Key themes from the 2010 Mobile

World Congress on the networks

front
Julian Bright
22 February 2010


As expected, LTE was a major theme at MWC, but with an emphasis on
optimizing the network to lower costs. Operators are worried that they will
invest in LTE infrastructure but that content providers will actually make
money out of it.
The traditional macronetwork is under fire as a result of the explosion in
mobile traffic and the squeeze on capex and opex. The need to reduce the
per-bit cost of data is prompting a radical rethink about the future shape and
structure of the network.
Despite the continuing femtocell-vs.-Wi-Fi debate, there is a general
acknowledgement that no single technology holds all the answers and a range
of technologies will be required to handle growing traffic volumes.
The consensus at MWC appeared to be that a new network architecture
composed of smaller cell sites will be required as a complement to the
macronetwork in high-usage areas.
Voice services for LTE were also under discussion, with the GSMA
announcing that it will be driving the One Voice IMS-based initiative with the
backing of more than 40 companies and organizations. But there is still some
skepticism regarding the performance of CS Fallback, the interim technology
recently endorsed by the NGMN, with T-Mobile claiming that VoLGA is the
superior technology.
The fragile economic climate and continued downward pressure on operator
spending probably helped ensure that this years Mobile World Congress in
Barcelona was a more grounded and businesslike affair than has been the case
in some previous years.
Its clear that the explosion in mobile data traffic, coupled with the squeeze
on operators capex and opex, is prompting some radical thinking about the
future shape and structure of the network. Increasing network capacity will be
critical, but until operators start to see data traffic turning into revenues, they
need to focus on optimizing network performance and lowering costs.
The traditional macronetwork model is under fire as operators look for more
cost-effective deployment strategies that target network capacity where it is
most urgently needed. It is a trend that doesnt end with the RAN but extends
into the backhaul and core networks and is coupled with the drive to reduce
the per-bit cost of transporting data across the entire network.
Network vendors can be relied on to identify an opportunity whatever the
underlying state of the market, and at MWC they were eager to engage in a
dialogue about their plans to create capacity and lower costs. Offloading a
proportion of data traffic to free up valuable network capacity was a dominant
theme of the week, with femtocell vendors, Wi-Fi providers and any other
flavor of alternative network-capacity provider eager to enter the debate.
In a display of magnanimity rarely seen among a group of vendors, however,
there was general acknowledgement that no single technology holds the
answer to the problem and that coexistence of a number of technologies would
be the only way forward.
Even so, the femtocell vs. Wi-Fi debate continued to be played out, hinging
on a range of commercial and technical issues. Femtocell providers stressed
the benefits to operators of keeping customers on-net while achieving cost
savings and capacity gains in the macronetwork. Meanwhile, the bill of
materials for femtocells is expected to be quickly driven down to below US
$100 as new manufacturers, such as Wi-Fi-access-point and DSL-modem
suppliers, enter the femtocell market.
The vendors pointed to concerns surrounding Wi-Fi, such as device battery
life and the likelihood that most midrange feature phones would not be Wi-
Fi-enabled. Wi-Fi providers responded by saying that femtocells fail to target
the real network hot spots and that the lack of planning behind femtocell
deployments could lead to interference problems, particularly in areas of
dense deployments.
The interference concerns surrounding femtocells were echoed by picocell
providers and providers of alternative in-building distributed antenna
systems, which also argued that femtocells didnt scale well in larger
implementations, where traffic engineering was key. But femtocell vendors
say that incorporating self-organizing-network (SON) capabilities into their
products will overcome many of these interference concerns.
Femtocell vendors say their technology is starting to gain traction, with
a dozen operators having either introduced commercial services or made
firm commitments to do so, and withy offerings such as Vodafones Sure
Signal gaining market acceptance. And although the initial business case is
built largely on coverage and capacity, femtocell-based services and a richer
application environment will inevitably follow, they say.
New architectures
As expected, LTE was a major theme at MWC, but with the emphasis more
clearly on optimizing the network to lower costs. The announcements by US
carriers Verizon and AT&T in 2009 of their LTE-deployment plans, coupled
with the early soft launch by TeliaSonera in Sweden and Norway late last
year, have gone some way toward dissipating the discussion about LTE launch
dates.
However, there is growing concern that the explosion in data traffic from
devices such as the iPhone is producing little in terms of additional revenue
for operators, and LTE is increasingly regarded as the way for operators to
optimize their infrastructure and thus drive down costs.
The consensus at MWC appeared to be that a new network architecture
composed of smaller cell sites as a complement to the macronetwork rollout
would be the most cost-effective means of targeting high-usage areas.
Microcells, picocells and femtocells this time in the form of outdoor metro
femtos represented one option, possibly even as part of an inside out
network-rollout strategy whereby LTE would be deployed in traffic hot spots
in advance of a macronetwork rollout.
Japans NEC maintains that running a macronetwork at the 2.6GHz frequency
likely to be used for LTE rollouts in Europe doesnt make sense and that
deploying LTE in small cells where there is actual capacity demand is
potentially simpler, cheaper and faster than a macro deployment.
The big worry for operators, according to Motorola, is that they will invest
in LTE infrastructure but that content vendors will make most of the money
out of it. With the cost of the base station representing a decreasing portion of
the overall investment in next-generation mobile networks, vendors such as
NEC, Motorola and Alcatel-Lucent are focusing on end-to-end offerings that
provide convergence in the radio-access, backhaul and core networks.
As expected, voice services for LTE were also under discussion in Barcelona,
with the GSMA announcing that it is driving work on the One Voice
IMS-based initiative, which has the backing of more than 40 companies
and organizations. Nevertheless, there is some skepticism regarding the
performance of CS Fallback, the interim technology recently endorsed by the
Next-Generation Mobile Networks alliance, with at least one leading operator,
T-Mobile, claiming that VoLGA is the superior technology.
The word at MWC, however, was that US operator Verizon intends to move
directly to a One Voice approach, with LTE handsets in the market as early
as 1Q11.