Motorola sales decline, but still clueless

Motorola looks in danger of losing its position as the world's second-largest mobile phone maker after reporting a collapse in sales during the second quarter of the year. With the Korean manufacturer Samsung gaining ground on the American technology company, pressure is building on Motorola to develop a new hit phone to replicate the success of its wildly popular Razr handset. The company's decision to pull out of the race to sell low-end handsets in emerging markets has boosted its average selling price but hit its volumes.

Motorola sold up to 35 million handsets in the second quarter of the year, 21 per cent lower than the 45 million it sold in the previous three months and 31 per cent lower than a year ago. After missing its sales and profit targets over the period, the company said it no longer expects to make a profit from its mobile phones sales this year.

This makes me wonder, why is Motorola in such a situation? Some years back when it brought RAZR, its sales were up and they started getting recognition they have been looking for. 'But' poor interface design and very poor GUI has been always there to haunt them. Also, they do not seem to care too much of UE stability and Phones freezing and crashing have been common problems.

Combined with all of the above, there are too many political problems and their habit of looking for short term gains (laying off people so that the share prices dont go down too much) rather than long term aims is hurting their innovation.

Meanwhile, Nokia, the Finnish group that transformed itself from a forestry company and a producer of rubber boots into the world's largest handset maker, is thought to have taken substantial market share from its US rival over the past three months, with Sony Ericsson and Samsung also expected to gain ground. Amid the hype around Apple's entry into the mobile phone market with its top-end iPhone, Nokia has been forging ahead with a number of high-end handsets and a strong position in emerging markets.

The joint venture between Sweden's LM Ericsson and Japan's Sony Corp. said net profit rose 54% to 220 million euros ($303 million) from 143 million euros in the same period last year.

Sony Ericsson seems to have done well with its Walkman-branded music and camera phones, where Motorola had a bad time with the ROKR, famously produced in association with Apple. Motorola has also been the leading proponent of Linux-based phones, but there's no indication whether this helped or hindered either sales or profits.

Femto-Mania catching on

Recently there is a lot of activity that is going on, on the Femtocell front.

It is an excellent concept as it would now be possible to have small (see figure on left) base stations in your house that will give you a reliable coverage even in your basement.


The most high profile announcement was by Nokia-Siemens Networks who plan to launch the technology commercially by Q3 2008.

According to Wireless Week, DSL box developer Thomson have partnered Nokia-Siemens to develop 3G devices for in-home wireless broadband access.

“Our novel Femto Home Access solution meets what the market really needs. It is a strong combination of telecommunications end-to-end expertise, femto cell know-how and consumer mass market understanding,” says Ari Lehtoranta, Head of Radio Access, Nokia Siemens Networks. “We are driving a network solution with standard and open interfaces to enable open innovation and variety of supply for the Femto customer premises equipment.”

The Nokia Siemens Networks 3G Femto Home Access solution introduces a new network element, Femto Gateway. Femto Gateway does not require changes in the operators’ existing core network, as it connects to the core network over a standard interface. Furthermore, by extending this standards-based approach towards the Femto Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) at homes, the Femto Gateway will allow customer equipment from multiple vendors to be connected to it. The Femto Gateway will support any Femto CPE certified by Nokia Siemens Networks to conform with the interface. Nokia Siemens Networks will co-operate with Femto CPE vendors to ensure interoperability of their equipment to the Nokia Siemens Networks interface.

Femto CPE’s use IP broadband backhaul and are easy to install at home in the same way as xDSL/WiFi modems. The Femto cell functionality can be packaged to the operator-specific home gateway devices together with other functionalities, like WiFi, Ethernet routing or storage.

On the operator side, O2 has previously expressed interest in the technology, while Orange and Vodafone are assessing the potential of femtocells. The Japanese operator Softbank has also talked about launching the technology commercially.

