Living in a 4G World the Most Pressing Issues Facing LTE Operators Today

LTE ASIA • LTE AFRICA • LTE NORTH AMERICA | SEPT-NOV 2014

Featuring: Fifth Generation Now ofﬁ cially part of the industry discourse, what does 5G actually mean? Name your price How LTE pricing strategies are evolving as markets mature. Tomorrow the World Phone Despite the global embrace of LTE, a truly global device remains to be seen. Living in a 4G world The most pressing issues facing LTE operators today

OFC_LTEOutlook_Sept14.indd 1 18/08/2014 17:14

LTE Asia 2014, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore 23-25 September 2014 LTE Africa 2014, CTICC, Capetown 11-13 November 2014 LTE North America 2014, InterContinental Hotel, Dallas 18-20 November 2014 |Contents

FRONT LTE FEATURES Editorial ...... 02 Number 5 is alive ...... 16 EDITORIAL At this year’s Mobile World Congress, 5G was Editorial Director being openly discussed as part of the conference Scott Bicheno INTERVIEWS programme, putting it squarely on the agenda. Contributor Fotis Karonis, CTO, EE ...... 04 Mike Hibberd MCI looks at the access and core technologies A former CIO of Athens Airport, Fotis Karonis Contributor that may shape the industry of tomorrow. James Middleton shoulders both CTO and CIO responsibilities at UK operator EE. It was Karonis who oversaw EE’s Editorial enquiries: march-stealing launch of LTE at 1800MHz and who Eyes on the price ...... 22 Mobile Communications International Editorial LTE pricing is changing fast as the market matures Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, is responsible for the network that now accounts London W1T 3JH, UK for more than 80 per cent of UK LTE subscriptions amid rapid uptake. But while some operators are Tel: +44 20 7017 5495 looking to new charging models that draw on the Email: [email protected] Jonathan Olsson, ...... 12 sophistication LTE enables, others are still duking WORLDWIDE MEDIA SOLUTIONS Security Specialist, Ericsson it out with least-cost options. Sales Manager The Swedish vendor is adding its voice to the Gary Brown Email: [email protected] industry discussion on network security. Jonathan Long term harmony ...... 28 All advertising enquiries to: Olsson, responsible for security at the Ericsson Being able to make a single device that will MCI Media Solutions, CTO ofﬁ ce, talks to MCI about the evolution of the connect to LTE anywhere in the world is such an 37-41 Mortimer Street London W1T 3JH, UK security landscape, how this is affected by the obviously good idea that you would expect all Tel: +44 20 7017 5218 move to LTE and why the ﬁ rm is backing 3GPP’s stakeholders to work together in order to make it Fax: +44 20 7017 5647 Email: [email protected] SECAM security assurance standards. happen, wouldn’t you?

PRODUCTION Design & Production Manager Joanne Lowe 04 12 Email: [email protected]

HEAD OF MARKETING Sophie Egan Email: [email protected]

MARKETING EXECUTIVE Nicole Ramson Email: [email protected]

PUBLISHER Tim Banham Email: [email protected]

© 2014 LTE Outlook While every care has been taken to ensure that the 28 data in this publication are accurate, the publisher cannot accept and hereby disclaims any liability to any party to loss or damage caused by errors or omissions resulting from negligence, accident or any other cause. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system or transmitted in any form electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.

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Telecoms.com | LTE Outlook 2014 01

01_LTEOutlook14.indd 1 15/08/2014 11:52 Editorial | LTE advances

With LTE fast becoming a mass market technology, we’re already asking “what next?” Some countries are already living the answer to that question and providing a fascinating insight into what a world of fast, reliable and ubiquitous mobile data will look like.

t is both the blessing the curse of the gets read and have evolved a Pavlovian LG U+ has launched an extensive suite technology industry that we’re always dependence on making that number as large of services designed to exploit the capacity looking forward to the next big in- as possible. We have found that the newer its shiny, new LTE network provides. These novation to drive everything along. No the news, the higher the read-count and include steaming HD TV services that even sooner have we got the ball rolling on hence the greater the reward. So it’s actually allow you two watch four streams at once on oneI new technology than we’re looking for- your fault, dear reader. the same screen, in case your attention span ward to the next, and this is especially true Having established culpability, we can is exceptionally short, even by tech industry of mobile networks. now move onto talking freely about LTE- standards and 3D navigation that can even LTE has been arguably the defining buz- Advanced, or LTE-A, or LTE Cat 6, or 3GPP utilise realtime data and images from the zword of the mobile industry in recent years release 10, or 4.5G, or, as most people outside cameras most Koreans have installed on and now we’re finally beginning to live the the industry would probably say, even faster their cards these days. dream. From its Scandinavian first faltering mobile data. Of course, the mere mention of LTE-A steps in late 2009, the commercial roll-out of On a recent trip to South Korea I was able renders it instantly old-news. The elephant LTE networks soon gathered pace in Western to live the dream. On an LG G3 using the LG in the room during any discussion on mobile Europe, North America and East Asia and the U+ network, I managed to get close to 100 networks now is 5G, despite the fact that we term ‘WiMAX’ was relegated to a whisper. mbps while sitting in a Seoul traffic jam, don’t even know what it is yet. This is good By 2014 LTE has been around in some which is around ten times the download news for us industry commentators because commercial form for over four years, making speed I can typically expect from my UK where there is uncertainty, there’s plenty for it decidedly antiquated in the view of the fixed broadband. LG U+ has skipped straight us to write about and we’ve got a built-in technology industry, which has an atten- to LTE from its legacy CDMA network, not excuse to keep it nice and speculative. tion span so short it’s almost surprising any even pausing at 3G on the way. In other But regardless of what form 5G ends up tak- projects ever get seen through to conclusion. words it’s all-in on LTE and, as well as leading and which technologies contribute to it, it’s “What’s next?” we ask a nanosecond after ing the way in mobile download speeds, is purpose will essentially be very simple: to al- a new technology is brought to life. Not to also being very innovative if looking for ways low more data to be consumed by more people worry – the 3GPP had defined LTE-Advanced to exploit all this lovely capacity. more quickly. And clever though the technology by 2011. The mobile industry famously paid that enables that will be, for end-users the I have to hold my hand up here – us tech obscene amounts of money for 3G licenses really clever stuff will be what the broader tech hacks have a lot to answer for regarding a decade or so ago, then struggled to find industry finds to do with this extra resource. the industry’s impatience. The problem lies ways of generating returns on that invest- The mobile utopia is to have 100% in the word ‘news’, which is literally the ment. Plenty of things were tried but few guaranteed connectivity 100% of the time. plural of ‘new’. When you read the news that tempted consumers, or business for Once end-users have total confidence of this you’re looking for new stuff and it’s our job that matter, to put their hands into their the flood gates will really open and other to deliver it. We know this because since the pockets, so it’s hard to view those spec- buzzwords such as ‘cloud’, ‘IoT’ and ‘big invention of the Internet we can track, in trum auctions as a success, unless you’re a data’ will take on real meaning to the mass real time, how many times a piece of news finance minister. market. I can’t wait.

02 Telecoms.com | LTE Outlook 2014

02_LTEOutlook_Sept14.indd 2 15/08/2014 12:01 Untitled-3 1 02/06/2014 09:39 Interview | Evolution everywhere

The CTO and CIO of UK LTE pioneer EE talks to MCI about his experiences of launching the technology, how it has given EE greater leverage in the wider ecosystem, and why CTO and CIO functions belong together.

