Mobile Communications Networks - first report of two, June 2006 - PTS-ER-2006:21
30/06/2006
A broad spectrum of services is currently relayed in mobile communications networks, from pure telephony services to advanced multimedia and Internet services. It is expected that over the next few years there will be an acceleration in the development of increasingly advanced services demanding high capacity that are offered over the mobile communications networks.
It is important to emphasise that mobility for the services provided varies between the various networks. In some networks users can move with complete freedom with their terminals. In others, the possibilities of mobility are more limited. Generally one can differentiate between systems with full mobility, that is the traditional mobile telephony systems, and systems with limited mobility, i.e., the systems for wireless broadband.
Traditional mobile telephony systems were originally developed with the main focus on relaying voice to mobile subscribers. The analogue NMT 450 system, which has been in operation since 1981, was Sweden’s first mobile telephony system. When GSM was launched in the early 1990s, many mobile subscribers went over to this digital system. The GSM standard, which was from the beginning produced for voice traffic, has been upgraded with first GPRS and now EDGE, to improve support for data traffic and also to enhance capacity and performance within the networks and for the end-user.
In December 2000, PTS granted four UMTS licences. The licence conditions meant, among other things, that the licence holders were to ensure that at least 8 860 000 people in Sweden would have UMTS coverage before 31 December 2003. None of the operators have to date satisfied the coverage requirement. In May 2006, the operators reported to PTS the following population coverage as a per cent of 8 860 000 people: 94 per cent (Hi3G); 93 per cent (SULAB, i.e., Tele2 and TeliaSonera); and 94 per cent (Telenor, formerly Vodafone). The licence holders have, from time to time, requested that PTS should amend the licence conditions as regards both the rate of rollout and coverage requirement. As a result of the conditions expiring on 30 June 2006, PTS produced new conditions in April 2006. In the new conditions, the definition of coverage has been changed from referring to ‘typical’ to ‘actual’ circumstances, at the same time as the operators are given an opportunity to make use of new technical solutions that do not adversely effect the consumer. PTS has made the assessment that this will make the conditions sustainable across time and provide operators with an opportunity of adapting their networks on the basis of technical developments.
In March 2005, PTS allocated a national licence to provide communications services with digital technology in the 450 MHz band to Nordisk Mobiltelefon, which had undertaken to roll out a network based on the CDMA2000 standard. This allocation has been appealed against and will be considered by the Supreme Administrative Court. CDMA2000 is a well-established 3G standard and the equipment can offer services comparable with the level of current UMTS services.
Communications networks for wireless data communications have been established in parallel with the development of mobile telephony systems. Starting with networks for fixed wireless retail access, systems have been developed that can efficiently transmit large quantities of data demanding high capacity. Technology development is now moving towards these fixed systems for wireless connection becoming nomadic, so that it is possible to connect at different places with portable terminals. Within the mobile telephony sector, development is moving towards mobile telephony systems being able to provide increasingly greater bandwidth, which means that future upgrades will also be able to offer connections at home with the opportunity for consumers to obtain broadband connections.
This means that the traditional mobile telephony systems and the wireless broadband systems will probably in the future be able to offer the end-user similar services. Considering this development, PTS is working towards the goal that future licences should, to the greatest extent possible, be technology and service neutral. In this way the operators can themselves decide what technology and what services best meet prevailing market demands.