|
|
|
Carriers Form 4G Lobby Group |
|
|
|
Written by Adam Gosling
|
|
Friday, 15 September 2006 |
A bevy of seven leading mobile network operators have formed
a united front to lobby standards groups during the development of next
generation mobile broadband technologies. Demands include interoperability between future CDMA and GSM-based services, DRM and the ability to offer differentiated service levels.
Dubbed the Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN) initiative,
operators China Mobile, KPN, NTT DoCoMo, Orange,
Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile and Vodafone have already signed onto the alliance but
the organisation is looking for additional members.
The group's objective is to "establish clear performance
targets, fundamental recommendations and deployment scenarios for a future wide
area mobile broadband network" as the industry moves beyond the existing HSPA
& EVDO roadmaps.
The plan is to "work alongside existing standards bodies"
and to "seek to shape the development and standardisation" of future wireless
technologies.
Toward that aim the group has already specified a set of
requirements which are designed to deliver competitive broadband performance with
high levels of interoperability.
It's very much about securing and extending their current dominance
and presence in the mobility market by forcing the evolutionary path down a
road which leverages existing infrastructure investments and ensures high bandwidth
technology will work with their existing spectrum allocations.
The last thing these organisations would want to see is a
new technology, such as WiMax emerge as a strong player, but using spectrum
which only relatively new start-up carriers may have rights to.
The NGMN has outlined a series of features and guiding
principles including (but not limited to) fast throughput with low latency, low
operation and maintenance costs, compatibility with legacy networks and high
levels of authentication and security.
One potentially contentious demand the group has is for the
ability to offer differentiated quality of service. The U.S. cable
companies have been at the center of a storm this year in their efforts to get
legislative approval from the U.S. Senate to avoid "network neutrality" which
would require them to offer the same levels of service quality to all network users
at parity pricing.
Differentiated service models will allow these cell phone
companies to take actions like blocking VoIP traffic, slowing delivery parameters
for competing content providers and to charge users a different price depending
on the level of service they require.
Thomas Geitner, the current Chairman of NGMN Ltd, said the new
lobby group would help create a high-performance and efficient mobile network
for the future: "As major players within the industry and heavy consumers
of mobile broadband infrastructure, we believe that the future of mobile
networks should be determined by a mix of technical and performance standards,"
he said.
"We are convinced that by drawing on our combined
experience and commercial insight as operators, we will be able to bring a
whole new perspective to the debate and continue to ensure that we give our
customers exactly what they want."
The group is looking at technologies they will require "in
the decade beyond 2010". In addition to those outlined above these include an "optimised
Packet Switched network architecture, which will provide a smooth migration of
existing 2G and 3G networks towards an IP network with improved cost
competitiveness and broadband performance".
The partners are looking for standards bodies to come up
with interoperable solutions that will bring the currently disparate technologies
based around CDMA and GSM together within one network.
But with an eye to future content delivery revenues the
group is also demanding solutions that allow the management of Intellectual Property
Rights (IPR), and operational aspects of running successful services.
The details of the recommendations proposed by the NGMN
initiative are captured in its White Paper, "Next Generation Mobile
Networks Beyond HSPA & EVDO" version 2.1, which is not available for
download but is available on request by completing a
form stating your reason for wanting a copy.
http://www.ngmn.org
Related news items Newer news items
Older news items |
|
|