he significance of EE’s march- took less than eleven months to prepare the down the early stages of the LTE rollout, and stealing launch of LTE in the UK launch, according to CTO Fotis Karonis. “To now we’re more experienced in the process was perhaps most effectively land this project safely, at such a speed, was a and aligning all the teams involved, so we’re demonstrated by the responses huge technical challenge,” he says. increasing the number of sites we switch on of competitor operators Vodafone The aeronautical analogy may not be ar- each month. We now have a first time success Tand O2 to Ofcom’s decision to authorise the britarily deployed; Karonis was, in a previous rate of 90 – 95 per cent,” he says. repurposing of a portion of EE’s 1800MHz incarnation, director of information tech- The difficulties inherent in such a task spectrum for 4G. Vodafone flew off the handle, nology and telecommunications for Athens reflect the size of breadth and number of or- describing Ofcom’s decision as “bizarre” and International Airport. Immediately before ganisations on which EE depends for the roll- accusing it of a “careless disregard for the joining EE he was CIO at Romanian incum- out of its network. RAN suppliers including best interests of consumers, business and the bent Romtelcom—and he shoulders both CTO NSN and Huawei (the latter a new partner for wider economy”. O2 was more circumspect, and CIO responsibilites in his current post. LTE, he says), core network providers—NSN prefering “hugely disappointed” as a stance. Indeed, the hybrid nature of the role itself is again, and Ericsson—IT companies includ- Both companies lamented the exclusion of as much a reflection of the industry’s shifting ing Amdocs, T-Systems and IBM and BT and their own customers from the first wave sands as the accelerated LTE deployment that Virgin Media on the transmission side make of LTE services, implicit in which was the Karonis has overseen. for “an enormous, very complex ecosystem,” knowledge that those who wanted 4G badly That deployment retains its momentum, he he says. “Managing each of these suppliers enough would churn to get it. says. By the end of this year outdoor popula- simultaneously, making sure they worked EE launched its LTE service in Octo- tion coverage should be at 90 per cent, with together despite being competitors and en- ber 2012, followed by O2 and Vodafone indoor coverage nudging 60 per cent he says. suring that the scheduling did not falter was in August the following year, thanks to The firm recently announced redoubled ef- a massive engineering exercise. Making these Ofcom’s placatory decision to accelerate the forts to provide solid coverage links along key companies work as a team was my critical 800MHz licensing process. Today UK LTE transport arteries, including rail networks success factor.” numbers show just justified EE’s competi- and the market’s most important motorways. Pressed for particular challenges Karonis tors were in their concerns. Informa’s WCIS In May its rate of LTE customer sign-up identifies backhaul, a bottleneck headache Plus records EE’s LTE user base at the close overtook that for 3G services. History tells us familiar to mobile operator CTOs the world of March this year as 2.89 million, com- that no lead in the industry is unassailable, over. “We have really pushed BT and Virgin pared to O2 with 1,000,000 and Vodafone of course, but right now EE looks difficult to Media to invest in rural transmission,” he with 471,901. Three, characteristically beat in the UK LTE sector. says. Maybe we don’t always have a satisfac- disruptive in its assertion that 4G was not Karonis reveals that EE has made signifi- tory answer [for every rural customer] but materially better than its HSPA+ network, cant progress on its own performance metrics without the energy that we put in it wouldn’t had less than 2,000. as deployment has expanded. Among the be there at all.” The UK’s largest operator, formed in 2010 most important of these, he says, is first-time Furthermore, he says, he was responsible by the amalgamation of Orange and T-Mobile, success with new site deployment. “In the for making sure that the firm’s retail presence had more than 80 per cent of the UK LTE first stages of the rollout, first time success was in a position to transmute the achieve- market in Q1 this year. Uptake has contin- with site build—getting every aspect right, ments of the engineering and deployment ued to be strong, with the firm claiming 3.6 and showing great performance on both 4G teams into customer sales. At a time when million at mid-May this year. Speed has been and 3G—was close to 60 per cent,” he says. online commerce seems truly pervasive, the the hallmark of the firm’s LTE deployment; it “The teams worked hard to not let that slow retail store might seem like a touchpoint

04 Telecoms.com | LTE Outlook 2014

04-06_LTEOutlook_Sept14.indd 4 15/08/2014 12:02 | Interview

Until we can ensure the same customer experience on VoLTE as on 3G—where we have a dropped call rate of around 0.6%—we won’t introduce this new capability

of yesteryear. But new technology launches For all the focus on the movement of data Career History require that potential customers can get their that LTE has generated, it is noteworthy that hands on the product, thus promoting the Karonis should position voice quality as the Fotis is the chief technology officer for EE, retail store to premier status in the operator’s “main strength of our brand”. It has, he says, responsible for the IT and network development customer acquisition strategies. been central to key corporate account wins strategy and implementation. Fotis has overseen “If you don’t have the right retail stores you since the creation of the EE brand. VoLTE is IT since Everything Everywhere was formed in can’t sell the product,” Karonis says. “and we put attractive to operators because of the benefits a lot of focus into making sure we had the right that it affords them rather than their users, 2010 with the merger of Orange and T-Mobile. transmission to the retail store. Every store had he suggests, adding: “We won’t launch some- Prior to his role at EE, he held the role of chief to have very good internal coverage, so custom- thing just because it is new, if it results in a information officer for Romtelecom. Prior to ers could actually see 4G.” Indeed, asked what he degradation of service.” that, he worked at Athens International Airport, would do differently if he had to run the firm’s In any case the device ecosystem has yet as director of information technology and LTE deployment again from scratch, he says he to address VoLTE en masse, he points out. the telecommunications business unit. In this would have liked to have 20 more stores ready at The natural lag between network and device role, Fotis planned, implemented and ensured the point of commercial launch. availability has been a characteristic of the round-the-clock integrated IT services and Much of EE’s marketing since that launch industry since the days of GSM but Karo- infrastructure to the airport that serves over 16 has focussed on its leadership status in LTE— nis believes that, in pursuing an aggressive million passengers and five million visitors every not just in a consumer-facing sense, relative strategy with LTE, EE has gained the upper year. Prior to this, he worked with Cap Gemini and to its UK competitors, but globally. A year hand in the age-old power struggle between Alcatel in France. after the launch, EE was billing itself in press operator and device vendor. releases as the world’s fastest mobile network, “Previously the rules of the game were for example. But Karonis does not want the defined by the smartphone manufacturer,” firm to pursue pioneer status for its own sake, says Karonis, who takes care to refer to these he says, adding that in some instances it is vendors in geographical rather than nominal better to be a follower than a leader. terms—“the companies from Korea and Cali- Voice over LTE—the focus of a spate of com- fornia,” for example. But now the balance of mercial launch announcements in the first half power has shifted, he says. of 2014—is one example and EE has said that “Now EE is part of the high end group of it will not launch the technology before the operators that can influence the device pro- end of this year. “Until we can ensure the same cess earlier and push the device ecosystem to customer experience on VoLTE as on 3G— deliver,” he says. EE has delivered network ca- where we have a dropped call rate of around pabilities while the device ecosystem is still 0.6%—we won’t introduce this new capability,” testing its chipsets, he says. “What we have Karonis says. “Our circuit-switched fallback achieved with this is to make the delivery for 4G customers is performing extremely well. times of new smartphones faster. One of the main customer benefits is HD Voice/ “We influence what is inside the device, AMR-WB, but we’re able to deliver that same what combinations of spectrum » codec on the 3G network so there’s little im- they support, whether the new applica- mediate benefit to VoLTE.” tion processors and modems are in the same EE Shared Plan

Telecoms.com | LTE Outlook 2014 05

04-06_LTEOutlook_Sept14.indd 5 15/08/2014 12:03 Interview |

There used to be this stereotype that you could do certain things in the office, certain things at home, certain things while mobile. But this is all starting to blur now, thanks to these big industrial steps like LTE. It changes normality.

chipsets or different chipsets,” he precise and excellent planners. Mixing continues. “We can influence the these together gives you the best of both roadmaps of the device builders like worlds, you get fantastic osmosis. These the guys in Korea, the Californians two roles, at least in the mobile indus- and the other guys.” try, are born to be together,” he says. The network is the new differen- Aside from throughput, which tiator, he argues, and the network is is where so much of the attention what gives the operator an ability to devoted to LTE tends to be directed, say that, of two devices that share the technology has other benefits for many characteristics, one is defini- a CTO. Improvements in dropped call tively better than the other. rates, speed of connection, latency are On the network side, much has all great signs for the CTO as doctor been made recently of the enhanced of the network, he says. LTE “behaves influence afforded operators by the ar- much better” than 2G and 3G generally, chitectural shift to Network Functions he says, and has enabled a number of Virtualization (NFV). As a CIO—former new use cases. EE delivers services and current—Karonis is more than to London’s Metropolitan Police that familiar with the architectural model enable on-scene activities that were and even characterises today’s LTE cell hitherto impossible. The firm’s network sites as “like a datacentre; like a blade has been used by broadcasters to cover farm—it’s exactly the same concept.” large events without the need for anyt- But as with VoLTE, EE will not be ing bigger than a handheld package rushing to NFV, he says. “We see this as (EE launched a petabyte LTE tariff late an opporunity and we are having dia- last year, targeting just such use cases). logues with the main vendors,” he says. “The UK is one of the fastest grow- “And if you look at the core, it is a coming markets in the world, in terms of bination of IT and network technology data consumption,” Karonis says. “To- coming together. It makes a lot of sense day 53 per cent of our traffic is video and, as these technologies converge and we’re expecting that to go to 67 per you get great cross fertilization.” cent in the next three years. There used For this reason, he says, the coales- to be this stereotype that you could cence of CIO and CTO functions at net- do certain things in the office, certain work operators will become an increas- things at home, certain things while ingly popular approach. “On the IT side mobile. But this is all starting to blur you get agile software development and now, thanks to these big industrial on the network side you have these very steps like LTE. It changes normality.”

