3g On View

Evolution Zero Generation (0G – 0.5G) Mobile radio telephone systems preceded modern cellular mobile telephony technology. Since they were the predecessors of the first generation of cellular telephones, these systems are sometimes referred to as 0G (zero generation) systems. Technologies used in 0G systems included PTT (Push to Talk), MTS (Mobile Telephone System), IMTS (Improved Mobile Telephone Service), AMTS (Advanced Mobile Telephone System), OLT (Norwegian for Offentlig Landmobil Telefoni, Public Land Mobile Telephony) and MTD (Swedish abbreviation for Mobilelefonisystem D, or Mobile telephony system D).

First Generation (1G) First generation (or 1G) cellular telecommunications were only capable of supporting voice traffic. 1G was introduced in the early 1980s and was based upon an analog system comprising Frequency Modulation (FM), Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and

Frequency Division

Multiple Access (FDMA). Combining these primary methods of radio transmission and reception, several variants of the first cellular technologies merged to include NMT (Nordisk MobilTelefoni or Nordiska MobilTelefoni-gruppen, Nordic Mobile Telephone in English), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), Hicap, CDPD (Cellular Digital Packet Data, Mobitex and DataTAC.

Second Generation (2G ,2.5G ,2.75G) 2G is short for second-generation wireless telephone technology. It cannot normally transfer data, such as email or software, other than the digital voice call itself, and other basic ancillary data such as time and date. Nevertheless, SMS messaging is also available as a form of data transmission for some standards.2G services are frequently referred as Personal Communications Service or PCS in the US. 2G technologies can be divided into TDMA-based and CDMA-based standards depending on the type of multiplexing used. The main 2G standards are: 1) GSM (TDMA-based), originally from Europe but used worldwide. 2) IDEN (TDMA-based), proprietary network used by Nextel in the United States and Telus

1

Mobility in Canada . 3) IS-136 aka D-AMPS, (TDMA-based, commonly referred as simply TDMA in the US), used in the America . 4) IS-95 aka cdmaOne, (CDMA-based, commonly referred as simply CDMA in the US), used in the America and parts of Asia. 5) PDC (TDMA-based), used exclusively in Japan 2.5G is a stepping stone between 2G and 3G cellular wireless technologies. The term "second and a half generation" is used to describe 2G-systems that have implemented a packet switched domain in addition to the circuit switched domain. ETSI first commercially released High-Speed Circuit Switched Data (HSCSD) in 2000 and is the first of many upgrades to GSM. It’s not common to see HSCSD placed into a category of cellular generations, but typically we would see it being placed into 2.5G.GSM inherently offers data throughput of up to 9.6Kbps and mandates error control in transmission ensuring high-quality voice reception. HSCSD is capable of offering data speeds of up to (approximately) 57.6Kbps, which is comparable with most analog modems. The first notable upgrade to characterize the evolution of cellular communications was through the introduction of General Packet Radio Service (or GPRS). Essentially, with GPRS we are at 2.5G; a true indicator that we are moving towards a better cellular communications experience. GPRS differs to HSCSD in that it utilizes a packet-switched scheme. While the terms "2G" and "3G" are officially defined, "2.5G" is not. It was invented for marketing purposes only. 2.5G provides some of the benefits of 3G (e.g. it is packet-switched) and can use some of the existing 2G infrastructure in GSM and CDMA networks.. Some protocols, such as EDGE for GSM and CDMA2000 1x-RTT for CDMA, officially qualify as "3G" services (because they have a data rate of above 144kbps), but are considered by most to be 2.5G services (or 2.75G which sounds even more sophisticated) because they are several times slower than "true" 3G services. 2.75G is the term which has been decided on for systems which don't meet the 3G requirements but are marketed as if they do (e.g. CDMA-2000 without multi-carrier) or which do, just, meet the requirements but aren't strongly marketed as such. (e.g. EDGE systems). Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (or EDGE) was introduced in 2001 and is characterized as 2.75G. The term 2.75G has not been officially defined anywhere, but as of 2004 is beginning to be used quite often in media reports

