mmO2 considering EDGE?
Close - EMC
In his key note speech at the just ended 3GSM mobile conference in Cannes, mmO2's CEO Peter Erskine hinted mmO2 might consider maximising the capacity of its existing GSM network by deploying EDGE, before moving on to 3G. Should mmO2 decide to go down that route, it is likely its 3G launch which has already been pushed back until 2004, will be further delayed.
Though EDGE deployment is already progressing in the North American market with, Cingular and AT&T Wireless, European operators have till now remained tight lipped as regards their commitment to EDGE. Nevertheless, infrastructure vendor, Nokia has for long maintained that despite the noticeable silence from European operators on EDGE, the technology still had a business case in Europe. Nokia recently announced it had began shipping deliveries in H1 2002 to networks in both Europe and Asia, but declined to state the operators taking these deliveries (). In Asia, Peoples Phone in Hong Kong is the only operator to have publicly shown strong commitment towards deploying EDGE.
Nokia's position has been that though the timing and deliveries will vary according to each operators business situation; most if not all European GSM operators will upgrade their networks to run EDGE. The premise of Nokia's argument is that, with the deployment of 3G there will still be a lengthy timeframe to migrate the millions of Western European GSM subscribers over to 3G networks. During this time where GPRS will also be running parallel with the 3G networks, it would be fair to assume that the steady growth of voice traffic volumes, will continue, precipitating the need to increase GSM/GPRS capacity. This should create room for EDGE to be deployed to maximise spectrum usage within GSM and thus complementing 3G ().
mmO2's announcement, however comes as no surprise following the recent appointment of Dave Williams as chief technology officer, from Cingular Wireless, where he was vice president for strategic planning. Cingular Wireless and AT & T Wireless are the two network operators driving EDGE deployment in the North American market, with network launch scheduled Q4 2003. Perhaps this is what Dave Williams was alluding to in the speech following his appointment when he referred to '.....the chance of using my experiences in technological innovation and design to take the excellent work to date into a new phase of mobile broadband....'
The lack of available EDGE capable handsets is the one major drawback that could hamper EDGE deployment. This situation could however turn around soon, as it is also in the interest of vendors committed to EDGE development and deployment (Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia, Nortel, Siemens) to ensure EDGE handsets come to market in commercial volumes. Nokia has already launched its first tri-band handset (GSM-850/1800/1900 ), which will be available to consumers in the US market in Q1 2003. Motorola's tri-band EDGE handset, operating in the GSM 8/18/19 frequency, the T725 () is also due in H2 2003.
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Nokia has already launched its first tri-band handset... which will be available to consumers in the US market in Q1 2003.
LOL!
I love Nokia deadlines! My calendar is locked and loaded. |