EE store in Cambridge

06 Telecoms.com | LTE Outlook 2014

04-06_LTEOutlook_Sept14.indd 6 15/08/2014 12:04 Untitled-2 1 04/06/2014 21:30

VENDOR VIEW

SPONSORED AND WRITTEN BY

LTE: Making policy count Mallik Tatipamula, Vice President for Service Provider Solutions at F5 Networks, argues that the importance of policy to the future of LTE service and charging developments cannot be overstated.

n its latest financial statement, UK operator EE, which was the first Context-aware computing (CAC) centres on the concept Iplayer in the UK market to launch of using information about an end user to improve the quality LTE, highlighted two developments that of interaction with that end user provide a useful snapshot of mobile operators’ evolution in 2014. First EE noted that, during May this year, its LTE subscriber acquisition overtook its 3G subscriber acquisition such that LTE now accounts for the majority of the operator’s new additions. Second it revealed that data usage among its LTE customers had grown by 66 per cent in the past year. LTE is now a mature technology in a wide range of markets but the reality for many operators is that, while it is proving to be technically robust, serious challenges to its effective monetisation still remain. To stay with the theme of fi- tinue to be optimised, while at the same protocol. Diameter might be described nancial results a little longer, there seem time delivering quality of experience for as the blood vessels of the network, con- to be few accompanying CEO statements the subscriber that will drive increased necting all of the essential elements so that do not bemoan the triple-threat of revenue and retention by moving into new that operators can access, process and regulatory pressure on pricing, intense services and business models. exploit the wealth of real-time network competition and macro-economic Central to the achievement of both information at their disposal. instability. of these goals is a real-time, granular Diamater links the policy and charg- An early effect of market maturity, and understanding of network activity—a true ing rules function (PCRF) to the policy these three oft-cited pressures, has been understanding of context. Operators need enforcement function (PCEF), and to the erosion of the price premium that was to know what their customers are trying home subscriber service (HSS) database, associated with LTE at launch, hitting to do; how successful they are being; and for example, which will be essential to LTE revenues hard. Meanwhile there are where and when different levels of demand the evolution of roaming service and also pressures on the cost side. LTE was are affecting the network. And they need pricing models. It also interfaces with SIP certainly intended to improve opera- to connect all of this information to their and IMS elements in the core, provid- tors’ cost of transmission but the huge policy engines. ing contextual information that can by demand for access among consumers has Contextual awareness of their networks exploited by the PCRF in relation to the arguably neutralised this benefi t. will allow operators to establish and VoLTE launches that have acclerated so So with price competition diffi cult to maintain top level network performance much in the past month. sustain, operators are now looking to quality while expanding their service and product While we have heard much discussion of experience as a differentiator, to move into offerings in a customizable way, such that of the “signalling burden” that comes with new service and business models. they can match specifi c offers to specifi c LTE, we believe that it should be seen in Thus two key challenges have emerged: customer segments. terms of the opportunity it presents to Operators need to improve the effi iciency The good news is that operators have operators to take great leaps of sophisti- with which they manage their capacity the tools to do this, and among the most cation in the choices that they offer their so that the cost of transport can con- important is the Diameter signalling customers.

00_vendorview_F5.indd 10 11/08/2014 16:54

vendor view

Today LTE access networks still broadly content to end users. It might be that the chance to insert a new premium perfor- operate on a best-effort basis. A few leading sponsors are the content owners, or simply mance at the top of the menu. This can operators aside, most players still try to move that they want to make the content free so also be extended to overseas services as all of the traffic on their LTE networks as best users will see their advertising message. more LTE roaming services come on line. they can, wherever it is, whatever it is and to whomever it is going. Such an approach • Turbo-boost: Simply throttling users LTE is about so much more than im- creates obstacles to both customer quality of back to GPRS-level speeds when they provements in capacity and throughput. experience and cost of service provision. have hit their maximum data allowance Advances in context aware technolo- Instead operators need to harness the might enable the operator to ensure gies mean that operators can add real benefits of their context awareness so that they are not providing something that brains to the brawn of LTE’s heavy-lifting they can deliver differentiated services hasn’t been paid for. But it represents capabilities. By using context aware- that will enhance their financial per- a poor customer experience. Instead ness in this way operators can deliver formance. The following are just some customers can be given the opportunity services that make sense to and satisfy examples of what application, subscriber to buy service enhancements that are the end user, maximise the efficiency of awareness can enable: contextually and temporally defined. their network and offer a true differentiator to ‘race-to-the-bottom’ price wars • Sponsored data: There is evidence that • Tiered services: Prices may be com- that represent such a threat to their LTE third parties are prepared to pay to deliver ing down but that offers the operator a invesmtents. n

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00_vendorview_F5.indd 11 11/08/2014 16:55 Executive Interview | Secure in the Knowledge

Jonathan Olsson, responsible for security technology at the Ericsson CTO office, talks to MCI about the evolution of the security landscape, how this is affected by the move to LTE and why the firm is urging industry players to sign up to 3GPP’s SECAM security assurance standards.

n February this year Swedish network intersection of the security and telecom The move to LTE changes the game for equipment and services vendor Ericsson industries. While Olsson’s observation that mobile operators, however. Attackers have a published a white paper—Guiding prin- emphasis has shifted from attacks that were far wider and more comprehensive under- ciples for security in a networked soci- often recreational in nature to well organised standing of IP than they do ATM and TDM ety—that looked, from the outside, like undertakings motivated by financial gain networks, he says. And the mobile industry theI firm’s first significant public statement on seems reasonable enough, there is still a need only look to the enterprise and IT com- network security. While other vendors, NSN sense within the industry that the threat is munities to get some idea of what it might and Alcatel-Lucent in particular, have made at times inflated by some organisations that have to face. security prominent in their discourse for might have security solutions to sell. With this in mind it has tended to be the some time, Ericsson has tended more towards “Scaremongering is one of the worst larger operators, which also have established circumspection. enemies we have,” says Olsson. “We need to fixed networks and enterprise service arms, The white paper set the scene for a greater be realistic about what the threats are in that have led the field in network security, visibility of security in Ericsson’s messaging the mobile network environment and create Olsson says. Nonetheless, he says, Ericsson during Mobile World Congress, with the firm awareness of how those threats are evolving. has encountered an increased security aware- now clearly keen to join the wider discussion. We have to make sure we’re keeping pace ness and interest from MNOs, in general, to And the first notion that Jonathan Olsson, with the development of the threats so we can understand the security implications of the security specialist, Ericsson group function provide the solutions that are needed.” LTE architecture in order to implement ap- technology, wants to dismiss is the sugges- Approaches to risk will vary. If an attack propriate security strategies. tion that the firm’s historically low profile in has a very high probability but a low likely LTE is not the only high profile technol- the space does not reflect a lack of activity, impact then operators will tend to invest less ogy shift ongoing in the industry at the mo- hightlighting its long-time work in security in mitigating it than they would for a threat ment, nor the only one that could have far standardization. “We consider security crucial that has moderate probability and a high reaching implications for network security. to instill trust in networks for individuals, impact. What is important is that a thorough Olsson highlights virtualization of core businesses, and society. Our view is security risk assessment is carried out, Olsson says; node functionality as one example. “Today needs to be integrated in all aspects, from an area in which Ericsson is clearly looking we build core nodes knowing exactly what secure product development practices and to position itself as a service provider. “Some- hardware it will be running on, knowing creating network architecture to designing times it helps to have an external party come that we have hardware-rooted security and operational processes and managing opera- in, look at your network and your process to that we can optimise the software for that tions,” he says. identify which assets that are most at risk or environment,” he says. “In the last couple of years we have seen most valuable,” he says. “When you start virtualizing network a much bigger interest from operators in As is the case with most elements of their functions you don’t know what hardware the security area,” Olsson says. “The threat business, different operators are at different you’re running on, or what kind of capacity landscape is developing at a really rapid pace stages in their approaches to security. “Some has been allocated to the virtual machine, and is being discussed at higher levels. It’s operators have been very security conscious so you need to create awareness of that getting attention from CEOs and CTOs. We for a long time and have been at the forefront fact in the application. It has to take into think it is great that this topic is now high on of this drive for security in the networks,” consideration the dynamic or elastic envi- the industry agenda.” Olsson says. “Whereas others are just now ronment that it might be working in—and Just how that threat landscape is de- starting to understand the business relevance the security in the execution environment, veloping is a source of much debate at the of security.” as well.”