2

Third Generation (3G) Not long after the introduction of 2G networks, projects began to develop third generation (3G) systems. Inevitably there were many different standards with different contenders pushing their own technologies. Quite differently from 2G systems, however, the meaning of 3G has been standardized in the IMT-2000 standardization processing. The rate at which new telecommunication standards are being developed is phenomenal. Alongside the introduction of HSCSD, GPRS and EDGE as standard methods of data connectivity, operators are eager to deliver advanced methods for data-centric applications, such as broadcast quality video Within the 3G arena an additional multiplexing technique is used called Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). This forms our third multiplexing scheme where our two previous methods were FDMA and TDMA. An exception to the appearance of CDMA within 3G is cdmaOne ; it’s widely deployed in the US and Korea and is classified as a second generation technology. It is defined by IS-95 and is now superseded by IS-2000 (also called CDMA2000) and is very much in competition with GSM. One other CDMA variant includes Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS) which is based upon Wideband CDMA (WCDMA); this is perceived as third generation. The services associated with 3G provide the ability to transfer both voice data (a telephone call) and non-voice data (such as downloading information, exchanging email, and instant messaging).

Fourth Generation (4G) 4G (or 4-G) is short for fourth-generation the successor of 3G and is a wireless access technology. High-speed mobile wireless access with a very high data transmission speed, of the same order of magnitude as a local area network connection (10 Mbits/s and up). It has been used to describe wireless LAN technologies like Wi-Fi, as well as other potential successors of the current 3G mobile telephone standards. One of the key expectations from 4G networks is the availability of high quality audio and video that will render the mobile phone a portable entertainment centre. Higher data transfer rates will also mean that a James Bond style video conversation might finally be a reality.

3

3G 3G stands for third-generation wireless technology and networks. 3G is based on an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) initiative for a single global wireless standard called International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000). This concept of a single standard evolved into a family of five 3G wireless standards. The dream of 3G is to unify the world's mobile computing devices through a single, worldwide radio transmission standard. Imagine being able to go anywhere in the world secure in the knowledge that your mobile phone is compatible with the local system, a scenario known as "global roaming". According to the ITU and IMT-2000, a wireless standard must meet minimum bit-rate requirements to be considered 3G: 1) 2 Mbps in fixed or in-building environments 2) 384 Kbps in pedestrian or urban environments 3) 144 Kbps in wide area mobile environments 4) Variable data rates in large geographic area systems (satellite) In addition to providing faster bit rates and greater capacity over previous-generation technologies, 3G standards excel by effectively: 1) Delivering mobile data 2) Offering greater network capacity 3) Operating with existing second-generation technologies 4) Enabling rich data applications such as VoIP, video telephony, mobile multimedia, interactive gaming and more As networks evolve, more content choices will be available to satisfy the cutomers’ needs. 3G’s high speed communications (upwards of 2Mbps) and broadband services such as enhanced multimedia (voice, data and video) will attract many more customers. Put simply, 3G wireless technology represents a shift from voice-centric services to multimedia-oriented services like video, data and fax.

4

Now , Let us look at how technology has evolved over the years and how it led to the introduction of 3G and continued its work upto 4G.

EVOLUTION OF TELECOM NETWORKS OVER THE YEARS Technolgy Design Began Implementation Service

1G 1970 1984 Analogue voice, synchronous data up to 9.6 kbps

2G 1980 1991 Digital voice, Short messages

2.5G 1985 1991 Higher capacity, packetized data

Standards

AMPS, TACS, NMT, etc.

GPRS, EDGE, WCDMA, 1xRTT CDMA2000

Data Bandwidth Multiplexing

1.9kbps FDMA

TDMA, CDMA, GSM, PDC 14.4 kbps TDMA,CDMA

Core Network

PSTN

PSTN

384 kbps TDMA CDMA PSTN, packet network

3G 1990 2002 Higher capacity, broadband data up to 2Mbps

4G 2000 2010? Higher capacity, completely IPoriented, ,multimedia , data to hundreds of megabits Single standard

