Tag Archives: LTE

An Independent Review of SAE (System Architecture Evolution, aka 4G Core or Evolved Packet System (EPS)): A view on the emerging core network

This article follows on from a previous article that reviewed LTE (Long Term Evolution, also know as 4G).  Several people asked why I had not included a fuller discussion on the 4G core in that article.  It is because LTE is an access technology; my focus of the article was on the access where there […]

An Independent Review of LTE (Long Term Evolution, aka 4G): Cutting through the marketing hype

LTE (Long Term Evolution, also known as 4G) is entering the hype-cycle, and being rapidly pushed up to the ‘peak of inflated expectations’, just like IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem), PTT (Push To Talk), FMC (Fixed Mobile Convergence), and far too many other technologies to name here.  So to cut through the hype and hopefully present […]

Understanding Where to Focus: Its all About the Operator’s Financials in Setting the Priorities

Reviewing the financial reports of many mobile operators shows a similar story in how their costs breakdown.  There’s roughly an 80:20 split between operational (80%) and capital (20%) expenditure.  Capital expenditures cover the amortized investment in the licenses and building the network infrastructure.  The bulk of a mobile operator’s costs are operational expenditures, hence the […]

Summary of “Where’s the Mobile Industry Going?” Panel at the Sigma System’s User Conference

Sigma Systems’ first User Conference (June 4th-6th, Barton Creek Resort), explored the next generation of consumer and business oriented services, including insight and discussion around emerging trends and technology developments in the following areas:  targeted advertising, evolution of commercial VoIP & data services, global deployments in mobile broadband services, evolution to on-demand services, converged applications […]

The Mobile Broadband Explosion: Mobile Broadband finally reaches the Tipping Point

A mobile broadband Tipping Point has been reached: HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) is ‘good enough’ for customers and prices have fallen by a factor of 16 in less than two years.  Three UK (H3G UK) now offers mobile broadband prepay, 10 GBP ($20) buys up to either 1GB or 1 month of access, and […]

Upcoming Events, Voice Peering Forum and Sigma Systems User Conference

As requested by reader feedback, I’m providing some foresight on up-coming conferences I’m attending, rather than just reviewing conferences I’ve attended.  For June I’ll be running panel sessions at Sigma Systems‘s first user conference and at the Voice Peering Forum. Sigma Systems‘s first user conference (June 4th-6th, Barton Creek Resort, registration is free), will explore […]

An Industry at the Crossroads: Mobile World Congress 2008 Summary

Overall My impression of MWC (Mobile World Congress, nee 3GSM) is it was quieter than last year, less hype and less people; however, the organizers claim attendance was up 3000, perhaps they were all the pick-pockets?  I think the industry is at a crossroad, in my discussions with operators internet access is the product that’s […]