12 Telecoms.com | LTE Outlook 2014

12-13_LTEOutlook_Sept14.indd 12 15/08/2014 12:21 | Executive Interview

There really isn’t an industry standard that enables vendors to show some sort of complicance with these basic security requirements from a development point of view. That’s one of the things that we are aiming at with SECAM

Moreover concerns remain about applica- required to provide security certification on operators are struggling to ensure that all tions running in datacentres serving many a per-product basis to a situation in which, key parties are pulling in the same direction tenants, he says. “One of the most important “accreditors will verify a 3GPP manufactur- internally, never mind participating in the aspects of the cloud environment is the er’s overall capability to produce products creation of a coherent, industry-wide effort. segmentation, isolation, containment, and that meet a given set of security require- Such programmes can be unwieldy purely compartmentilization of different tenants,” he ments,” Ericsson has said. by dint of their size and individuals and or- says. “They need to be separated in such a way There are benefits to be derived for both ganisations that represent threats to network that, if one tenant is attacked or experiences customer and supplier, Olsson argues. security tend to be nothing if not nimble. some sort of outage, the other tenants running SECAM would enable operators to under- “One of the real challenges is that security is in that cloud are not affected. Nor should a stand different levels of security inherent in asymmetric in nature,” Olsson says. “As an at- tenant be able to break free from their contain- products form different vendors—“so they tacker I just need to know of one vulnerability ment to interfere with other tenants.” can compare apples with apples”—while but as a defender I need to try and protect As the telecoms industry inches towards giving those vendors an established set of everything. Attackers are becoming more in- virtualization there is intense debate about requirements that they must meet. “We hope novative and that means we have to be more the need for telco-grade and standards-based it’s going to be the standard for every vendor innovative in the the type of defences that we equipment. And there are similarly-themed in the telecom space,” Olsson says, although implement,” he says. debates happening in security circles, Olsson he stops short of suggesting that it might And revealing the kind of grudging admira- says. In particular Ericsson is keen to see the become a requirement. tion that foes on either side of the battle line industry coalesce around a 3GPP initiative The Ericsson perspective on the alternative can sometimes have for one another, he adds: called Security Assurance Methodology (SE- reflects an organisation that has long held “It’s the innovation from both sides that CAM); a set of standards that aims to establish standards close to its heart. In its February keeps it so interesting.” security requirements not just for products white paper, the firm wrote: “There is a real but for product development processes. risk that uncoordinated global efforts in this Olsson explains: “One of the challenges in area will lead to a diverging set of security Career history the industry today is being able to provide requirements, which would jeopardize not Jonathan Olsson is part of the Ericsson CTO office, assurance that your products meet a certain only interoperability but make security that Group Function Technology, where he drives secu- level of security quality. It’s one thing to much more complex to guarantee. Global rity technology and portfolio strategy. Previously say that you have implemented one or other standards and best practices are fundamen- he was Product Manager at Ericsson Product Area security functions but how do you know if tal to the efficient handling of threats—es- Radio responsible for the radio product security you have implemented them correctly and pecially those that originate across national strategy. ensured they are sufficient to mitigate risks? borders—as well as to building economies of Jonathan began his career at Ericsson “There really isn’t an industry standard scale, avoiding fragmentation and ensuring Research, where he worked with multi-service that enables vendors to show some sort of interoperability.” equal access technologies and mobile backhaul complicance with these basic security re- Mobile network security is a complex tech- standardization in the Metro Ethernet Forum. He quirements from a development point of view. nical problem but it may prove to be the case has over ten years’ of experience with network That’s one of the things that we are aiming at that mobilising and marshalling the many security, transport technologies and mobile with SECAM,” he says. stakeholders required to produce the best re- backhaul networks. Jonathan holds a Masters in One key change that the initiative could sponse of which the industry is capable will Computer Science from Uppsala University. usher in is a shift from vendors being prove a sterner task. Olsson hints that some

Telecoms.com | LTE Outlook 2014 13

12-13_LTEOutlook_Sept14.indd 13 15/08/2014 12:22 cover story handsets

Monetising Customer Insights: the importance of big data analytics in 4G LTE networks

ith the expansion of 4G LTE net- to convert data into meaningful, useful and tion on how much a given demographic may be works and increasing customer de- relevant information. Only information that is willing to pay for services, are all vital informa- W mand for the quality and diversifica- relevant can be exploited and monetised. tion points that offer considerable value when tion of digital services, operators face a highly developing marketing campaigns and competi- competitive environment. And yet, contained Targeted Marketing Campaigns tively priced products. within their networks, operators have a source deliver opportunities to upsell and Customer insights help operators to optimise of information at hand, which may enhance cross-sell such marketing campaigns and ensure they are their ability to compete and strengthen their Big data derived from LTE networks reveals directed to the most appropriate recipients. Tar- position in the face of persistent challenges. a wide range of information about customer geted marketing based on the analysis of big data This source of information is often referred to behavior and preferences. Such insights can be opens up opportunities to upsell and cross-sell to as ‘Big Data’. monetised through various means. Information different profiles and demographics within which Big data - raw information generated by sys- that is available can include details about the the need for a certain product has already been tems and processes in operator networks - reveals devices and networks used by consumers, as identified. As such, the intelligent use of such insights on network performance and customer well as the volumes of data they consume. In data opens up new revenue streams and can guide behavior. Analysis of such data holds out the addition, it can reveal which OTT services and product development and launch. tantalising possibility of making a significant applications they prefer, the time and place that Finally, by offering more personal and targeted and positive contribution to several important marketing, a provider not only increases the quality business objectives, such as the creation of new of a customer’s experience but also delivers its revenue streams, improvement of customer expe- Targeted marketing products to areas where they will be most valued. rience, and boosting subscriber retention. based on the analysis of This, in turn, can lead to increased ARPU. In particular, the all-IP 4G and LTE networks will generate significant volumes of new data big data opens up Offering personalised customer that at present represent an untapped resource. opportunities to upsell experiences Operators must take steps to ensure they exploit In addition, analysis of Big Data derived from LTE these resources and leverage this information to and cross-sell to network offers an opportunity to identify and man- help address these opportunities. different profiles and age competition – when, for example, comparable Recent statistics reveal that 70 percent of tele- services begin to encroach upon a customer-base, communications companies are committing them- demographics within and before they become a significant threat. selves to big data analytics strategies, but only which the need for a Repeated instances of customers accessing five percent of marketers within those companies services at the same times, in the same places or are able to access and exploit this information. certain product has through the same devices, will offer information Those operators who continue to ignore the op- already been identified on when, where and what provides the most portunities buried within big data generated from satisfying experience. their networks do so at their own peril. they most often use services or even indicate Offering a personal, efficient and satisfying However, the generation of this data is mean- that certain services appeal to specific demo- customer experience differentiates a company ingless at source. Real-time data collected by graphics within the subscriber base. from competitive businesses and, in an increas- operators is unstructured when it is produced Further, by offering an overview of the average ingly challenging market, it can give an operator and it gains significance only through analysis customer accessing its services, an operator is the edge over rivals. Analysing big data can show and correlation. Sophisticated tools are needed better enabled to establish where demand exists how an operator can enhance its customer expe- to accomplish this task. Analysis introduces and to create accurate subscriber profiles. Age, rience through an optimised network, tuned to structure, which, in turn, enables operators gender, location, frequency of use and informa- activity hotspots and areas with differing demand.

16-17_MCI184_polystar.indd 16 11/08/2014 17:02 An open system approach By using customer data direct impact on customer loyalty and churn to data analytics rate, as well as the number of calls to customer support. Minimising their impact and effects not Polystar takes an open system approach to data generated by LTE only saves operating costs, but also enhances analytics. Once data has been captured and cor- networks, big data customer satisfaction. related, it can be stored in databases for retrieval analytics is able to offer This provides one of the unique advantages and analysis. These open databases are accessible of real-time monitoring and analytics. The pos- to all groups and teams within the operator so strategies for managing itive effect of proactive strategies on customer that information that has been analysed is not customer experience that experience has the greatest impact when they limited to a single area of operations, but can be are applied to the factors that have the greatest accessed and spread throughout the company. can reduce operating significance for customer retention. Operators Through its Customer Insight Solution, Polystar costs and open up new need to identify which of these factors matter for is able to derive meaning from big data and enable them and then leverage big data from their LTE different users within an operator’s organisation to streams of revenue networks to determine optimum solutions for receive the data that is relevant and useful to them. work and further increases efficiency, by optimising retaining their customers. To ensure that the right data reaches the right the speed with which a company can respond to a By using customer data generated by LTE people, the insights derived from big data can given situation and make proactive changes to offers, networks to create insight-based solutions for also be delivered to help measure adherence to network provisioning and strategy. operators, big data analytics is able to offer strat- identified KPIs. This streamlining of informa- In order to consider effective ways of egies for managing customer experience that can tion flow results in significant enhancements to improving customer satisfaction, it is vital to not only reduce operating costs but can also open operational efficiency. identify and alert operators about incidents up new streams of revenue. Real-time network and customer before they have affected a critical number of For those companies that rise to the chal- insights subscribers. Issues such as the deterioration lenge of developing strategies to monetise big When surveyed, customers have responded that the of coverage due to a surge in activity in a data derived from LTE networks and use it to strongest factors influencing their decision to change particular area can be dealt with proactively improve customer experience, Polystar is able networks included poor coverage, slow speeds and before significant disruption can occur. These to deliver tailored analytics that will transform dropped calls. Performed in real-time, Big Data elements, all of which can be monitored and unstructured data into meaningful and intelli- analytics enables a holistic view across an entire net- measured through Polystar’s systems, have a gent information. n