2 Mbps CDMA

200 Mbps CDMA?

Packet network

Internet

As already explained, the 3G standard was created by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and is called IMT-2000. The aim of IMT-2000 is to harmonize worldwide 3G systems to provide global roaming. However, as was explained in the introduction to this section, harmonizing so many different standards proved extremely difficult. As a result, what we have been left with is five different standards grouped together under the IMT-2000 label: •

W-CDMA

•

CDMA2000

•

TD-CDMA/TD-SCDMA

•

DECT

•

UWC-136

The above mentioned CDMA variants can be explained well by looking at the diagram below: 5

(The range of derivative CDMA technologies, which are not necessarily Interoperable)

At this point, the definition of what is and what isn't "3G" becomes somewhat murky. Of these five standards, only three allow full network coverage over macro cells, micro cells and pico cells and can thus be considered as full 3G solutions: W-CDMA, CDMA2000, and TD-SCDMA. Of the remainder, DECT is used for those cordless phones you have in the house, and could be used for 3G short-range "hot-spots" (hence, it could be considered as being "part of a 3G network"), but it does not allow full network coverage so is not considered further here. And UWC-136 is another name for EDGE which is generally considered to be a 2.5G solution. So that leaves W-CDMA, CDMA2000, and TD-SCDMA - the bona fide 3G solutions which will now be covered in more detail:

W-CDMA The 3G standard that has been agreed for Europe and Japan (very important markets) is known as UMTS. UMTS is an upgrade from GSM via GPRS or EDGE. UMTS is the European vision of 3G, and has been sold as the successor to the ultra-successful GSM. The terrestrial part of UMTS (i.e., non-satellite) is known as UTRA (UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access - don't you just love acronyms made from other acronyms!). The FDD component of UTRA is based on the W-CDMA standard (a.k.a. UTRA FDD). This offers very high (theoretical!) data rates up to 2Mbit/sec (the rumour is that the achievable rate is far lower: W-CDMA systems have been plagued with technical difficulties). The TDD component of UTRA is called TD-CDMA (or

6

UTRA TDD).The standardisation work for UMTS is being carried-out under the supervision of the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).W-CDMA has recently been renamed 3GSM (to avoid confusion with CDMA2000). NTT DoCoMo has gone live with 3G in Tokyo. Its service is called FOMA (Freedom Of Mobile Multimedia Access). This is the world's first IMT2000 W-CDMA service. Since the launch of the service, coverage has been extended to almost 100% of the Japanese population, and the release of new terminals with higher level functionality continues to attract ever more subscribers - now exceeding 20 million users.

CDMA2000 The chief competitor to Europe's UMTS standard is San Diego-based Qualcomm's CDMA2000 . The standardisation work for CDMA2000 is being carried-out under the supervision of the Third Generation Partnership Project 2, (3GPP2). The CDMA Development Group offers advice to 3GPP2. Even though "W-CDMA" and "CDMA2000" both have "CDMA" in their names, they are completely different systems using different technologies. However, it is hoped that mobile devices using the two systems will be able to talk to each other. CDMA2000 has two phases: phase one is 1XRTT (144 Kbps) (also known as 1X). The next evolutionary step is to the two CDMA2000 1X EV ("EV" = "Evolution") standards. CDMA2000 1X EV-DO ("Data Only") will use separate frequencies for data and voice. The following step is to CDMA2000 1X EV-DV ("Data and Voice") which will integrate voice and data on the same frequency band. South Korea's SK Telecom launched the world's first 3G system in October 2000. Their system is based on CDMA2000 1X. They were followed by LG Telecom and KT Freetel (both Korean). Operational 3G systems based on CDMA2000 1X are now appearing around the world.In the USA, Sprint has launched its nationwide CDMA2000 1X service called Sprint Power Vision.