It's not known which operators will be the first to undertake trials, said Nick Johnson, chief technology officer of IP Access, one of several companies that makes femtocells, the small 3G base stations that enable the improvement.

Mobile phone company Vodafone Group PLC has issued a request-for-proposal to femtocell vendors, said Stuart Carlaw, research director for ABI Research. "When you get to an RFP, it's pretty serious stuff," he said.

Sprint Nextel Corp. and Softbank Corp. in Japan are also out in front, with Softbank demonstrating femtocells earlier this week in Tokyo.

IP Access demonstrated its Oyster 3G home access femtocell deep in a London wine cellar on Friday (6th July), transmitting a video conference call between two mobile phones.

The technology will compete with other carriers' Wi-Fi coverage, which enables UMA (Unlicensed Mobile Access), a way to make call over a Wi-Fi hotspot that's plugged into a home DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) connection and have them billed to a mobile phone account. UMA is used in offerings such as BT Group PLC's Fusion service.

Femtocells hold an advantage in that they can be used by 3G mobiles, while only a few models support UMA and Wi-Fi, Carlaw said.

Carriers will likely end up subsidizing the cost of a femtocell, which is probably now around US$120 to $130, or bundling it as part of a service package, Carlaw said. "A consumer is not going to pay," the analyst added.

Ubiquisys, a leading femtocell vendor, expects trials to begin in Europe this year. Martin McNair, a general partner at Advent Venture Partners, which has backed Ubiquisys, said that the technology would provide customers with better reception than a digital cordless phone, and will benefit mobile phone companies by stimulating more usage indoors, where most mobile phone calls are made. He said that mobile phone companies are likely to subsidise the mini base stations - which will be about the size of a small router and plug into a broadband connection - to benefit from higher mobile usage and increased customer loyalty.

PicoChip expects to triple revenues this year, and triple them again next year to about $15m a quarter, the level the firm has identified as suitable for an IPO, according to CEO Guillaume d'Eyssautier. "We expect to get to $15m a quarter in between 18 to 24 months," d'Eyssautier told EW. Driving a large part of the anticipated revenue growth is the adoption of femtocells by the wireless carriers.

Recently FemtoForum has been formed. Holding their first plenary Monday (July 2) in London ahead of the first Home Access Point and In-Building Conference that opens Tuesday (July 3) , the group has revealed the names only of seven of the founding members of the Forum. "We have about 40 members and sixty companies will be represented at the plenary, but some prefer for now to keep their powder dry as regards membership", Simon Saunders, an independent consultant who will chair the Forum told EE Times Europe .

Those going public now include femtocell technology pioneers such as picoChip, ip.access, Ubiquisys, Airvana, Netgear, RadioFrame, and Tatara.

ABI predicts around 52,000 femtocell units will ship this year, with around 1 million in 2008 when deployments become more widespread. However, femtocells are not likely to replace Wi-Fi, as some carriers already have huge investments in that technology.

(3G) Civil War in US?

Interesting article from Telecom Magazine

In US Sprint Nextel and Verizon Wireless fly the flag for CDMA2000, while AT&T and T-Mobile USA spearhead the W-CDMA charge.

So far, CDMA2000 clearly has taken the high ground. Verizon laid claim to about 60.7 million CDMA2000 customers by the end of March 2007, while Sprint Nextel said it had captured 53.6 million. The W-CDMA operators, by comparison, could muster just 2.5 million customers between them.

The CDMA Development Group (CDG), which lobbies for CDMA2000, attributes this gulf to a technology lead. CDMA2000 operators, it notes, have deployed enhancements like EV-DO Revision A, which can deliver speeds of up to 3 Mbps for VoIP and multimedia applications. W-CDMA, in stark contrast, is still unavailable in many parts of the U.S. Even where it has been deployed, it typically is capable of a far less impressive 384 kbps.

