LTE Advanced demo shows 10x regular LTE 4G speeds

Just as we’d started to revel in the speeds of LTE 4G, Ericsson had to go and spoil it all by showing us what’s next in the roadmap. The company has demonstrated LTE Advanced in Sweden this week, delivering speeds 10x that of regular LTE  - over 900 MB/s in fact – by aggregating carrier spectrum into bigger blocks. According to Ericsson, that offers not only higher potential top-speeds, but better performance even when the network is congested.

Not that there’d be much congestion in Ericsson’s testing, given that right now there’s no operational LTE Advanced service around. The trial used a 3 x 20MHz (60MHz aggregated) spectrum chunk and an off the shelf Ericsson multi-mode, multi-standard radio base station, the RBS 6000, and streamed data between the RBS and a moving van from which engineers kept track of network performance.

Current LTE systems are limited to 20MHz at most, but thanks to carrier aggregation and extended multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) – fresh additions to LTE Advanced – the new system can pair together sections of the spectrum to create a fatter pipe. In the downlink, Ericsson says, 8×8 MIMO was used, and the new system is compliant with the 3GPP Release 10 global standard.

When will we get this super-fast LTE Advanced? Ericsson says the first commercial operation is expected in 2013, though that will obviously depend on where you live and how ambitious your carrier is.

Article: RSS via SlashGear

Tags: 4G, 4G Networks, Ericsson, LTE, LTE-Advanced, Mobile Broadband, Sweden

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Telstra turns on 4G

On track for first to market

The race to deploy 4G services (whether or not 4G truly exists or not) continues with Telstra claiming first place.

The carrier has flicked the switch on its initial LTE enabled base stations in Sydney, Perth, Melbourne and Brisbane. The Ericsson supplied 4G network is set to become the first LTE service to launch in the Australian market.

The LTE distinction is important, since ISP Vividwireless also claims to have the country’s first live 4G network. Telstra is using FD-LTE (frequency division multiplexing) while Vivid uses TD-LTE (time division multiplexing).

Telstra and Ericsson have been conducting field trials since announcing the deployment in mid-February.

Telstra Networks and Access Technologies executive director Mike Wright said the first batches of 4G data has been sent over the network for the first time outside of field trials.

Telstra will upgrade its existing Next G network with LTE technology in the CBDs of all capital cities and selected regional centres by the end of 2011.

“With more than a million mobile and wireless broadband customers joining Telstra in the past 12 months, and data usage on the Next G network doubling every year, the increased network capacity LTE will provide is vital,” Wright said.

The upgrade uses Ericsson’s RBS 6000 base station, with the mobile backhaul network to be upgraded to the Enhanced Packet Core standard to support the 42 Mbps maximum speeds offered by the technology.

“By the end of 2011, Telstra said it would be selling dual mode LTE/HSPA+ mobile broadband devices that will operate across the 1800MHz and 850MHz spectrum bands. Sierra Wireless is developing the dual mode mobile broadband devices.

“Our customers benefit through having access to more than 2.1m square kilometres of coverage across Australia, and the fastest upload and download speeds with our HSPA+ network. We are maintaining this benefit by moving to deploy the first mobile 4G network in Australia,” Wright said.

Last month rival Optus announced http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/04/20/nsn_opus_upgrade/ that it would also be deploying LTE services after securing a ‘multi-million dollar’ deal with Nokia Siemens Networks as its sole packet core vendor. The carrier has been trialing LTE services since 2010 but has yet to commit to a roll out date.

Article: RSS via The Register

Tags: 4G, 4G Networks, Australia, LTE, Mobile Broadband, Telstra

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Three UK starts taking pre-orders for HTC Flyer; Offers it for 169 GBP on a 30.99 GBP/month contract

Three UK has started taking pre-orders for the HTC Flyer, the Taiwanese company’s first Android-powered tablet. The carrier asks 169 GBP for the device along with your signature on a 30.99 GBP/month two-year contract. That may sound a lot, but you should bear in mind this deal includes a whopping 15 GB of mobile data every month. In other words, you’ll be able to video talk with your buddies without ever worrying about the cost of such communication. Likewise, you may haven’t used streaming video services a lot in the past, but that could be easily changed with this mobile data plan.

Three lists May 27 as the earliest shipping date so it’s not like you’ll have to wait forever, presuming you are” a) living or working in the UK; b) actually interested in grabbing the Flyer.

