3G technologies to boost transmission speed
globalsources.com
[ follow link for photos and links to related stories - DPR ]
The rollout of WAP terminals has only
just begun, but they are expected to
dominate handset sales in the near
term. Although market researchers
disagree on the specific timeframe, they
say that in a few years all handsets will
be WAP-capable. And as content
providers offer better applications for
WAP, the speed issues will be
addressed. Network operators will begin
the series of upgrades that will take
them on to the high speeds of 3G
networks, which should improve the
mobile Internet experience and reduce
access costs.
Presently, WAP is delivered over GSM
at 9.6Kbps. Within the next year, GPRS
will provide theoretical data rates of
around 115.2Kbps, twice as fast as the
fastest modems used for wired Internet
access. However, it does appear that
real-life use of GPRS will result in data
rates somewhere around 40Kbps, which
is four times faster than GSM.
Following GPRS is EDGE, which is
most likely to debut in two years. It will
boost theoretical data rates to more
than 384Kbps. After EDGE comes the
true 3G networks, which will offer data
rates somewhere between 384Kbps and
2Mbps. With these access rates, the
mobile Internet experience will be far
different from what it is today.
However, it will take some time before
everyone can use the Internet at these
speeds.
According to Lars Godell, analyst for
Forrester Research, "Vendors like
Nokia and operators like Orange say
that by 2002, European firms will get
2Mbps speeds on mobile devices and
connect anywhere, anytime." The
reality, however, is that gradual, uneven
bandwidth upgrades will creep along
through 2007 and only city areas will
see 2Mbps speeds by 2007.
"With the exception of Italy and
Finland, not much of Europe will see
any UMTS deployments until 2003 and
2004," Godell said. The operators will
have big problems justifying the
business cases of upgrading and
replacing all their base stations. The
UMTS upgrade is 15 times as expensive
as upgrading to GPRS just from the
network perspective, Godell said. |