Polystar is the premier supplier of Customer Experience Management, Network Monitoring and Test Solutions to leading telecom operators, communication service providers and network equipment manufacturers around the globe. Polystar’s innovative product portfolio supports the complete lifecycle of new services and technologies—from design, pre-deployment verification and stress-testing, through roll-out, down to network assurance and service management of in- service mobile, fixed, IP or converged networks. Polystar is recognised as one of the fastest-growing companies in Sweden. Since its establishment in Stockholm in 1983, it has experienced a continuous and sustainable growth, and evolved to a global presence, serving its customers in over 50 countries. Inna Ott Director of Marketing, www.polystar.com Polystar

16-17_MCI184_polystar.indd 17 11/08/2014 17:02 5G | Inventing the future

With 4G only just reaching commercial maturity 5G is still very much something that remains to be defined. But in this glimpse of the future MCI looks at the access and core technologies that may shape the industry of tomorrow. By James Middleton

n 1982 a then little-known writer and di- The future, it would seem, is in mobile by 2020, while Japan is also aiming for a 2020 rector, Steven Lisberger, captured public broadband. And while this prediction would launch of the technology. attention with a groundbreaking movie seem elementary, a cynic might say that in the “5G studies are starting to gain real momen- called Tron. The premise of the film was case of the mobile communications industry, tum as we point toward 2020. We appreciate a warning that computers would eventu- invention is the mother of necessity. that 5G will provide significant performance allyI take over our lives and that the best way Roughly every ten years, the industry goes enhancements to support future new applica- to counter this eventuality would be through through a technology step change, where ad tions that will impact both users and industry,” inside knowledge, by understanding the hoc developments can be taken no further said Seizo Onoe, executive vice president and computers so well they would not be able to and a new generation of technology must be CTO at NTT Docomo, commenting on the pilot. dominate humanity. rolled out. The innovation here is driven by Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Fujitsu, NEC, Lisberger had no way of knowing just how the vendor community, responsible for devel- Nokia and Samsung have all been selected portentous his storyline would have become oping, installing, maintaining and upgrading to work on a 5G proof of concept system, some 30 years later. But in a press interview that infrastructure to meet demand. In order using the 15GHz frequency band for the air at the film’s launch, Lisberger referenced a to capitalise on their R&D investment, the interface as well as exploring the potential 1963 quote from the Hungarian scientist who vendors must convince the operators to buy of millimeter wave technology in the 70GHz first developed holography, Dennis Gabor, into the latest generation of equipment. The spectrum band. who said that “the best way to predict the fine line, as we witness the commercial matu- With 5G standards so undefined at present future is to invent it.” rity of LTE, is highlighting the shortcomings there is a considerable focus on access The communications industry is not of previous technologies such as 3G, whilst network technologies mainly as an evolution short of predictions. By the end of this year, making future developments seem too far to what has been seen in LTE and LTE- Informa’s WCIS+ forecasts almost 386 million away to be worth holding out for. With this in Advanced. According to Dr Shahram G Niri, LTE connections around the world. By the mind the vendor community was understand- general manager of the 5GIC (5G Innovation start of 2020, this number will have leapt to ably cautious when MCI approached with Centre) at the University of Surrey in the UK, over 2.3 billion. This means 27 per cent of the questions on the status of 5G development. driving more data through the scarce, finite predicted 8.4 billion mobile connections will But by happy coincidence there was good and expensive radio spectrum is the real be running on 4G technologies by 2020, with reason to prompt the industry heavyweights, challenge. “I therefore believe a new RAN the balance largely on 3G. as mid-May, Japanese carrier NTT Docomo becomes the main agenda for 5G,” he says. In terms of consumption, the Cisco Visual farmed out contracts to several vendors in The 5GIC is one of several academic and Networking Index predicts that monthly order to pilot 5G technologies. vendor activities that have been announced global mobile data traffic will surpass 15 Japan, like South Korea, has a very ad- as of this year. The University of Surrey exabytes by 2018; that’s 1.8GB per connection vanced mobile market and while not always received funding from the UK government, per month and more than half of that will be the first to deploy new technologies, typically major infrastructure vendors and mobile op- over LTE, Cisco says. Indeed, by 2020, indus- sees very rapid adoption and subsequent erators to establish the world’s first dedicated try players like Nokia have said they expect to saturation. South Korea is expected to have 5G programme and an international hub for be helping operators to deliver 1GB to every a pilot 5G network available for the Winter telecommunication research and innovation subscriber every day. Olympics in 2018 and commercial offerings with a unique, large scale 5G test bed.

16 Telecoms.com | LTE Outlook 2014

16-20_LTEOutlook_Sept14.indd 16 15/08/2014 12:23 | 5G

Roughly every ten years, the industry goes through a technology step change, where ad hoc developments can be taken no further and a new generation of technology must be rolled out

As Niri points out, an evolution in radio ac- MIMO and wider bandwidths—are not really have devices that send data once in a while sit- cess has normally defined the new generation anything new. I’m not sure the pace of inno- ting with those that are streaming downloads and standard, from analogue 1G to digital 2G vation has been that exciting to date.” in the same spectrum band. It’s much more with TDMA, to 3G with WCDMA and finally Saunders does grant, however, that very re- scalable and you can dynamically change the 4G with OFDMA and SC-FDMA. Each stand- cent and as yet unverified technologies “might way you treat different traffic flows.” ard also brought with it major attributes, be something different”. In this he refers to So with full duplex, which is a key attribute such as 2G for mobility and roaming, 3G for Californian startup Kumu Networks, which is of UFMC, any given bit of spectrum could be multi-media service and 4G for full IP and pitching wireless full duplex technology that used for both sending and receiving. According greater spectral efficiency. is neither TDD nor FDD. Instead it is simul- to Saunders: “If you had a small cell on a lamp- “But it may not be an easy task to exactly taneously transmitting and receiving in the post feeding users on the ground, it used to be define 5G just yet. Our industry is a fast mov- same frequency through the same antenna. that an operator needed separate spectrum to ing and dynamic industry. What we could Kumu claims to have developed tech- backhaul that connectivity. With full duplex however say is that the future wireless broad- nology that cancels self-interference, the however, that connectivity could, theoretically, band will be provided not by one standard but “unwanted” energy that leaks into a radio’s be backhauled over the same spectrum.” by a combination of several standards and receiver while transmitting. As a result of But Lauri Oksanen, VP of research and technology families,” Niri says. “Depending on the cancellation, the receiver hears no noise technology for networks at Nokia, is more the services required and subject to underlying from its transmitter, freeing it to cleanly sceptical. “It’s a well known technology but un- infrastructure and available spectrum, inte- receive external signals. til now the implementation has been so costly grated 2G/3G/4G together with future releases The physics are theoretically sound as and complex that it has not been worthwhile. of 3G and 4G (LTE-A and beyond) and 5G will the waves just pass through each other, so Although there have been some advances and be the pillars of future broadband service.” why has this not been done before? It was an we are considering whether this could be one Niri believes that 5G will be driven by engineering problem that Kumu only recently of the advances to consider,” he says. capacity and quality with an evolution in radio claims to have solved. “The main issue is that if you want to deploy access, with new waveforms and a leap forward Because a device has to transmit at very it on existing bands then you need to introduce primarily in spectral efficiency and to some high power, while listening to a very weak new devices as you can’t have legacy devices extent latency. But at the moment, the inclusion signal, it effectively deafens itself. It’s like try- and new devices operating in the same band. of brand new technologies is still up for debate. ing to listen while shouting. It still needs to be proven how much of a gain Professor Simon Saunders, director of spec- At Alcatel-Lucent owned R&D subsidi- you think you get and at what cost.” trum specialist Real Wireless, argues that we ary Bell Labs, Tod Sizer the head of wireless While wifi is a mature technology with a are long overdue radio innovations as 4G was R&D, has been looking at a similar technol- sound use case, it deals terribly with interfer- not really a ‘new’ technology. “It was very much ogy dubbed Universal Filter Multi Channel ence and, when a wifi network gets flooded, it based on antenna developments as well as 3G (UFMC). “It used to be that you used a separate slows down. “But this could be avoided with and Wimax. It was really a decade-old technol- frequency for each application, for example antennas that are transmitting at the same ogy when it came to commercialisation,” he says. M2M or video downloading, and this is a very time as listening, and this can make a big dif- “So will 5G introduce new technology? inefficient use of spectrum resources,” he says. ference to the network,” says Saunders. “Regu- What we’ve seen so far—even more massive “So with this new type of air interface you can lators would also have less trouble deciding

