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EDGE paves the way from 2G to 3G
January 7, 2004
EDGE has made its presence known: besides Cingular Wireless, several US operators have already rolled out EDGE services, and there is a strong commitment to the technology in Western Europe. Many customers have launched EDGE services without having publicly announced it.
Torsten Hunte, Director of EDGE Programs at Ericsson, says: "EDGE increases the network capacity for data services. This will change consumer behavior; people will surf the Internet more often and remain connected longer than before. It will also stimulate the growth of, and the demand for, WCDMA."
EDGE is a 3G technology that delivers broadband-like data speeds - up to 384 Kbps - to mobile devices. It allows consumers to connect to the Internet and to send and receive data - including digital images, web pages and photographs - three times faster than with a GSM/GPRS network.
Natural step
EDGE can be deployed in existing GSM 800, 900, 1800 and 1900 MHz frequency bands, and it complements UMTS/WCDMA technology. Because of this, it is a natural step in the GSM evolution process, and it represents a low-risk investment for mobile operators that want to deliver high-speed, high-capacity mobile Internet data services under their existing licenses.
Hunte says: "We offer our customers a smooth migration from 2G to 3G. Existing Ericsson GSM equipment is easily upgraded to enable EDGE services.
"EDGE has been developed with easy implementation in mind. Minor hardware and software upgrades convert any Ericsson macro base station manufactured since 1995 to EDGE, while all new Ericsson base stations are EDGE capable. The core network remains unchanged from that required for GPRS."
EDGE uses the same Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) frame structure, logic channel and 200 kHz carrier bandwidth as today's GSM networks, allowing existing cell plans to remain intact. This means that operators can offer high-speed multimedia services while resting assured that their initial network investment is fully protected.
Hunte says: "We are getting closer to one billion GSM users around the world. That's one reason why EDGE, being a part of the GSM/GPRS standard, has great potential."