TD-CDMA/TD-SCDMA The UMTS standard also contains another radio transmission standard which is rarely mentioned: TD-CDMA (a.k.a. TDD UTRA because it is the TDD component of UTRA). TDCDMA was developed by Siemens. While W-CDMA is an FDD technology (requiring paired spectrum), TD-CDMA is a TDD technology and thus can use unpaired spectrum (see the section on 3G Technology for an explanation of TDD and FDD). TDD is well-suited to the transmission

7

of internet data (see the section on symmetric transmission vs. asymmetric transmission for an explanation). China has more mobile phone users than any other country in the world, so anything China does in 3G cannot be ignored. The Chinese national 3G standard is a TDD standard similar to TD-CDMA: TD-SCDMA. TD-SCDMA was developed by the China Academy of Telecommunications Technology (CATT) in collaboration with Siemens. Unfortunately, TD-SCDMA has performed poorly in trials, and Chinese network operators may prefer W-CDMA over TD-SCDMA.

8

Capabilities Of 3G Key features of 3G systems are a high degree of commonality of design worldwide, compatibility of services, use of small pocket terminals with worldwide roaming capability, Internet and other multimedia applications, and a wide range of services and terminals . 3G System Capabilities

Capability to support circuit and packet data at high bit rates: • 144 kilobits/second or higher in high mobility (vehicular) traffic • 384 kilobits/second for pedestrian traffic • 2 Megabits/second or higher for indoor traffic

Interoperability and roaming Common billing/user profiles: • Sharing of usage/rate information between service providers • Standardized call detail recording • Standardized user profiles

Capability to determine geographic position of mobiles and report it to both the network and the mobile terminal Support of multimedia services/capabilities: • Fixed and variable rate bit traffic Bandwidth on demand • Asymmetric data rates in the forward and reverse links • Multimedia mail store and forward • Broadband access up to 2 Megabits/second

9

Why the Growth Spurt in 3G? Improvements in infrastructure and increased cap-ex investments by carriers have laid the groundwork for the burgeoning 3G market. At the other end of the value chain,3G is now revolutionizing how cell phones are used and consumers are responding. Operators are now providing advanced features and services, which means an enriched user experience for the consumer 3G is about multimedia performance, driven by demand for mobile entertainment and on-the-go productivity. Current 3G handsets feature high-resolution color displays, integrated video cameras, streaming of audio and video content, internet access at broadband speeds, location-based services, and multi-user 3D gaming. And these are only the beginning. To be sure, 3G is succeeding by delivering user-rich, value-added services that are influencing consumers to switch to 3G mobile phones and networks. However, 3G’ssuccess won’t occur in a vacuum. There are three areas to consider for 3G to realize its full potential: No. 1: Open standards drive rich value webs and interoperability. Wide adoption of 3G will require introducing innovative services with cross-network interoperability. Only a non-proprietary, open approach will foster innovation of new content, services, and applications. Wireless operators must work together with handset manufacturers, semiconductor partners and software providers to promote open standards for 3G networks and equipment. No. 2: Economies of scale apply. Deploying 3G comes with a price tag. Hence, economies of scale will help make the 3G UMTS market main stream. Chip manufacturers must deliver higher performance, lower power, lower cost and more integrated complete solutions through smaller process geometrics and innovative silicon technologies. No. 3: Multimedia-rich applications will define 3G, but not at the expense of the user experience. The underlying 3G technology platform must deliver upon user expectations in key areas that may not have been as important in prior generations of wireless technology: multimedia quality for pictures, video and audio. This trend will only increase, with the expected surge of even higher performance multimedia applications and a strong trend to deliver a consumer electronics experience to the cell phone.

10

Issues Facing The Technology In some countries the 3G technology has been introduced very successfully. However, in some other countries there are various issues that prevent the technology being launched. Introducing new technology is never smooth sailing. Here, we will give an overview of the issues concerning rolling out 3G technology. 1) High Licensing Cost- One of the main reasons for the slow introduction of 3G technology in Europe is the high licensing fee. European mobile phone companies spent $129 billion six years ago to buy licenses for "third-generation" networks. 2) Billing- Current billing starts with the start of a call to the end of it. With 3G, pricing formulas will need to encourage the use of 3G services. A slow down in adoption to 3G will significantly affect handset manufacturers 3) Equipment and Infrastructure- There is a lack of available 3G phones initially and consumers were slow to pick up the new phones. There is also the difficulty of rolling 3G network which is based on a different platform while integrating it with the old 2G network. Intermediate network such as 2.5G is one of the solutions to bring about a gradual change 4) Content Provision and Marketing- Successful operators must be able to meet expectations of providing new and innovative services. The main task at hand is to be able to promote the idea of 3G technology rather than selling the product itself. Content providers must market an attractive range of mobile commerce, entertainment, banking, shopping, information and other services that can cater to the needs of consumers 5) Malware- Technology is a double-edged sword. With the ease of connectivity, there is also the increased risk of malware infection. Flexispy, a spyware billed as the 'world's most powerful spy software for mobile phones'. It can secretly records all activity on a mobile phone. Symantec warned that mobile phones are potentially vulnerable to spyware which can gather a user's information without their knowledge. Industry experts also cautioned that increasing complexity of phones has its downsides.

