With a global market share in excess of 40 percent and as the supplier of more GSM networks than any other vendor, no company is better positioned than Ericsson to use its technological expertise and extensive operator feedback to developing solutions that meet these requirements.

Ulf Ewaldsson, vice president of Product Management for GSM Radio Access Networks at Ericsson, says: "Technical evolution means we're constantly pushing the boundaries of the capabilities of GSM technology and we're still far from reaching its capacity limit. Ericsson continues to invest heavily in GSM to help operators make the most of existing infrastructure.

"We are ready to share knowledge about how to maximize the potential of GSM and build high-capacity networks that allow operators to capture and benefit from anticipated traffic growth."

In the 21 high-growth markets for GSM that are home to 50 percent of subscribers, the number of users is expected to rise by almost 120 percent by 2009.

Boosting minutes of use
Beside the constant influx of new GSM users – from new-growth markets that previously lacked GSM and from untapped segments in developed markets – ¬ Ewaldsson points out that many markets hold an unrealized potential to boost voice traffic in terms of minutes of use (MoU).

"The global average voice traffic is currently around 200 MoU per month, with Europe as low as under 150 MoU," Ewaldsson says. "We're seeing growth potential worldwide of 50 percent in just two years, based on recent growth in the US and some South-East Asian countries, where new price models and sharp competition have seen average voice traffic soar to above 600 MoU.

"Operators that have reached such traffic figures are very profitable, which proves that network expansion is a rewarding strategy, given that the right equipment is used and that network expansion is undertaken in an optimal way."

Since the advent of 3G, network expansion involves issues of migration from GSM to WCDMA, a path usually taken via GPRS and Enhanced Data for Global Evolution (EDGE). Ewaldsson says that investments in GSM – past, present and future – are future-proof. Similarly, there is no conflict between investments in GSM and WCDMA as the two technologies evolve toward one network in line with Ericsson's seamless network concept.

"It's not about choosing between 2G, 2.5G or 3G – it's about getting the most from each," he says. "End users want seamless service and seamless is what GSM is all about. WCDMA makes sure GSM will never die, but continue to grow strongly. Much of the growth in mobile voice will have to be shouldered by GSM, while datacom, on the other hand, is spearheaded by WCDMA with some services copied back into GSM."

Providing secure 3G fallback
EDGE also presents an efficient way to reach complementary 3G coverage in a seamless GSM/WCDMA network, by enabling service continuity between GSM and WCDMA user services. GSM offers basic fallback in services to WCDMA, though Ewaldsson points out that "customers have to understand that in order to provide secure fallback on 3G services, a continued upgrading of the GSM network is necessary."

To offer the latter, Ericsson has developed GSM Capacity Growth, a host of software and hardware solutions that boost capacity in the GSM radio network and help operators lower operational expenditure. Examples include software solutions such as Fractional Load Planning (FLP), new ways to pack information on the Abis as well as hardware solutions for very large site configurations. The objective is to compress more into less radio spectrum in order to use existing frequencies and sites as efficiently as possible, and to optimize transmission. Ewaldsson adds that Ericsson is about to offer an extended service and training program, involving local experts visiting operator premises to help them get the maximum out of their radio sites.

Not only does GSM/EDGE offer fallback coverage for WCDMA technology, but WCDMA gives fallback to GSM, offering cost-effective voice transmission and efficient use of radio spectrum in the process. Ericsson's seamless network concept supports the growth of current services as well as the creation and growth of high-speed data services.

The seamless network concept offers a range of benefits that together optimize the investment – from node reuse and a single, combined radio resource (with subsequent spectrum efficiency gains), to shared transmission, site sharing and end-user service transparency.

GSM – or 2G – is anything but past-generation.