Re: DECT
Have no idea what it means but here's what a search came up with; and URLs highlighted in bold below
1) On Ericsson site (self promoting of course:
DECT
DECT: from new standard to five million units sold worldwide in less than four years
The DECT (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications) standard for cordless phones was finalised in 1992 and became mandatory throughout the EU in January 1993. The first commercial DECT-based cordless phone systems were introduced in 1993, and by the end of 1996 accumulated worldwide sales of DECT systems amounted to over 5 million lines.
By the year 2000, it is expected that worldwide sales of DECT equipment will be more than 30 million lines a year.
The DECT standard has been widely adopted within and outside Europe - so far in a total of 26 countries, with a further 11 under way. There are more than 28 DECT systems manufacturers with products on the market, and 16 manufacturers of DECT key components.
The five main application areas for DECT systems so far are:
Business cordless systems (the cordless PBX) Wireless subscriber access (Wireless Local Loop, WLL) Home cordless phones CTM (Cordless terminal Mobility) DECT/GSM Dual Mode Phones
In the near future, it is envisaged that the DECT standard will be used together with the GSM standard to provide seamless communications mobility in all environments, combining the capacity and quality features of DECT with the coverage features of GSM in the optimum way.
Market situation by sector
Business cordless applications: DECT-based systems dominate the cordless PBX market, accounting for an estimated 80 per cent of the total European market. Growth rates for DECT business cordless systems are expected to be over 50 per cent per annum over the next few years. Some observers forecast that by the end of the century, around one third of all business telephones sold will be cordless.
Home cordless applications: Sales of home cordless phones based on the DECT standard are also rising fast. Industry experts expect that by the year 1999, DECT phones will account for around a third of the residential cordless phones sold worldwide.
Radio access to fixed networks: The DECT standard is also being used in radio access systems for connecting subscribers in to the fixed public telecom network - a technique generally referred to as Wireless Local Loop (WLL). To date, there are some 350,000 subscribers worldwide connected to their public network by DECT-based radio access systems.
Cordless terminal Mobility (CTM): The concept of Cordless Terminal Mobility is to provide local mobility within the fixed network. It is perceived by the market as a valuable new service. DECT-based CTM solutions offer an affordable and high-value service for public fixed networks, as a complement to pure cellular systems. Aimed at the residential market, these solutions are expected to achieve a commercial breakthrough within the next two years.
Reasons for rapid market take-off
Cordless business systems
The main reason why the DECT standard has taken off so quickly in the business communications sector is that high-quality, cordless access to the company PBX is something that delivers measurable business benefits. The DECT standard meets this communications need in a flexible and spectrum-efficient way, and is optimised to support the high densities of users found in office buildings.
Increasingly, cordless communications is seen as a strategic business tool for increased efficiency, productivity and customer service. When staff have cordless phones, incoming calls go straight to them, whether they are at their desk, in another office, in the corridor, by the photocopier or wherever. Not only does this improve overall communications efficiency, and give a better impression to callers, but it can also reduce a company's telephone costs, because fewer calls have to be returned.
There are also many situations in industry and commerce where staff are engaged in jobs with a 'mission-critical' perspective, and where the cost of deploying a DECT business cordless communication system is relatively small compared to the value of the benefits. For example, maintenance engineers in a large factory complex where production down-time can be extremely costly.
The nature of the jobs carried out by many staff mean that they are rarely to be found at their desk. The business cordless phone system solves the problem, and speeds up the flow of information to and from these people.
A DECT cordless communications system also fits in well with new working practices such as 'hot desking' where staff who regularly spend time out of the office do not have their own assigned desks. They pick up their individual phone and sit at whichever desk is available, or most suitable for the work to be done, knowing that they are fully connected (by cordless phone) to the company PBX system.
Once a DECT cordless system is in service, it is common for the use of cordless phones to grow rapidly. This can be done at minimum cost, since once the radio network infrastructure is in place to serve the high-value or mission-critical members of staff, extra cordless users can be added at minimal extra cost. For a dynamic or growing business where staff change offices frequently, another benefit of the cordless approach is that there is no need to rewire or renumber extensions. In fact, no changes at all are required to the cordless phone or radio network when the user moves to another office on the site.
Public access systems
The principal attraction of DECT-based systems as a radio subscriber access solution for public fixed networks is the speed with which the access network can be rolled out. This has made it a popular choice in areas where there is a need to develop and expand the existing public network infrastructure.
In a DECT radio access system, each subscriber has a fixed access unit (FAU) into which a standard telephone (or fax or modem) is plugged. Somewhere nearby is a radio base station that serves all the radio-connected subscribers in the locality. A benefit of a DECT-based radio access system, compared to the use of systems based on one of the cellular standards, is that no frequency planning is required.
In a CTM solution, the subscriber has a digital cordless phone that can be used both indoors and outdoors in different local areas. It is a solution that meets the lifestyle needs of people requiring low-speed mobility within specific locations, such as between the shopping mall and home.
A CTM service offers end users the features and services of the fixed network, including IN services like Personal Number. As an extension of the fixed network, CTM allows households to have several personalised numbers via the one fixed subscription. This capability, achieved by distinctive ring signals, is useful for the younger members of the household.
Go here to read a lot more:
ericsson.se
And here's a homepage for dect:
dect.ch
And an excerpt:
With a total of over 25 million terminals shipped by the end of 1998 and a forecast of 75 milion by the year 2000, with several million WLL lines contracted worldwide in 1998, with worldwide acceptance of the standard in over 100 countries, DECT is a mature, robust, and field-proven platform for the cordless communication evolution.
The DECT standard is designed to be one of the core building blocks for the communications services of the future.
The weight of support behind the DECT standard from users, manufacturers, network operators and regulatory bodies will ensure the standard to steadily increase its global presence, with all the benefits subsequent to long-term and continuing developments and large-scale deployment experience.
DECT will play a central role in the convergence of fixed and mobile communication services.
DECT is also ready to comply with service migration from mainly voice towards data and multimedia, e. g. Mobile Internet Connectivity, Mobile Videocommunication, Messaging, Telematics application and factory or home Automation, ISDN, and as an access channel to Internet and Intranet services.
As DECT serves costomer needs which other technologies cannot provide, it will form an integral part of the evolution in UMTS. ITU's decision to select a range of available technologies rather than a single one brought DECT to apply for the IMT 2000 sepecification. The DECT standard was widely supported as it is the only cordless technology among those proposed, and the only one available today
Somebody else will have to figure out what it means! This is not my field and I have no idea of the phasing/staging of various developments |