11

Market Rapid Drivers Towards 3G 1) growth in text, WAP and other data traffic- up to 50% of total mobile traffic within 5 years 2) Mobile & Internet penetration both growing rapidly 3) Mobile penetration likely to exceed PCs & fixed 4) Alliances forming between major mobile, IT and e-commerce players 5) Mobile commerce and multimedia identified as key growth areas - but need bandwidth to deliver.

Technology Related Facts Upto 2002

12

What Does 3G offers and Who benefits From It? 3G wireless services enable consumers and professionals to experience excellent voice quality as well as a wide array of compelling data services, including: •

Mobile Internet connectivity

•

Mobile email

•

Multimedia services, such as digital photos and movies taken by and shared via wireless handsets

•

Wireless application downloading

•

Audio-on-demand

•

Video-on-demand and short-format Clipcast™ content

•

Real-time multiplayer gaming

•

Enhanced emergency and location-based services

•

Low-latency push-to-talk and push-to-video message services

•

Video Conferencing on mobiles

•

Secure mobile commerce transactions

For consumers, 3G quite simply means a more rewarding wireless experience—high-quality, low-cost voice, and fun and useful data services whenever they want them, whenever they need them and wherever they have mobile phone service.

13

Enterprises can leverage 3G’s advanced data capabilities to gain critical competitive advantages such as increased productivity, streamlined processes, improved customer service and enhanced communications. Workforces can essentially work from anywhere at anytime. 3G technology also benefits the other participants in the wireless value chain. Wireless network operators are able to capitalize on increased voice capacity, greater network efficiency, lower costs per user served, increased ARPU (average revenue per user) and greater service differentiation. Device manufacturers can leverage the enhanced capabilities of 3G networks to sell premium wireless devices in volume. Finally, 3G technology’s data capabilities open up an enormous world of opportunity for application developers and content providers. Now, Let us throw some light on various applications of 3G technology: 1) Mobile Internet Connectivity- Internet is the next big thing that provides us with

all the information and in today’s fast paced world, everyone wants to have access to information as it happens. Now days, we can access internet from our mobiles as well but there is no reliability in connection. With the advent of 3G technology, we can have a reliable connection in our hands and can access internet at a very high speed of upto 2 Mbps. This helps in business to grow not only for mobile manufacturers but also for those who use these services as these are readily available. In India, it will take some time for these services to be launched but it is not far when we using this service as India has emerged as fast growing mobile phone user base. 2) Mobile E Mail- E mail is another application of internet. It is an important

application as there are many users who want only to check the mails they have received. Using 3G will help those users not only accessing their mails but also download the attachments with the mails they receive or want to send. 3) Multimedia Services- Today, almost every phone has camera or voice recording

software. Thus, people are very much interested in making these photos, videos or sound files shared among themselves.2G limits this sharing as it can be send and received only via MMS. But in 3G,with good connection speed, we can share