W-CDMA, however, is definitely on the march. AT&T and T-Mobile USA are planning rollouts using HSDPA, a W-CDMA enhancement that offers speeds of up to 3.6 Mbps. More importantly, while W-CDMA’s customer base of 2.5 million appears low when judged alongside CDMA2000, it has grown from just 350,000 late last year.

“AT&T uses a higher frequency [than its CDMA2000 competitors], which is a disadvantage,” explains Allen Nogee, a principal analyst with In-Stat.
Generally, U.S. operators have deployed CDMA2000 using spectrum in the 800 MHz or 1900 MHz bands, while AT&T is rolling out W-CDMA using 2100 MHz spectrum. The lower frequencies have better propagation characteristics, allowing CDMA2000 operators to serve a wider area using fewer base stations.

“AT&T is also in a transitional phase,” Nogee adds. “Although it can advertise its new HSDPA network, that network has not been rolled out everywhere yet.”

Meanwhile, T-Mobile USA, the fourth largest operator in the U.S., plans to launch a W-CDMA service using the 2110 MHz to 2155 MHz spectrum it purchased in last year’s auction for advanced wireless services. Although it did not respond to requests for an interview, T-Mobile USA previously issued a statement on its 3G intentions in which it says the company will transition to a next-generation technology, which may include W-CDMA/UMTS with HSDPA, in the next two-to-three year timeframe.

And finally we cannot have a discussion without looking at the future (4G?):

Although W-CDMA is still in its early days in the United States, operators already are thinking about the next generation of mobile technology.
While a 4G standard is not yet defined, marketing departments are applying the label to some technologies already in development.

For W-CDMA operators such as AT&T and T-Mobile USA, the technology typically viewed as 4G is called long-term evolution, or LTE. It represents the destination on their journey through upgrades to HSPA, but will use a different air interface called OFDMA and require more work. Theoretically LTE will deliver downlink speeds of 100 Mbps and uplink speeds of 50 Mbps.

CDMA2000 operators also have 4G in their sights in the shape of EV-DO Revision C. Like LTE, Revision C promises vast improvements over the current crop of wireless standards. Allen Nogee, a principal analyst with In-Stat, thinks both LTE and Revision C could see commercial deployment by 2010.

In the meantime, Sprint Nextel has been vocal about another 4G technology. Last year, it earmarked US$2.5 bn for investment in a nationwide deployment of WiMAX, using 2.5 GHz spectrum it already owned. WiMAX proponents have made some bullish claims about its capability (promising up to 70 Mbps on the downlink), but the technology has not evolved from other standards—unlike LTE and Revision C—and will lack any scale economies when it is launched next year.

Chris Pearson, president of 3G Americas (a lobby group for W-CDMA), is unconvinced by the WiMAX business case. “It’s a wild card. In our view, most subscribers will be using W-CDMA and EV-DO for years to come.”

3GPP Release 8 = 3GPP IMS + ETSI TISPAN

Interesting development that happened last month at the 3GPP plenary meeting in Busan, Korea earlier this month, an agreement was reached on how to proceed with Common IMS to meet the needs of fixed, mobile, broadband and wireless users.

In cooperation with the European Telecommunications Standards Institute, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has re-chartered a services group tasked with common ETSI-3GPP development of IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) Version 8.

Both standards bodies hailed the early June agreement, reached during a meeting in Busan, Korea, as an effective way to keep 3GPP IMS and ETSI Telecoms & Internet converged Services & Protocols for Advanced Networks (TISPAN) work.

Both IMS and TISPAN comprise next-generation network standards efforts designed to forge a higher signaling and control plane infrastructure layer to support delivery of content and applications to subscribers across any fixed or mobile network or device.

“ETSI TISPAN has taken the first steps in migrating fixed IMS requirements to 3GPP in a co-operation that will prevent fragmentation of IMS standards,” Dr. Walter Weigel, ETSI Director-General, said. “A Common IMS, developed in one place, is a big step forward and will bring enormous economies of scale and reductions in capital and operational costs.”