Telecoms.com | LTE Outlook 2014 17

16-20_LTEOutlook_Sept14.indd 17 15/08/2014 12:24 5G |

on FDD and TDD packages of spectrum as to increase capacity, operating on a dynamic, operators would be able to use both previ- application–aware basis which returns to the ously allocated swathes at once,” he says. premise that the user shouldn’t care whether the It’s no secret that technical specifications are connection is wifi or cellular or any other bearer. largely irrelevant to end users. As long as they In this vision, every user gets their own M2M channels only carry have a connection, it doesn’t matter what tech- cell, so there are no limitations on bandwidth nology the bearer is. So in this vein carriers need and one subscriber’s usage doesn’t hurt bytes of data at the to create the illusion to the user that capacity anyone else’s usage of the spectrum because moment and given the is unlimited—and the trick here is to figure out everybody is reusing the same spectrum. To how to move resources around the network and increase the capacity on wired networks the nature of signalling on LTE, get them in close proximity to the users. carrier would simply add another wire, so to “We need the network to be flexible to dif- increase the capacity on wireless networks all that chatter means you ferent types of applications,” says Sizer. “So the carrier simply adds another access point. with an application that requires low latency If you don’t run out of spectrum, a network have more traffic on the such as car to car connectivity or gaming, strategy that allows you to keep building signalling channel than you time matters—so the network would adapt more cells suddenly becomes viable. for the flow from that particular user to han- Sara Mazur, vice president and head of do on the payload, which dle the processing and put it geographically Ericsson Research, expects that for this closer in the network in a nearby data centre. reason small cells will become more impor- is inefficient in terms of “But for a video download where latency tant in terms of network topology but also resource usage isn’t a concern then you can route that con- notes that changes in the core network are nection to a more inefficient data centre starting to happen now as well. “We need further away and it still wouldn’t affect short latency and the ability to execute performance,” he says. functionality close to end users out on the With 4G developments the industry’s key access network, but we also need the ability focus was on capacity, but with 5G the key to execute functionality in the core when focus is expected to be on capacity density. needed,” she says. “The evolution of the core The ‘personal cell’ is a term that gets a lot of is starting now with the adoption of cloud air time in this context. technology in the execution environment A real world device has maybe six radios and we`re seeing more of the network envi- built into it and around three are active at any ronment virtualised.” time: wifi, cellular and Bluetooth for example. In this respect, Japanese carrier NTT So it’s feasible that the device should be able Docomo is once again at the forefront, fol- to connect to multiple radios at once in order lowing up its 5G trial announcement with

18 Telecoms.com | LTE Outlook 2014

16-20_LTEOutlook_Sept14.indd 18 15/08/2014 12:24 alcatellucentandTektronix_advert.indd 1 12/08/2014 12:20 5G |

5G is not only expected to act as a driver for development in the telco sector but will also provide impetus to deeper integration with other industry verticals

the successful virtualisation of the Evolved Enablers for the Twenty-twenty Information M2M channels only carry bytes of data at Packet Core (EPC) in joint verifi cation tests Society is a European consortium also aiming the moment and given the nature of signalling with Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco and NEC to support to lay foundations for 5G through collabora- on LTE, all that chatter means you have more the functions required for Network Functions tions spanning telecommunications manu- traffi c on the signalling channel than you do Virtualization (NFV). facturers, network operators, the automotive on the payload, which is ineffi cient in terms The aim is to enable faster delivery of new industry and academia. of resource usage. While LTE works with lots telecom services and boost performance by Essential services that fall under the of frequencies and time slots and resource applying virtualization technology to EPC project’s remit include ebanking, elearning allocation, work is now on to ensure that from software that takes on LTE data communi- and ehealth, which METIS believes will see time to time some of those resources are re- cation functions. The test results according an avalanche of mobile and wireless traffi c served for a different air interface which suits to Docomo have confi rmed EPC’s ability volume, increasing a thousand-fold over the M2M and that devices with a battery life of ten to adaptively boost processing capabili- next decade. Traffi c will be driven by a mix to 15 years know when to wake up and go to ties through controls from the system that of communication between humans and sleep again in order to conserve power. manages EPC in response to how much data machines that need to access and share infor- “By the end of this decade there will be customers use lending credence to the afore- mation effi ciently, comfortably and safely as more connected machines than connected mentioned concept of the reactive network. the advent of the Internet of Things ushers in humans, maybe ten times as many, with very Docomo checked the platform’s performance tens of billions of connected devices. different requirements,” says Nokia’s Ok- during a breakdown in hardware functions, Simon Saunders notes that the customer sanen. “We’re working in 3GPP to make LTE when a backup structure was quickly and au- base for his consultancy is expanding into more M2M friendly but keeping backwards tomatically constructed using different hard- enterprise territory because “every business compatibility in mind there is only so much ware in order to sustain stable data communi- needs wireless but most businesses don’t you can do, so M2M will be a big feature of cations, effectively rerouting the connection. understand it. So we need to decode things 5G,” he says. “NFV is highly expected to bring changes in both ways between the different communi- Despite the lack of 5G standards defi ni- the ecosystem of network industries,” said Seizo ties. Businesses are not sure what the need tion, what’s clear is that mobile networks are Onoe. “Nonetheless, unless there’s a high degree wireless for or what they need to deliver a changing. Previous techniques that originate of collaboration between players, this would end specifi c application. Although we work with from voice-driven networks are no longer vi- up being pie in the sky.” operators, vendors and regulators we also able and LTE is just providing a glimpse of the While already acknowledged as a universal get lots of business from wireless users like availability of ubiquitous broadband. While truth in terms of technology development and Wembley Stadium,” he says. new breakthroughs are being made in access evidenced by the patent rushes accompany- Whereas 3G and 4G were both designed technology, disruptive innovations in IT are ing any new generation of wireless, never be- with multimedia consumption in mind, poised to radically change networks from the fore has collaboration between stakeholders the true potential of the Internet of Things core through the use of SDN and NFV, intel- been so important. But this time around it’s will not be realised until it gets a carrier ligent network technologies that at once time because the interested parties extend beyond designed with its unique features in mind. seemed as incomprehensible as the digital the traditional wireless sector. “If you want a joined up technology that is world depicted in Tron. The major challenge will 5G is not only expected to act as a driver harmonised and operators could play a role in, be to seamlessly and gradually migrate today’s for development in the telco sector but will then the last thing to do is start from LTE in fragmented, multi-generation and multivendor also provide impetus to deeper integration terms of using it as the optimum technology for networks to these new technologies and con- with other industry verticals. M2M, because its designed for high data rates cepts whist still running several generations of Another EC funded organisation, METIS and speeds, capacity density, and high end legacy equipment. But as the industry has made the Mobile and Wireless Communications devices with short battery life,” says Saunders. clear, the future is unwritten.

