier this year, Nokia Siemens Networks also demonstrated interoperability with Qualcomm, which is now sampling the industry's first chipsets for dual-carrier HSPA+ and multi-mode 3G /LTE in time for take-up next year.

Commercial reality

As Sahala adds: “Our focus is on commercial hardware and software, not pre-commercial intermediate solutions. We’ve already shipped LTE-capable Flexi Base Station hardware to more than 100 customers, and we recently conducted the world’s first LTE handover test using a commercially available base station and fully standards-compliant software. The handover test was the first to be fully compliant with the 3GPP’s baseline LTE standard.”

The cooperative, standards-based milestones are crucial because, as the UMTS Forum reports from a study by analyst Ovum, the commercial reality of LTE is that it will be a complex ecosystem that includes not only operators, infrastructure providers, terminal vendors, standard bodies and regulators, but also chipset manufacturers, application developers, content platform providers and consumer electronics vendors. “Supported by a healthy ecosystem, LTE will also see the emergence of dynamic new business models not hitherto seen in the mobile space,” the industry body says.

Smooth evolution

Among the CSPs that are preparing for LTE is Telenor Denmark, which will first upgrade its 2G and 3G radio network for nationwide EDGE and HSPA/HSPA+ services based on the Flexi Multiradio base station from Nokia Siemens Networks. The six year agreement also puts in place an LTE-ready network.

“Smooth evolution to LTE is another very important part of the picture,” adds Sahala. “To minimise capital expenditure, we are offering a single software definable radio-access evolution to LTE that coexists with earlier technologies including GSM and HSPA in the Flexi Multiradio base station. Our Self-Organising Network (SON) Suite, which already lowers OPEX in 3G, is applicable to LTE, and our Fast Track Voice over LTE, which is One Voice-compliant, uses existing mobile soft-switching infrastructure.”

For those wondering where we will see high bandwidth networks and new devices in action look no further than next year’s Soccer World Cup in South Africa. Nokia has just released the 5330 Mobile TV Edition, a handset that combines mobile broadcast TV, social networking, music and gaming – and as industry players predict, the World Cup has huge potential to fuel the uptake of mobile TV services.

In fact, 2010 is bringing a series of high-profile global sporting events that will provide a good opportunity for communications service providers to create, drive and bundle innovative mobile TV services.

As the UMTS/Ovum report confirms, LTE will stimulate demand for video and media services, thanks to its lower latency and higher capacity access, and indeed mobile TV, video calling and video downloading show the strongest growth prospects. Email, web browsing/search, online shopping and social networking will also be mainstays for LTE – with newspapers, blogs and social networking sites all becoming increasingly ‘media-rich’. Location-based (GPS-linked) and in-car services are also seen as major application areas.

But overall, accessibility is key. People the world over say they have a clear interest in enjoying all their personalized, digital services on a mobile broadband device.

That is precisely the experience that LTE is ready to deliver. GTB

For the simple truth about the LTE, please visit www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com/LTE

At a glance – LTE and Nokia Siemens Networks

• World’s first LTE demo in 2006 and pioneer in I-HSPA flat architecture
• Selected by four CSPs for LTE including NTT DoCoMo and Zain Bahrain
• World’s first standards compliant LTE call with commercial software (September 2009)
• LTE handover test with fully standards-compliant software a global first
• GSMA Global Mobile Awards 2009 best network technology advance and CTIA Award for green network innovation awarded to
• LTE-capable Flexi Multiradio BTS base station
• Main contributor to 3GPP and other industry bodies, such as LSTI (LTE/SAE Trial Initiative)
• Winner of the 2009 InfoVision Awards for Fast Track Voice-over-LTE
• Founding member of the One Voice initiative for Voice over LTE