Common IMS developments will form part of 3GPP Release 8, which is expected to be functionally frozen by end 2007.

“Over the next few months we must stabilize the Release 8 requirements and absorb the incoming Common IMS work,” Stephen Hayes, Ericsson Inc., 3GPP TSG-SA Chair Stephen Hayes of Ericsson Inc., said. “3GPP has a history of successfully meeting challenges and I have no doubt we will meet these challenges as well.”

AIPN Scenarios

AIPN or All-IP Network is being introduced part of 3GPP Release 7. TS 22.978 shows some scenarios where AIPN will play a big part

USE CASE 1 (see left in the daigram): Bob has his own Personal Area Network (PAN). While at home, this network is composed with the Home Area Network using WLAN, which in turn connects externally with a local hotspot service, which in turn connects to a cellular network. Bob's PAN, Bob’s Home-WLAN, the local hotspot service and the AIPN cellular access system are under different administrative domains. Still, if Bob moves outside coverage of his Home-WLAN, his PAN will communicate with the outside world via the local hotspot service. If he moves outside coverage from the hotspot service, his PAN will communicate with the outside world via the AIPN cellular access system.

USE CASE 2: The user is driving a car. While being under good radio coverage, he starts an IMS session with several media. The car goes through a tunnel where there is no radio coverage, and comes out of the tunnel into good radio coverage a minute later. Connections using disruption resilient transport protocols are automatically re-established and these protocols restore the communication to the point they were before the interruption.

USE CASE 3: Alice has a mobile device and Bob has a fixed one. Both devices have equal audio but different video capabilities in terms of screen size, number of colors and video codecs supported. Alice establishes a multimedia connection with audio and video components to Bob. The terminal capabilities are discovered and it is realized that Bob's terminal has better video capabilities than Alice. The terminal informs the network that it is unable to support new the new video codec and the AIPN then introduces a video transcoder in the path of the video media to adapt the video signal (stream, codec, format, etc) to the video capabilities and bit rates available on each side of the transcoder.

Enhanced Services should be possible with AIPN:

• Support for advanced application services
• Support for group communication services, e.g. voice group call, instant group messaging, and multicast delivery. In some cases, a group may include a large number of participants.
• Support for integrated services, e.g. a service including a mixture of services among SMS/MMS/Instant Message, or a service including voice call/video call/voice mail.
• Provision of seamless services (e.g. transparent to access systems, adaptable to terminal capabilities, etc) Users should be able to move transparently and seamlessly between access systems and to move communication sessions between terminals.
• Support ubiquitous services (e.g. associations with huge number of sensors, RF tags, etc.) ... see right side of diagram above.
• Improve disruption-prone situations when network connectivity is intermittent.

Disruption-free network connectivity may not be cost effective, or even feasible, in all cases (e.g. cell planning for full radio coverage for all services, disruption-free inter-access system handovers, disruption-free IP connectivity in all network links). An AIPN should consider solutions for making services as resilient to temporary lack of connectivity as possible.

Introduction to All-IP Network (AIPN)

The All-IP Network (AIPN) is an evolution of the 3GPP system to meet the increasing demands of the mobile telecommunications market. Primarily focused upon enhancements of packet switched technology, AIPN provides a continued evolution and optimisation of the system concept in order to provide a competitive edge in terms of both performance and cost. Moreover, it is important that developments of the 3GPP system are compliant with Internet protocols. The AIPN is not limited to consideration of only the transport protocol used within the 3GPP system but adheres to the general concept of a network based upon IP and associated technologies, able to accommodate a variety of different access systems. Although, it is possible to use a variety of different access systems to connect to the AIPN, the AIPN provides an advanced, integrated service set independent as far as possible from the access system used.

The high level objectives of introduction of the AIPN are to realise:

• universal seamless access
• improved user experience
• reduction of cost (for AIPN operators)
• flexibility of deployment.