20 Telecoms.com | LTE Outlook 2014

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citrixandF5_advert.indd 1 13/08/2014 13:58 Pricing | Eyes on the price

LTE pricing is changing fast as the market matures. But while some operators are looking to employ elegant new charging models that draw on the sophistication LTE enables, others are still duking it out with least-cost options. by mike hibberd

obile telephony was a premium Often the disruptive players with the most In January this year, the MVNO operated product for many years; the market share to gain are the most likely to by UK supermarket giant Tesco on the O2 preserve of wealthy consum- opt for lower prices. Three UK famously an- network, quietly announced that it was aban- ers and company-sponsored nounced that it would not attach a price pre- doning its attempt to make LTE a premium- executives. Penetration only mium to LTE services a full ten months before priced service. In another illustration of how Mbegan to skyrocket with the introduction of it actually made LTE available to its custom- difficult the strategy is to maintain, Tesco competition and the ensuing drop in pricing. ers. The timing of this announcement may revealed that the small surcharge it had at- That boom in customer numbers translated well have been motivated by the firm’s need to tached to its LTE service—£2.50/month—was into success and wealth for the generation make itself heard on LTE in the UK at a point being rolled back. The firm had launched LTE of operator executives that engineered it. when other operators were stealing a march only three months previously, with the new But competition has continued to intensify, on it in terms of deployment—but it also set pricing described by chief marketing officer regulation has compounded the pressure and off a countdown clock for premium pricing. Simon Groves as “a great value price”. the leaders of today’s operators face a differ- Perhaps the most high profile disruptor in Nonetheless some operators are using LTE ent kind of challenge; keeping prices at levels the mobile industry in recent years has been to drive innovation in the way that they price that are sustainable to their businesses. Iliad-owned Free, in France. The operator has and sell services, with some specialists in the Much in the industry is in a process of accel- jolted the French market with its ruthless sector suggesting that differentiated pricing eration. LTE, we are often reminded, has been approach to pricing, and played no small part strategies that take advantage of the inherent deployed more quickly than any of its network in forcing a restructuring of the market, the capabilities of LTE networks might well be the technology predecessors, is being adopted more full extent of which is almost certainly not only viable response to the kind of race-to-the- quickly and, of course, delivers data far faster. yet visible. The latest estimates for French bottom price competition so often bemoaned Less appealingly for operators, more rapid subscriber numbers from Informa’s World by CEOs in financial results statements. uptake of LTE will likely bring with it an accel- Cellular Information Service Plus show Free Of course LTE can only continue to command eration in the erosion of price premiums. having taken third place from Bouygues in a premium while it remains fundamentally a A survey of 50 LTE operators worldwide WCDMA subscriptions, with 20.5 per cent of niche product. Once the wider market is being carried out by UK-based telephony pricing the 3G market at the end of the first quarter targeted, different strategies are needed to coax specialist Tariff Consultancy Ltd (TCL), found this year. In LTE, Free has 14.4 per cent. lower-spending customers onto the new service. that 74 per cent of them launched LTE at some “In the case of Free Mobile, the introduc- In this area some tried and trusted strategies kind of premium to existing services. But the tion of 4G LTE services at the same tariff mingle with newer, more innovative ideas. fact that more than a quarter opted not to as 3G HSPA has meant that other French First and most obvious, operators have to shows just how difficult it is for operators to- operators have revised their tariffs to follow draw attention to price cuts. At the time of day to link improved performance to increased suit,” says Margrit Sessions, founder of TCL. writing, and by way of example, the T-Mobile value in the mind of the end user. And if one “So although Orange, Bouygues and SFR did Netherlands website is promoting a SIM-only operator in a market opts not to raise its price launch at a price premium initially, the price LTE offer that gives users 2GB of data and 300 for LTE, the others will have little choice but to premium was reduced after Free Mobile’s minutes. The price for the deal has been cut by follow suit—sooner, rather than later. disruptive initiative.” more than 40 per cent, from e38 to e22.

22 Telecoms.com | LTE Outlook 2014

22-26_LTEOutlook_Aug14.indd 22 15/08/2014 12:26 | Pricing

New tariff paradigms Mobile Infinity plans, setup and impact

Infinity pricing only differentiates on the basis of speed offered. In each plan, all voice, SMS and data consumption is included Simple pricing Infinity XS Infinity S Infinity M Infinity L Infinity XL system with full transparency adds to cost control for customer, giving Bandwidth (max) 0,2 Mbps 1 MBps 7,2 Mbps 21 Mbps 100 Mbps "peace of mind" Price (CHF/month) 59 75 99 129 169

Roaming incl. in W-Europe - - 30/30/30 100/100/100 200/200/200

Calling abroad (min) - - 30 100 unlimited

Voice Domestic Data Domestic SMS Domestic All-you-can-eat (Min) (Min) (Number) pricing causes higher +25% +121% +4% usage, however in sum does not do Infinity Group more than accelerate total data usage by more than 3 months compared +4% +39% +2% to what would have Reference Group happened without these plans Before After before after before after (ø month in Q3) (ø month in Q4)

Source: Swisscom

Another familiar strategy, currently visible Using data from users of Mobidia’s My Data on the EE website in the UK, is to offer service Manager application, the research covered for free at an introductory level in the hope tens of thousands of 3G and 4G Android that users will become attached to the service smartphone users in ten markets; South Ko- and begin to pay for it. This is particularly rea, Japan, USA, Canada, Germany, UK, Saudi popular at the lower end of the market. EE is Arabia, South Africa, Russia and Brazil. currently offering an LTE SIM-only deal that The results, and what they mean for opera- comes with 50MB of data pre-loaded—an al- tors, are mixed. Data compiled by Mobidia lowance that will soon be drained. Once this showed that more than half of customers Prices for LTE have been data has been consumed, users can activite a used less than 50 per cent of their monthly coming down while speed further free 10GB allowance which they must data allowance in January 2013, across all use within 90 days of activation. Once this data-plan sizes. has been going up. Some second allowance has expired, users must top As might be expected, the percentage of up to regain data access. subscribers using less than half their al- operators are now offering But as well as bringing down prices, opera- lowance was higher for those with larger 500MB packages, some tors are also bringing down data allowances, allowances. While 55 per cent of 4G smart- says Martin Morgan, director of marketing phone users with plans between 1 – 500MB even 200MB for the initial at billing and charging software provider in size used less than half of their allowance, Openet. And this has had an interesting ef- the number rose to 69 per cent for users with package. But as you lower fect. “Prices for LTE have been coming down allowances in excess of 5GB. This may seem while speed has been going up. Some opera- at first to be a positive for operators; like the the entry level volmes, tors are now offering 500MB packages, some owners of gyms the world over, they are being because the speed has even 200MB for the initial package. But as paid for a resource that their customers are you lower the entry level volmes, because the not expoliting fully. increased, customers are speed has increased, customers are going to But report author Mike Roberts warned hit their limits much earlier.” that, as users gain more insight into their going to hit their limits This provides operators with a clear op- own usage patterns, they may well seek to much earlier portunity to either migrate users to larger downgrade, and spend less. and more expensive data plans, or to sell More promisingly for operators, the smaller add-ons to see users through to the number of users exceeding their data al- beginning of their next cycle. lowance increased during the course of Research conducted by Informa Telecoms 2013, across 3G and 4G and across all plan & Media and Mobidia has looked in detail at sizes. Furthermore, as Roberts wrote: “The the extent to which users consume the data share of users exceeding their plan limit made available to them in their bundles. was higher for 4G smartphones than for

Telecoms.com | LTE Outlook 2014 23

22-26_LTEOutlook_Aug14.indd 23 15/08/2014 12:26 Pricing |

New tariff paradigms Mobile Infinity plans, setup and impact

889k 20-25k Simple pricing system with full 26% transparency ˜1pp. results in very rapid adoption infinity penetration new infinity increase in pen. customers within postpaid cust. / week per week

In 6 months time, >10% of population has subscribed to the Swisscom Infinity plans

Expectation 2013: ARPU development for Positive ARPU development customers who change Initial expected Launch Infinity ARPU decline ARPU ARPU impact to in CHF overall customer base (domestic) from Nov changers: "right graders" -3 CHF Sept changers starts fading out, Initially: -5 CHF with new customers -11 CHF increasingly on 2012 2013 and ff. higher value plans Jan: Apr Jul 12 Sep Dec t 12Q1: 12 Q2: Q3: Q4: 39k 44k 60k 77k: positive trend in postpaid net adds since launch Infinity

