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Network Trials Aim to Prove 3G's Worth
By Vanessa Clark and Sheridan Nye for
CommunicationsWeek International
30-OCT-98
With the ongoing battle over third-generation (3G) mobile
standards apparently deadlocked, Nortel Networks and
Panasonic said they will launch a series of network trials
to ensure user demand for future high-speed data
services.
Brampton, Canada-based Nortel estimates network
operators could have to pay as much as $60 billion
worldwide to upgrade their networks for 3G compliance.
Nortel is a key developer of the proposed 3G technology
favored by European manufacturers, wideband-CDMA
(W-CDMA): Panasonic, the brand of Secaucus, New
Jersey-based Matsushita Electric Corp., is
manufacturing prototype handsets. The two companies
see the trials as offering vital encouragement to
operators, service providers and end-users that 3G can
deliver a range of, as yet unthought of, applications. "The
whole focus of our trials is to demonstrate what you can
do with (3G) that you can't do with second generation,"
said Ian Sugarbroad, vice president at Nortel Wireless
Networks. "The question is, how do (network operators)
make a business case" given that users are still unsure
about why they might need high-speed mobile services.
Whereas second-generation mobile service providers
compete almost exclusively on price, said Sugarbroad,
3G providers will distinguish themselves with carefully
targeted value-added services. The trials with as yet
unnamed operators will start later this year, with one in
each of North America, Europe and Asia testing a range
of applications in areas such as Internet access,
specialist messaging services and mobile multimedia.
Meanwhile, the development of a single global technical
standard for 3G appears to have reached a stalemate,
with the major vendors divided into two camps behind
different air interface proposals. North American,
Republic of Korean and Australian players, led by
Qualcomm Inc. of San Diego, California, back
cdma2000, while mainly European and Japanese
supporters of W-CDMA are pressing for the International
Telecommunication Union to adopt their favored air
interface. The differences between the proposals lie in
the technical details rather than functionality. The key
issue is whether the final standard will be
backwards-compatible with existing digital mobile
networks. Qualcomm claims its original work on CDMA
(Code Division Multiple Access) underpins the W-CDMA
proposal, and declared it will withhold crucial Intellectual
Property Rights from the W-CDMA camp unless the final
global standard incorporates backwards compatibility
with existing networks based on the second-generation
technology. In response, L.M. Ericsson AB, a major
force behind W-CDMA, maintains it holds essential IPRs
that it could withhold from the cdma2000 alliance. Nortel,
which is also aligned with the W-CDMA camp, believes
that "the two (proposed standards) could come a hell of a
lot closer," said Sugarbroad.
"We could restrict all the differences to software and
avoid 90% of the cost to network operators," he claimed.
Nortel's trials will use a "best guess" at the final
standard, based on the current W-CDMA proposal
supported by the European Telecommunications
Standards Institute as part of its Universal Mobile
Telecommunications System (UMTS) submission to the
ITU. Nortel believes 3G will create a new breed of service
provider that will develop services for specific markets
such as the medical, legal, financial and real estate
sectors.
Meanwhile, users are bemused by the ongoing dispute,
and still need convincing that 3G will provide valuable
services. Users want to "get rid of the politics," said Bill
Mieran, chairman of the Leatherhead, England-based
Telecommunications Users Association. "I don't think it's
a technical issue any more. Users want service, price
and quality, and they don't worry about how it's
achieved," he said. They need to expect that they will get
something better when switching to 3G, just as 2G
digital offered advantages over analog, added Mieran.
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