As a reminder, HTC’s tablet rocks a 7-inch 1024×600 pixels capacitive touchscreen, HSPA and Wi-Fi connectivity, 1.5GHz single-core processor, GPS, 5-megapixel camera on the back, 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, 1GB of RAM and 32GB of built-in storage.

Article: RSS via IntoMobile

Tags: 3, 3G, 3G Networks, Android, HTC, HTC Flyer, Mobile Broadband, Tablet PC's, Three

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Three laptop Trade-In.

If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably got at least one laptop at home gathering dust, which is why Three have created a new Trade-In scheme which lets you turn your old laptop into money.

It’s really simple. If you’re buying a new laptop from Three, and have a working laptop that’s less than three years old, you can now send it to us and we’ll send £150 to your bank account.

2011 may be the year of the tablet but there are still plenty of reasons to have a laptop. Laptops are great for work, play and study if you like the larger screen or having a keyboard or accessories, a laptop is essential.

There are lots of new laptops to choose from, one of my personal favourites is the Samsung RV510 which we’ve just got on Three. It has a dual core processor which means its extra quick for browsing and using applications.

So, check out of latest laptops, dust off your old one and don’t forget to apply for your £150 Trade-In, from 3 weeks after you’ve purchased the laptop. All you need to do is go to three.co.uk/tradein and follow the simple steps.

You’ll get the money between 30-60 days from when we get your old laptop and you’ve completed the application. So, you’ll have more money and an up to date laptop!

You might even want to treat yourself to one of our new high speed dongles to match your laptop.

Let us know which new laptop you’re looking forward to getting your hands on 

Article: RSS via Three Blog

Tags: 3G, Computing, Laptops, Mobile Broadband, Three, Trade-In

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Vodafone: Data revenue exceeds SMS for first time

Vodafone Europe has confirmed that, for the first time, mobile internet revenue for the carrier has exceeded SMS revenues. The news marks a significant milestone in the European mobile segment, which has historically seen particularly strong SMS revenues.

The data revenue news was revealed at the launch of the HTC Sensation, HTC’s newest Android smartphone. Vodafone has clinched a one month exclusive deal with the handset in Europe, and it will go on sale in mid-May 2011.

Meanwhile, HTC has already told SlashGear that the Sensation will go on sale in the US with carrier T-Mobile USA as the HTC Sensation 4G, complete with HSPA+ support. That’s expected to happen sometime in May or June 2011.

Article: RSS via SlashGear

Tags: 3G, Android, Data, HTC Sensation, Mobile Broadband, Mobile Internet, Smartphones, SMS, Vodafone

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Superfast Mobile Broadband Infrastructure Spending to Hit GBP17bn in 2014

Market intelligence firm iSuppli (IHS iSuppli) has predicted that the next generation (4G) of Mobile Broadbandtechnology, Long Term Evolution ( LTE), will cause related global mobile operator infrastructure spending to spiral upwards from just £921 Million ($1.5bn) in 2010 to £17.13 Billion ($27.9bn) by 2014 (107.5% CAGR).

LTE will allow UK mobile operators to offer peak internet download speeds of between 100Mbps and 1Gbps(1024Mbps), although end-users will only see a small fraction of this (some predictions point to 8Mbps-30Mbps). By contrast the existing HSPA(3G) solutions offer download speeds of up to 14.4Mbps, although average performance tends to hover around the 1Mbps-3Mbps range.

Further estimates suggest that by 2014 LTE will be home to 303.1 Million subscribers around the world. However, according to Ofcom’s current timetable, much of the UK’s related spectrum auction and release programme will not be completed until the very end of 2013.

In other words the UK won’t be able to experience the full benefit of LTE until 2014 and even then customers will need to buy new hardware (USB Modems etc.) in order to take advantage of it. Some mobile operators, such as O2 UK, are also mooting a two tier solution for LTE where only certain services would benefit from the faster speeds (here).

Article: RSS via ISPreview

Tags: 3G, 4G, 4G Networks, HSPA+, LTE, Mobile Broadband

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Three UK finally turns a profit

Eight years on, with a little help from its friends

Three UK has finally turned a profit in the UK in its eighth year of operation – with some help from a network-sharing agreement with Everything Everywhere, after parent company Hutchison Whampoa reported its annual results.

The figures gain from a one-time substantial benefit of £500m, which sees Three UK gain the use of 3,000 transmission sites, which it says are free of acquisition and future operating costs. This was partly offset by restructuring and other costs of £311m, leaving EBIT of £173m.