There are also a number of motivations and drivers for the introduction of the AIPN which include but are not limited to:

• diversification of mobile services
• need to satisfy user experience of early adopters
• anticipation of PS traffic to surpass CS
• desire to encompass a variety of access systems
• need for increased system efficiency and cost reduction (OPEX and CAPEX) and
• advances of next generation radio access systems and broadband wireless IP-based networks.

The key aspects of the AIPN can be summarised as follows:

• Support for a variety of different access systems
• Common capabilities provided independent to the type of service provided with convergence to IP technology considered from the perspective of the system as a whole
• High performance mobility management that provides end-user, terminal and session mobility
• Ability to adapt and move sessions from one terminal to another
• Ability to select the appropriate access system based on a range of criteria
• Provision of advanced application services as well as seamless and ubiquitous services
• Ability to efficiently handle and optimally route a variety of different types of IP traffic including user-to-user, user-to-group and ubiquitous service traffic models
• High level of security and support for user privacy e.g. location privacy, identity privacy
• Methods for ensuring QoS within and across AIPNs
• Appropriate identification of terminals, subscriptions and users
• Federation of identities across different service providers

Further Reading:
3GPP TS 22.258: Service Requirements for the All-IP Network (AIPN);
Stage 1

3GPP TR 22.978: All-IP Network (AIPN) feasibility study

Wireless and Mobile All-IP Core Networks and Services

Next Generation Mobile Systems: 3G & Beyond

C-Mobile: 3GPP MBMS for systems beyond 3G

Came across the C-Mobile website, searching for some information and the site caught my eye.

The strategic objective of C-MOBILE is to foster the evolution of the mobile broadcast business by providing enhancements to the 3GPP MBMS for systems beyond 3G.

Having worked with MBMS for some time and having completed atleast 4 trainings, the topic definitely holds my interest.

C-MOBILE will help to understand how best to organise and schedule MBMS content from the BM-SC through the core network, radio access, to the end users. Since this is multimedia content, interactions with the 3GPP IP Multimedia Subsystem are expected and C-MOBILE will explicitly investigate how best MBMS can make use of capabilities provided by the IMS.

The current concept of group communication is narrow within Release 6 MBMS specification.
C-MOBILE will research, investigate and define ways to use multicast technology to support personalized services and in particular the concept of multicast content community where users also contribute to the multicast service.

Key market and business requirements for multicast-broadcast services will be identified to aid defining research directions, leading also to new business models involving the various players.

To that end it is critical to understand the needs of multicast-broadcast users, network operators, and content providers.

The project intends to make important contributions to the standardisation bodies and to prove experimentally or via system level simulations innovative concepts.

There are no high profile names with C-mobile yet but there is Qualcomm and 3 UK in the participants list.

Some documents of interest are available here.

Push-to-share over MBMS

During one of my MBMS trainings last month in Anritsu, i set everyone a task of defining a service based on MBMS. One of the services mentioned was Push to Talk (PTT) over MBMS.

Theoretically it should be possible to use MBMS for PTT. The voice in the UL is sent via a normal CS RAB. On the Downlink the data is Broadcast using MBMS. Since we would like the data to be sent to a particular set of users, it would be Multicasted rather than Broadcasted. Also this would mean that only the users in a particular Service Area will be able to receive this.

From operators point of view, Service Area should be big enough so that the user is seamlessly able to move a wide geographical area. At the same time it should not be too big because localised services (and adverts) can generate more revenue.

A bit of Googling and i came across some patents that are trying to do the same. Following is an extract from a patent Fresh Patents:

[0009] Use of a PoC application server together with a multimedia
broadcast/multicast service (MBMS) server for providing multicast transfer of
data in the downlink direction has been suggested. In the uplink direction PoC
typically uses Real Time Protocol (RTP) traffic unicast. In the uplink PoC
clients send speech data to the PoC application server, which then directs the
speech data packets either to the MBMS for the downlink leg to those
participants who receive the speech via multicast service or directly to those
recipients who prefer to receive via unicast directly from the PoC server. Use
of multicast in downlink direction improves the spectral efficiency in the case
of group communications with great number of participants. In addition, without
multicast it may not be possible to support large group sizes, if the
participants are located geographically in the close proximity.