14

these files over internet to wide people across the globe. Hence, it helps in making contacts and provide information in an easy way. 4) Downloading and Uploading -With 2G, the technologies used does not provide

for downloading at very good speed. Even if we want to download a text document it will take lot of time. But with 3G introduction, we can easily download any amount of data over internet as we like because of the connection speed. Thus, it helps in business as people can download and upload files easily so that their work may not be pending and it can be done within seconds without going to cybercafés or having PC access. 5) Video and Audio on Demand-Video and audio streaming is very common these

days. Streaming videos or music can be very tedious as it requires a very good speed to be able to have access to these videos or music.3G provides a good connection so that you can have access to these videos. Businesses are growing these days by having training programmes running online in a virtual environment and to be able to understand the practical part, they provide with videos which required to be streamed over the net in order to view them.So,3G makes it possible for people to have actual feeling of working environment. 6) Enhanced emergency and location-based services-These services help you to

locate yourself in the area you are present right now so that you can know about the places nearby in case of any emergency like accident or being run out of fuel or the amount of traffic ahead, etc. such that you can able to reach your destination on time.GPS systems have been recently launched in India but not all phones are equipped with it. You have to buy separate equipment for it. But in 3G such services are provided within the 3G enabled phones as these are the main applications. 7) Real Time Multiplayer Gaming-For gamers 3G brings the fun on their hands.

As they have access to high speed internet, they can play multiplayer games online with their friends as per their wish. 8) Video conferencing-Video Conferencing is an important part of business these

days. Without being physically present somewhere you will be able to interact with the people there. Thus, it helps the business to grow, build favourable

15

relationships and it is in your hands on your mobile handset. It really helps you to stand out first in your business. 9) Secure mobile commerce transactions-Today, shopping on internet is a new

fashion in the country. But as it sometimes comes out unsafe to do shopping on net, security is the main concern. With 3G, it has been guaranteed that it provides some secure layers which helps in a safe transaction over your mobile so that you can exchange your private information like credit card numbers while purchasing anything. Thus, it helps various businesses to grow rapidly.

BUSINESS SCENARIO Basically, 3G opens the door to anything you can imagine. You will be able to do a multitude of things while going through your daily schedule, whether at work or at leisure. The scenarios below demonstrate just a few applications for 3G and only hint at what will be on offer in the future. Scenario 1: An executive at a client meeting realises that he has brought an outdated version of his presentation. It’s no problem though because one of his colleagues back at the office emails the updated PowerPoint file directly to his 3G terminal. He transfers it to the laptop (wirelessly of course) and is in no time ready to start the presentation. Scenario 2: This scenario is about three women who are trying to find a gift for their friend. Two of them are out shopping, but they are out of ideas and use a web site that generates gift suggestions based on personality profiles. They decide to buy a handbag at a shop situated somewhere near the city centre (but at an unknown address to the women). Not knowing exactly where the shop is, they use a map and positioning service to find it. The map is displayed on their 3G terminal and shows them the shop location and their current position.At the shop, they want to make sure that the third woman (who was unable to make it) likes the gift. They take a digital picture of the bag and send it to her with a hand written note seeking her approval.

16

Scenario 3: The grandparents are out travelling in Europe. Here you see them in front of the Eiffel tower. (The tour guide took the picture of them admiring the magnificent building). In order to share their experiences with their friends and family, they have created a virtual photo album on their personal web site. This way, anyone with access to the Internet can follow them on their trip. But what about those without Internet access? Well, that's been taken care of by the WalkMail network. The pictures are printed, together with the text, on high quality paper and delivered as regular postcards within 24 hours. Scenario 4: A busy executive doing her grocery shopping hasn’t had time to queue at a teller machine, but cash is not needed. At the check-out, she uses her 3G terminal to pay for the groceries. It automatically debits her bank account, and gives her an updated balance on request. Scenario 5: In this scenario, we see two men talking on their way from a meeting. They decide to go out to dinner, but one of the men would like to invite his wife along so he checks her calendar on his 3G terminal (their calendars are constantly in synch). Scenario 6: So far, there has not been an easy way to electronically communicate with character based languages. But this drawback is over come with the white board application. The person in this scenario is actually handwriting a message when a friend of his initiates a video call with him. This way of creating a message makes the communication more personal than a regular e-mail whether in Chinese, Japanese, English, French or any language. Scenario 7: This guy would like to catch up with his friends for a coffee. He uses the Seek Your Friends service to find out who's on-line, and then sends a message telling his friends to meet him in a groovy new café that he’s just discovered.