Revenue was £1.4bn for 2010, with a 7 per cent fall in postpaid income offsetting a 12 per cent gain in prepay – an overall revenue decline of five per cent.

The network now has 7.23 million punters, with 3.33 million on prepay and 3.898 million on contracts. Prepay subscribers grew by 51 per cent, but contract customers still bring home 88 per cent of the operator’s revenue. UK ARPU (average revenue per user) is £8.45 for prepay and £29.36 for postpay, down 16 per cent from last year.

The operator began selling the iPhone last August and now says it sells more than any other UK network.

Three UK, which benefited from an auction designed to keep four operators in the UK market, still has some distance to make up, however. Third-placed Vodafone reported 19.1 million customers at the end of last year, half of whom are on contracts, with a higher ARPU of £37.1 per month.

Article: RSS via The Register

Tags: 3G, 3G Network, Data, Hutchinson Whampoa, iPhone, Mobile Broadband, Postpay, Prepay, Skype, Three

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O2 switches on 900MHz 3G network in London

O2 is reportedly the first UK mobile operator to deploy a new “superfast” 3G network in London using 900MHz spectrum. The carrier is taking advantage of new regulations around spectrum refarming and its new network (called 3G900) is expected to deliver a 50% increase in capacity compared to O2′s existing 3G network. On average, it is said that O2′s 3G customers on the new network are seeing a 30% increase in data speeds.

The London launch follows similar launches in other cities, including Leeds, Birmingham and Manchester, with other cities set to follow in the coming months.

Commenting on the news, O2′s CTO Nigel Purdy said: “This 3G900 switch-on is the latest in a series of network enhancements for O2, and is a first for the UK and Telefónica.”

As a reminder, UK regulator Ofcom gave the go-ahead for the country’s operators to begin re-farming their existing 2G spectrum for 3G use in January to encourage mobile broadband rollout.

Article: RSS via IntoMobile

Tags: 3G, 3G Networks, 3G900, Mobile Broadband, O2, Ofcom

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Lufthansa enable in-air broadband through deal with Deutsche Telekom

“The continued high level of interest in the new wireless services affirms our strategy. We want to offer our customers a fourth-generation mobile Internet experience that delivers high speed independently of which technology is available at the time of use, thus providing simplicity and outstanding service. Easy access via WiFi plays an important role in the 4G experience, whether at home, at points of interest or even on trains and planes, making long trips feel much shorter.”

Olivier Baujard, (Chief Technology Officer) Deutsche Telekom

Article: RSS via ThinkBroadband

Tags: Broadband, Deutsche Telecom, FlyNet, Hotspots, Lufthansa, Mobile Broadband

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Cisco Records Explosion in Mobile Broadband Data Traffic During 2010

The latest mobile focused Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) forecast has reported that global mobile internet / data ( Mobile Broadband ) traffic grew 2.6-fold in 2010 and nearly tripled for the third year in a row (up by 159% over 2009; 237 Petabytes per month). In other words, 2010′s mobile data traffic was three times the size of the entire internet in 2000 (75 Petabytes per month).

Mobile internet video traffic appears to be the primary culprit, accounting for a staggering 49.8% of total mobile data at the end of 2010; this is predicted to hit 52.8% in 2011. Standard mobile website browsing was the 2nd largest type of mobile traffic, albeit still less than half as important as video. P2P (File Sharing) and VoIP account for very little.

Mobile internet connection speeds doubled last year and hit a world average download rate of 215Kbps (kilobits). Interestingly Cisco found that the top 1% of mobile data subscribers generated over 20% of mobile data traffic, which is actually down from 30% one year ago.

Smartphone’s (iPhone etc.) represent just 13% of total global handsets in use today, but they account for over 78% of total handset traffic. In 2010, the typical Smartphone generated 24 times more mobile data traffic (79 MB per month) than the typical basic-feature cell phone.

However, there were 94 million laptops on the mobile network in 2010, and each laptop generated 22 times more traffic than the average Smartphone. Mobile data traffic per laptop was 1.7GB per month, up 49% from 2009.

As for the future. Global mobile data traffic is predicted to jump 26-fold between 2010 and 2015. Mobile data traffic will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 92% from 2010 to 2015, reaching 6.3 Exabytes per month by 2015. By this time the average mobile network connection speed will be above 2.2Mbps (Megabits), which is close to what UK users can already receive.

Article: RSS via ISPreview

Tags: Cisco, Data, HTTP, Mobile Broadband, Mobile Internet, P2P, Video, VoIP

Posted in Mobile Broadband | No Comments »