Another was a patent on free patents:

0032] Herein, the MBMS service refers to a service for transmitting the same
multimedia data to a plurality of recipients through a wireless network. In this
case, the recipients share one radio channel, thereby saving radio transmission
resources. For example, the MBMS service includes a stock information service,
sport broadcast service, Push-to-Talk (PTT) service, and the like.

In fact C-Mobile is working on something similar. One of their documents highlight the limitations of the current MBMS architecture and suggests how we can improve the architecture in future for B3G Architecture.

My personal feeling is that till the Architecture is eveolved enough, PTT may not be very practical over MBMS but we should be able to use Push-to-share over MBMS. Some interesting short video clip or Breaking News Clip or maybe personal Valentine messages, etc can be shared using MBMS. It now needs to be seen if some operator picks on this idea and how soon.

OFDM and OFDMA: The Difference

I was curious as to why IEEE 802.16d (fixed service) uses Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM). IEEE 802.16e (mobile) uses Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA). So, what’s the difference between the two, and why is there a difference?

Lets first look at FDM:

In FDM system, signals from multiple transmitters are transmitted simultaneously (at the same time slot) over multiple frequencies. Each frequency range (sub-carrier) is modulated separately by different data stream and a spacing (guard band) is placed between sub-carriers to avoid signal overlap.

OFDM is sometimes referred to as discrete multi-tone modulation because, instead of a single carrier being modulated, a large number of evenly spaced subcarriers are modulated using some m-ary of QAM. This is a spread-spectrum technique that increases the efficiency of data communications by increasing data throughput because there are more carriers to modulate. In addition, problems with multi-path signal cancellation and spectral interference are greatly reduced by selectively modulating the “clear” carriers or ignoring carriers with high bit-rate errors.

Like FDM, OFDM also uses multiple sub-carriers but the sub-carriers are closely spaced to each other without causing interference, removing guard bands between adjacent sub-carriers. This is possible because the frequencies (sub-carriers) are orthogonal, meaning the peak of one sub-carrier coincides with the null of an adjacent sub-carrier.

In an OFDM system, a very high rate data stream is divided into multiple parallel low rate data streams. Each smaller data stream is then mapped to individual data sub-carrier and modulated using some sorts of PSK (Phase Shift Keying) or QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation). i.e. BPSK, QPSK, 16-QAM, 64-QAM.

OFDM needs less bandwidth than FDM to carry the same amount of information which translates to higher spectral efficiency. Besides a high spectral efficiency, an OFDM system such as WiMAX is more resilient in NLOS environment. It can efficiently overcome interference and frequency-selective fading caused by multipath because equalizing is done on a subset of sub-carriers instead of a single broader carrier. The effect of ISI (Inter Symbol Interference) is suppressed by virtue of a longer symbol period of the parallel OFDM sub-carriers than a single carrier system and the use of a cyclic prefix (CP).

The OFDM spread-spectrum scheme is used for many broadly used applications, including digital TV broadcasting in Australia, Japan and Europe; digital audio broadcasting in Europe; Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) modems and wireless networking worldwide (IEEE 802.11a/g).

Like OFDM, OFDMA employs multiple closely spaced sub-carriers, but the sub-carriers are divided into groups of sub-carriers. Each group is named a sub-channel. The sub-carriers that form a sub-channel need not be adjacent. In the downlink, a sub-channel may be intended for different receivers. In the uplink, a transmitter may be assigned one or more sub-channels.

