Written by: Jan Uddenfeldt
The telecommunications industry continues to evolve at a rapid pace. In 2004, WCDMA third-generation mobile systems came into its own, with subscriber figures literally leaping from fewer than 3 million to more than 16 million at year-end. Third-generation mobile systems are thus a real market, and Ericsson anticipates continued strong growth and evolution as we look to the future. This issue of Ericsson Review touches on a handful of technology enhancements that have a central role in this evolution
Evolved 3G will bring us true mobile broadband services. HSDPA technology, for example, will allow data rates of up to nearly 14Mbps (as demonstrated by an 11Mbps demo at the 3GSM conference in Cannes), making 3G services a strong solution not only for mobile users but also for fixed users. CDMA2000 is undergoing a parallel evolution that will yield data rates of several megabytes per second. In this issue, you can read two articles on mobile broadband: Broadband data performance of third-generation mobile systems compares alternative technologies and Mobile broadband—Operator opportunities discusses business opportunities, costs, and end-user services.
One other natural evolution of 3G, both for WCDMA and CDMA2000, is voice over IP (VoIP) based on the IP multimedia subsystem (IMS). For VoIP to wholly overtake circuit-switched services, the radio bearers must be spectrum-efficient. Ericsson will introduce VoIP in its wireless products during the next couple of years, just as it has done in its wireline offerings. IMS is fundamentally important to the ongoing evolution because it offers a cost-effective solution to quality VoIP based on secure authentication. If this interests you, then you will want to read Toward the all-IP vision, which describes the role of IMS for VoIP in mobile and fixed networks.
Along with its next-generation server and media gateway products, Ericsson will introduce the Integrated Site concept, which integrates multiple products as blades in a single node, including even common IMS/MSC server nodes. Simply put, this enhancement facilitates very flexible evolution from a circuit-switched world to a VoIP paradigm. For more information, I invite you to read Ericsson’s Integrated Site concept.
Mobile TV is an exciting service that is set to take the stage, and thanks to the MBMS standard, which includes a protocol for sending the same information to multiple users with the same air interface and spectrum, operators can incorporate attractive mobile TV services in their 3G offering. You may read more in Mobile broadcast/multicast in mobile networks.
Jan Uddenfeldt
Senior Vice President and
Senior Advisor, Technology, to CEO
