• MOST READ

• LATEST NEWS

Small cells are moving to the center of operators’ strategies for 4G. Much has been made of how shrinking the range of the cell is the only way to address the data deluge, since wireless technologies are heading towards the limits of spectral efficiency. But carriers want more than just a defense against data overload – they also need to build 4G networks that can support brand new revenue streams if they are to survive commercially. Verizon was pitching its new LTE network against cable last week, and the only way its claims make sense is with a move towards smaller cells as well as LTE Advanced.

Amid the excitement about Verizon Wireless’ LTE launch, the focus was on mobile applications – but Verizon clearly hopes to enhance the return on its investment by supporting multiscreen and quad play content and apps. It is already testing an in-home entertainment service that bundles LTE and DirecTV satellite broadcasting services. According to Investors Business Daily, Verizon is providing LTE service to homes using a rooftop antenna and bundling the service with the DirecTV offering, to compete with cable companies outside the footprint for Verizon’s own FiOS IPTV/broadband footprint. And it is planning converged devices, including a Motorola tablet, that can span FiOS and LTE video and stores.

That inevitably leads to the question of whether LTE can function as a wireline broadband system, and help Verizon to compete with the cablecos outside its own fiber territory. The group’s CEO Ivan Seidenberg last week tried to send a message to the cable community that its operators are in trouble from LTE. At an investor conference, he said that there would be LTE-cable substitution “on the margin”. Over the past 10 years, cable has done so much damage to Verizon, forcing it to invest in fiber and robbing it of many fixed lines, so Seidenberg can’t really be blamed for trying to hit back. But is his claim far-fetched?

Currently the LTE specification allows for 100Mbps downlink rates and about half that on the uplink, in a single 20MHz spectrum slice. A single macro base station serving 50 people concurrently (a sensible average for data), would offer around 2Mbps to each of them, which takes us back to where fixed line broadband was five years ago. That will not compare with cable, with its potential for DOCSIS 3.0 offering 150Mbps and beyond.

Various techniques will boost LTE – small cells bringing users closer to the base station; 4 x 4 MIMO antennas becoming commonplace in devices. But the real breakthrough comes with femtocells, which can give everyone 100Mbps to themselves within the home, and will be a hallmark of LTE Advanced deployments.

However, there is one important area which Seidenberg glossed over. A strategy that relies on the backhaul from a home broadband fixed line, as femtocells do, will hardly work in unseating a cable operator from a home. Take out the cable modem and you have to backhaul it with something like a FiOS fiber. But as the LTE roadmap plays out there is no reason why it should not interfere substantially with cable. There are many scenarios where some form of backhaul, such as FiOS or microwave, could support multiple femtocells, supporting public access and roaming as well as in-home coverage. There is an economic basis for installing wireless in tight femto topologies, backed up with roaming and Wi-Fi hotspot offload - then wireless can pack the same punch as cable, it’s just a matter of build-out.

Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

COMMENTS

No comments yet. Be the first to add a comment!

Carrier Broadband Performance: Africa & Middle East
Carriers are using mobile broadband as their weapon of choice in the fight against the commoditization of voice and falling ARPU. This...

Voice over LTE: Market Analysis and Forecasts
VoLTE offer unique advantages in lowering a carrier's voice infrastructure economics and promises to improve voice quality, device...