17

Scenario 8: A young traveller has once again missed the train. Luckily, he has downloaded some of his favourite music from a web store. He's also got a pair of stereo headphones to use with the communication device. Seeing that one of his friends is on-line, he invites the friend to a peaceful game of chess. Scenario 9: A person out of the house gets an alert from the home monitor. The fish bowl alarm has gone off! She brings up a view from the home camera on her 3G phone and sees that the two cats are attacking the poor goldfish. To scare the cats off, she sounds the siren next to the fish bowl.

3G ROLLOUT IN INDIA In order to keep pace with the world, India should adopt third-generation (3G) technology as soon as possible. For this, cellular operators have to be issued 3G licences. Earlier, The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) was planning to allocate the PCS1900 spectrum to 2G operators. If the PCS1900 band were allocated to 2G operators, evolution to the IMT2000 band for 3G services would not have been possible as the PCS1900 downlink frequency interferences with the IMT2000 band’s uplink frequency. According to Global Mobile Suppliers’ Association (GSA), any allocation of PCS1900 spectrum would have blocked the wide-band CDMA (WCDMA) evolution path for GSM operators. The reason is that a CDMA network in the 1900MHz band and a WCDMA network in the IMT2000 core band cannot be operated in the same geographical area due to interference. Till now, no country has in parallel deployed the CDMA 1900MHz and IMT2000core band systems in the same area. There is no trick to use the two technologies together. Even if a small part of PCS 1900band were allocated, the CDMA 1900 terminals would have started entering the market . This would have made the introduction of WCDMA impossible without dismantling the CDMA 1900 network and calling back the terminals. In short , allocation of the PCS1900 band could have led to a waste of the full 60+60 MHz of the commercially viable IMT2000 core spectrum.

18

INDIA NOW GOING THE GLOBAL WAY The TRAI has now recommended adoption of ITU’s IMT 2004 (2GHz) band for 3G services in India . In its May 2005 report, it supported IMT 2000 (3G) services in the 2GHz band for both GSM and CDMA for reasons of spectrum availability. TRAI said that the US-PCS 1900 MHz band for CDMA operators cannot be vacated by defence, hence even CDMA services will have to be allocated the spectrum in 2GHz band. Further, it recognised interference problems in mixed allocation of 1900 MHz US-PCS and IMT2000 2GHz spectrums. Last year, the GSMA had called on TRAI to remain within the global IMT2000 scheme for harmonized 3G services and reject the US-PCS band and the mixed-band plan proposals which would have led to isolation of India’s mobile and telecom sectors. According to Tom Phillips, the GSMA’s government ®ulatory affairs officer,” The IMT2000 core band scheme will ensure that the Indian users benefit from significant economies of scale, choice and value,all of which are critical market drivers in support of the government’s goal of reaching 200 million subscribers by 2007”. However, the GSMA also notes that some of the other recommendations of TRAI could provide unfair advantages to CDMA operators over GSM. As part of its recommendations, TRAI had suggested immediate release of additional spectrum for CDMA operates in 800MHz bandwhich the GSMA views as preferential treatment with no set timetable for the release of additional spectrum to operators of GSM- and future 3GSM-based services. The GSM Association is therefore calling on the minister of telecom & IT and India’s Telecom Commission to demonstrate fair and equal treatment for all players with regard to timing of allocation of spectrum for 3G services (both EVDO and 3GSM (W-CDMA)) when the final decision is made, and to ensure the simultaneous release of spectrum in the 2GHz (IMT2000 core band) and 800MHz frequency bands.