Subchannelization defines sub-channels that can be allocated to subscriber stations (SSs) depending on their channel conditions and data requirements. Using subchannelization, within the same time slot a Mobile WiMAX Base Station (BS) can allocate more transmit power to user devices (SSs) with lower SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio), and less power to user devices with higher SNR. Subchannelization also enables the BS to allocate higher power to sub-channels assigned to indoor SSs resulting in better in-building coverage.

Subchannelization in the uplink can save a user device transmit power because it can concentrate power only on certain sub-channel(s) allocated to it. This power-saving feature is particularly useful for battery-powered user devices, the likely case in Mobile WiMAX.

The WiMAX forum established that, initially, OFDM-256 will be used for fixed-service 802.16d (2004). It is referred to as the OFDM 256 FFT Mode, which means there are 256 subcarriers available for use in a single channel. Multiple access on one channel is accomplished using TDMA. Alternatively, FDMA may be used.

On the other hand, OFDMA 128/512/1024/2048 FFT Modes have been proposed for IEEE 802.16e (mobile service). OFDMA 1024 FFT matches that of Korea’s WiBRO. OFDM 256 also is supported for compatibility with IEEE 802.16d (fixed, 2004).

3G in 900MHz band can make 3G a winner

The widespread deployment of 3G networks in the 900MHz GSM spectrum band, as well as the 2100MHz band, could enable an additional 300 million people across Asia, Europe and Africa to enjoy mobile broadband services by 2012, according to a study by the analyst and consulting company Ovum for the GSMA.

Note: HSPA is already being deployed at 900MHz in Finland and trials are underway in a number of other countries, such as France and the Isle of Man. More about this is available here.

In 900MHz, the greater range of radio waves in the lower spectrum band and their ability to provide better coverage in buildings would enable operators to achieve much broader 3G coverage, particularly in rural areas. The study shows that a 3G network in the 900MHz band would achieve up to 40% greater coverage than a 3G network in the 2100MHz band for the same capital expenditure.

The cost-effectiveness of 3G at 900MHz would be of particular significance in developing countries, many of which are looking to HSPA, an evolution of the leading 3G technology, to provide high-speed Internet access in the many regions that lack fixed-line infrastructure. However, Ovum cautions that the level of success of 3G in the 900MHz band will depend on multiple countries making this spectrum band available in a harmonised way, so that equipment manufacturers have a large market to target and can quickly achieve economies of scale, particularly for handsets.

Ovum envisages that operators would use 900MHz to provide widespread 3G coverage, supplemented by 3G at 2100MHz in urban ‘hot-spots’ that need more capacity. The extensive use of both the 900MHz and the 2100MHz bands for 3G in Asia–Pacific countries could lead to 450 million people in the region using 3G by 2012, if all operators chose to deploy 3G and the majority of investment goes into 3G at 900MHz. If 3G were restricted to 2100MHz alone, Ovum forecasts there will be just 200 million people using 3G in the region by 2012.

In light of these findings, the GSMA urges regulators, together with vendors, to plan together for the coordinated refarming of 900/1800MHz spectrum, which is widely used for GSM in Europe, Asia and Africa, and for the availability of compatible and affordable handsets. Such global planning will give investors the confidence to fund the development of 3G/HSPA at 900MHz and 1800MHz as well. There should be no differentiation between the different GSM bands (900/1800/1900) to avoid any distortion of competition among GSM operators. The same benefits would also be achieved by refarming 850MHz spectrum (widely used in US and Latin America).

According to the Inquirer, the GSMA may have fallen into a trap. China has its own flavour of 3G – called TD-SCDMA. One of the benefits of this standard – compared to W-CDMA which the GSMA promotes – is that it shares infrastructure costs with existing GSM equipment. Naturally providing cost savings. So while the GSMA is admitting that standard W-CDMA at 2100 MHz is too expensive for developing economies, China can quite reasonably say, "We know. That's why we've stuck with TD-SCDMA.
A bit of an own goal really.