The exact definition of an ecosystem in the dictionary is that it is a physical component of the environment of which organism interacts. The meaning holds true whenever discussion in focus is about communication, to be specific, the future of mobile communication. In the aspect of the physical component, the 1800MHz will be the future band to use by MNOs (Mobile Network Operator) to provide voice and data service to their customers.
If we can recall the first time we bought a cellular phone, checking out the specification of the device. It is easy to remember that the first requirement we identified was written at the back of or in the brochures that said, 900MHz/1800MHz - dual band. It was our cue that the phone was the latest and would be able to function normally for our needs. But little did anyone know that the band indicated on the users' manual would serve more than just a product description. The band indicated was the capacity of the device as well as the flexibility of it to switch to different bands to cope and to deliver services to the customer.
What is an 1800MHz?
An 1800MHz network emits a high frequency of around 1800MHz. The frequency has its advantages as well as disadvantages. One good thing about this frequency is that the voice call will be clear and not intermittent because the signal is not being hampered by the weather conditions. And another thing with such high frequency is that the design of the handheld device will not be jeopardized since it only needs a small antenna thus creating more flexibility in terms of portability. The downside of it is that it will have a smaller reach.
Recent development shows that during the past ten years, the advantages outweigh its disadvantages, thus the 1800MHz benefits are being realized because the frequency's capacity is big enough to accommodate more data in transmission. This means it would work perfectly for the internet-driven communication today. The data and voice traffic of data and voice exchange is huge, and we can adapt 1800MHz in order to have a smooth transition. And it is with this that we have found the key in creating the Mobile Broadband (MBB) Ecosystem.
During a recent presentation by Mike Wright, Director of Networks for Telstra, he highlighted that the CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of mobile data traffic shows that it will have a tremendous growth over the period of 5 years. It says on the report that 2009 - 2014 CAGR will have 108% growth globally. He added that in Asia Pacific alone it would reach about 118%, in the United States 117%, Europe 106% and in Japan about 80%. With the figures in mind, remember that such growth can only happen once we act fast and make sure that data traffic is supported by the frequency that is appropriate for it to be delivered efficiently.
Moving to 1800
In general there are about six cellular phone classification networks in the world. These networks are: 850MHz mostly in South and Latin America, GSM-R, E-GSM, 900MHz, 1800MHz networks which are concentrated in Europe and Asia Pacific region and 1900MHz which is currently working well in North America.
One of the key factors of adapting the 1800MHz band as the frequency to use in MBB communication was the advent of internet access to handheld and other portable devices. From here on the dream of becoming and being "on-the-go" happened. One of the challenges includes how to be able to deliver data, large amount of data that is, over-the-air (OTA) with the use of the current frequencies.
But by the last quarter of the decade the missing piece of the puzzle of MBB slowly took form and was being tested. The discussion on Long Term Evolution (LTE) has triggered a tantamount of ideas about what is best in creating the MBB, including the improvement and enhance used of frequencies. This includes re-farming, which is geared towards the 1800MHz band usage.
The third quarter last year, Huawei announced its partnership with Poland's Mobyland and they have launched the world's first commercial 1800MHz LTE/EPC network. The contract includes the China based company deploying a SingleRAN@Broad solution and it is based on 1800MHz spectrum with 20MHz bandwidth on one radio unit. The first phase of deployments includes software-upgrading Mobyland's existing 2G network, the coverage includes Poland' s major cities such as Warsaw, Katowice, Lodz. In addition to that it has re-farmed Mobyland and CenterNet extant 2G bands, and adapts the 1800MHz to allow greater performance across bands. And with this move it in turn enables the LTE network to improve spectrum efficiency, enhance coverage quality, reduce the quantity of sites and decrease carbon emissions.
Another significant event geared towards the 1800MHz ecosystem happened in the Global MBB Forum in Oslo, Norway, last year. Numerous attendees across different industries attended such as TeliaSonera, Telenor, Deutsche Telekom, 3GPP, ETSI, Qualcomm and YouTube. And according to Huawei's Wan Biao, the MBB industry is facing a total transformation. Different services will be increasingly on the cloud computing, everyone needs the pipe and consumers will require constant mobility. And in turn this will translate into surging demand to be capitalized and to accommodate the 500X increase in mobile broadband traffic over the next decade. He reiterated that there must be increased collaboration across the industry.
To heed the call, numerous networks have been involved in frequency re-farming and adapting to 1800MHz to LTE. In addition to this, the recent data by the GSA shows that about 98 end-users' LTE enabled devices had been launched at the recent Mobile World Congress. Once fully rolled out in the market it would definitely fuel the demand for network and its frequencies to work efficiently in delivering data and voice across networks.
The 1800MHz is another under-valued resource from the late 90's, early 2000's. Its potential has been there, but we didn't realize that it would be the missing piece in making our mobile dream to come true. Now we have seen and tested its potential and as the mobile community grows to more than a billion users, the 1800MHz will be the foundation of our future communication.
© Telecom Review 2011