19

Recommendations On Spectrum Related Issues Objective In order to achieve the government's objective of 200 mn mobile subscribers by 2007, a considerable planning and definitiveness in spectrum allocation is required. For providing catalyst to second phase of growth, spectrum should not act as a bottleneck and a relatively liberal approach is desirable since the allocation of spectrum to Indian operators has been much below international benchmarks and even availability of spectrum is limited. 3G, an extension of 2G The Authority recommends that 3G spectrum allocation to the existing operators should be viewed as an extension of 2G spectrum allocations. Constitution of a Group To meet the target and at the same time insurmountable difficulties faced by the Defense in vacating spectrum, TRAI recommends immediate constitution of a Group at the level of Ministers of Union Government assisted by professionals from the Defense, DoT, and TRAI to draw up a detailed, time-bound step-by-step program and monitor its implementation. The mandate of the group would have to include identification of alternative band, accessing and making available requisite funds, and assisting users on procedural aspects of quick procurement and installation of new equipment. 3G Recommendations The allocation of available carriers in the 800 MHz band will provide immediate relief to CDMA operators but the problem will persist unless additional bands are identified. The authority is keeping the option open for allocation of additional spectrum in 1,800 MHz to both CDMA and GSM operators. It is appreciated that while the 1,800 MHz band is of immediate utility to GSM operators, the exploitation of this band by CDMA operators will take longer in terms of equipment availability. And it is expected that this band will contribute to the requirements in India beyond 2007. Keeping that in view the authority recommends that CDMA operators should be allocated additional spectrum in the 450 MHz band as and when they request. For GSM, the

20

bands from which additional spectrum can be considered in this short time frame are 900 MHz in circles, 1,800 MHz, and IMT-2000 band. Trials for mixed band Allocations It is not desirable to allocate spectrum both in IMT-2000 and 1,900 MHz US PCS band in a mixed manner due to non-availability of 1,900 MHz US PCS band and interference issues. No Charges for 3G Spectrum The authority recommends that there will be no one time spectrum charges for allocation of IMT 2000 spectrum to existing service providers. Presently, in addition to license fees (which varies from 0-15%), spectrum charges (2-6%, wherever applicable), the telecom service providers pay service tax of 10%. Since service providers are charged service tax, it would make economic sense to lower spectrum and license fee. So, no new spectrum charges for IMT 2000 band. For the new entrants, the authority recommends that the one time spectrum charges would be equal to UASL entry fee in that services area minus the component of registration charge based on the entry fee paid by new BSO (entered in/after 2001), specified by TRAI in its recommendations on unified licensing regime dated January 13, 2005. Annual Spectrum Charges As per the existing spectrum policy, the annual spectrum charges for GSM service providers are as follows: 2% of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) for spectrum usage up to 2x4.4 MHz, 3% of AGR for spectrum usage up to 2x6.2 MHz, 4% of AGR for spectrum usage up to 2x10 MHz, 5% of AGR for spectrum usage up to 2x12.5 MHz, and 6% of AGR for spectrum usage up to 2x15 MHz. For CDMA operators the annual spectrum charges are 2% of AGR for spectrum usage of up to 2x5 MHz. And beyond 2x5 MHz the charges shall be same for CDMA and GSM. The authority recommends that the additional per MHz charge for IMT-2000 spectrum should be on the basis of highest charge per MHz per annum paid by any operators in different service areas. Authority also considers that these charges will be separate for different service areas. Broadband Wireless Access No specific recommendations possible as TRAI has not gathered enough information on BWA technologies 21

BIBLIOGRAPHY •

Fast track to mobile Telephony.(2006).Vol.6.1stEdition.Mumbai.Maulik Jasubhai. p.no.10-18.

•

Developing practical wireless application.(2006).1st Edition.UK.Digital Press Publication.p.no.23-37.

•

Electronics for you.(2005).Vol.37.11th Edition.New Delhi.Ramesh Chopra.p.no.32-36

•

Wikipedia: The Free Content Encyclopedia[Online].Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3G.

•

TI:Texas Instruments[Online].Available:http://www.ti.com/hdr.

•

ITU:International Telecommunication Union[Online].Available:http://www.itu.int/

•

3GNewsroom:3GNewsWebsite[Online].Available: http://www.3gnewsroom.com/html/about_3g/3g_applications.shtml/

•

3GToday:3G Related Website[Online].Available:http://www.3gtoday.com/wps/portal

•

CDG:CDMA Development Group[Online].Available: http://www.cdg.org/technology/applications.asp

•

Prashant.P.2006.Voicendata:Gateway To Indian Communications Industry[Online].Available: http://voicendata.ciol.com/content/top_stories/106110201.asp

22