Source: Swisscom

3G smartphones.... Country level data for the XL CHF169/month (Ä138.43) for 100Mbps range offers allow users to choose a package 4G smarpthone users in December 2013 speeds, all voice and text and substantial based on something they can understand, not shows that the share of users exceeding roaming and international calling bundles least because it is familiar from the world of their monthly plan limits increases as 4G (see slide for full range). fixed broadband pricing. penetration increases.” Launching the tariffs, Swisscom said: Working along similar lines but dis- Of the markets featured in the study, South “Surveys of Swisscom customers have shown tinguishing instead between prepaid and Korea had the highest instance of this phe- that they are unable to visualise megabytes postpaid is Swedish operator Telia. Users of nomenon, with 31 per cent of users across all and often do not know how much data they the firm’s SIM-only 4G ‘Telia Refill Startpa- plan sizes exceeding their limit, the research send and receive. As a result, they restrict ket’ can only have LTE service at speeds up found. In Japan the figure was 21 per cent, in their usage to avoid extra charges. The new to 20Mbps, according to the firm’s web- the US 17 per cent, in Canada and Germany Natel Infinity subscriptions will render site, accessed in May. If higher speeds are 15 per cent and, in the UK, 11 per cent. this unnecessary, as they will include data sought then users must upgrade the type of “We’re only going to see more of these traffic. The offerings will be the first to offer contract they have with the operator. real-time add-ons being sold,” says Openet’s a choice of transmission speeds, which are In the same presentation in which Morgan, “as operators reduce the size of their easier for customers to understand. Custom- Swisscom discussed its Infinity plans, the entry level packages and their prices while ers will in future only pay for the speed they operator observed that its revenue from increasing network speed.” require.” specific services (fixed and mobile voice, text, Increases in speed capabilities are also In an analyst presentation delivered in etc) had dropped substantially, thanks to being leveraged by some operators seek- the first half of 2013, Swisscom said that internet and OTT based alternatives. “Pre- ing to maintain some kind of premium the simple and transparent pricing that the internet,” the firm said, 75 per cent of rev- peformance association for LTE. Swisscom Infinity subscriptions offered had resulted in enue was tied to usage of a specific service. introduced its “Natel Infinity” mobile data “very rapid adoption” (see slides on this and That had fallen to 36 per cent at the time of tariffs in June 2012, in a bid to make the previous pages). While there was an initial the presentation. “The only thing a customer unlimited plan—something that has come drop in ARPU during the first six months, the needs is (multiple or bundled) high qual- increasingly under fire since it was first used firm said—which was expected as a result of ity access subscriptions,” Swisscom said. to stimulate mobile data uptake—easier for some users moving to a lower-cost experience Operators have “no choice,” it added, “but to the consumer to understand and more posi- that met their needs—this tailed off fairly prepare for the day when there will ne no us- tive for its bottom line. rapidly. New customers, said Swisscom, were age based fees left.” The twist with Infinity is that, while user “increasingly on higher value plans”. Others argue that service-based pricing data consumption is not capped, it is charged Switzerland is a comparatively expensive remains crucial—it’s just the services on according to different tiers of service. At country but Swisscom’s experience shows which operators are focused that need to launch the tariffs ranged from the XS CHF59/ that it is possible to maintain a premium for change. “It will be better for everyone if we month (Ä48.33) for speed capped at just service. The tariffs at either end of the range can get to amore segmented pricing environ- 0.2Mbps and all voice and SMS included, to may well have limited appeal but the mid- ment,” says Andy Tiller, VP for marketing at

24 Telecoms.com | LTE Outlook 2014

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half-page.indd 1 20/05/2014 12:57

halfpage_adverts.indd 1 04/06/2014 21:11 Pricing |

Chinese BSS vendor AsiaInfo-Linkage. “In- them directly,” Puschel said. “But Informa refl ects something more positive than the stead of having a data bundle people should believes that its major potential instead lies deliberate customer bamboozling that was be paying for the services they want. At that in offering a new advertising model, in which commonly believed to be at the heart of op- level if a parent wants to allow their kids to companies can offer data-heavy ad content erators’ tariff plans of years past. Because watch only a certain amount of YouTube, or that users can view without incurring data today operators are trying a range of differ- restrict some services and not others, they’ll charges. For example, Netfl ix could use ent models in a bid to learn which ones will be able to.” sponsored data not to subsidise internet be, on the one hand, easy for consumers to Tiller’s suggestion derives from the same costs for users viewing an entire movie, but understand and, on the other, benefi cial to observation as Swisscom’s decision to go for to turn mobile into an additional advertis- their business at a time of great competition speed-based, unlimited plans—namely the ing medium by offering free-to-view trailers and regulatory pressure. fact that users don’t understand Megabytes. to mobile customers.” Crucially, however, There are, says TCL’s Margrit Sessions, And bids to familiarise users with the concept such a strategy would be likely to encourage no dominant trends in LTE pricing, which of consuming specifi c services rather than is users to start paying for content when the refl ects the exploratory nature of the exercise already underway. In the UK EE has a video on consumption experience proves satisfying. today. Not least this is because one operator demand service offering cheap fi lms streamed Perhaps the biggest news in mobile pricing is very different from the next. Those with or downloaded over its LTE network, for which to come out of the US in recent years has been full multiplay offerings, for example, are it is currently waiving the data charges. the success enjoyed by the market’s operators, increasingly positioning the bundle as the Again users are being encouraged to try AT&T and Verizon, perhaps in particular, with differentiator, rather than specifi c mobile something for free or low cost that, subse- shared data plans. Reporting its fi rst quarter pricing. And while some are looking to quently no doubt, they will be asked to pay fi nancials in April, AT&T revealed that its protect revenues with innovation and value for. But it would seem likely that, when the Mobile Share plans, which allow subscrib- creation, others will doubtless continue to subsidy is removed at the beginning of 2015, ers to connect multiple self-owned devices, target customers with cut-price offerings. it will be the fi lms that users will pay for— or multiple family-owned devices to a single “Part of the answer to that sort of competi- and not the data. bucket of access, now accounted for almost tion is to provide innovative pricing that your And if operators don’t want to subsidise 33 million connections—or 45 per cent of the competitors can’t copy,” says AsiaInfo’s Andy usage themselves, then perhaps they can fi nd fi rm’s postpaid subscribers. Tiller. “One of the things that’s holding some a partner to do it for them. US operator AT&T The number of shared plans tripled year operators back is the legacy IT infrastrcuture launched a sponsored data offering in Janu- on year to 11.3 million, with an average of that’s in place. That might be part of the reason ary this year that enables “eligible 4G cus- three devices per account, the fi rm said. why prices are being kept the same with the tomers to enjoy mobile content and apps… Morevover, uptake for the higher data-rate move to 4G, certainly in markets like France.” without impacting their monthly wireless plans was encouraging. AT&T said that at With LTE, operators now have networks in data plan.” The move met with a range of the end of the fi rst quarter this year, 46 per place that make greater elegance and sophis- responses, including some net-neutrality cent of Mobile Share accounts were on 10GB tication in pricing possible. They can deliver sabre-rattling from US authorities. or higher allowances, up from 28 per cent at dynamic policy and bearer set up, making it But Informa analyst Julio Puschel suggest- the same point in 2013. easier to provide services like turbo boosts. ed in the wake of the launch that the service Mobile pricing has always been convolut- And they are now able, crucially, to check would have most benefi t as a new advertis- ed. Even when voice and text were the only whether or not the intended quality of expe- ing model. “Initially, some market observers services available, the operator community rience was actually delivered. And operators assumed that the main aim of the model was was renowned for the often impenetrable are starting to separate into those that are to enable AT&T to recoup extra revenue from complexity of its tariff structures. Today the exploiting such sophistication and those that OTT services by introducing a way to charge variety of data and LTE pricing strategies are not.

Perhaps the biggest news in mobile pricing to come out of the US in recent years has been the success enjoyed by the market’s operators, AT&T and Verizon, perhaps in particular, with shared data plans

26 Telecoms.com | LTE Outlook 2014

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telecoms.com_house advert.indd 1 28/05/2013 09:52 Handsets | Long term harmony

LTE is the fastest-growing wireless technology yet and it comes at a time when even the world’s poorest people have access to smartphones. However the global LTE picture remains highly fragmented, with no consensus on LTE bands, so is it desirable or even possible to make an LTE world phone? byt scot bicheno

s LTE’s global reach spreads, so comm, before putting the ball firmly in the phone exceeds the savings it generates then does the feeling that a ‘world operators’ court. “The absence of one simply it’s a hard thing to justify. Yes, it would be nice phone’—one that is compatible reflects the lack of global LTE band harmoni- for consumers to know they could theoreti- with all global LTE bands—would zation among carriers, which in part will be cally roam anywhere in the world, but that’s be a useful thing. Having to cre- driven by LTE roaming agreements.” unlikely to register as a key differentiator. Aate separate Stock-Keeping Units (SKUs) for So while Qualcomm has technical solu- Phil Kendall, executive director at industry different countries and regions is especially tions, as you would expect, they are still at research house Strategy Analytics, is acutely inefficient for device vendors, but multina- the mercy of forces beyond their control, aware of the challenges surrounding the tional operators, distributors and retailers which is healthy. Sooner or later we all run ‘long tail’ of LTE bands. “We have a situation would also benefit from knowing that a single into immutable laws of physics, no matter where the economics of supporting the long device can be sold anywhere. how big and influential we are, although tail of frequency bands on an LTE phone That such a clear win-win proposition for Qualcomm does seem to be meeting this chal- are not great,” he says. “Bands 3, 7 and 20 (in all mobile stakeholders, including consum- lenge head-on. “With every new generation of particular, band 3) have become quite popular ers, has yet to yield an actual product betrays global LTE product, OEMs are designing in globally for networks, but there is also a the harsh technical reality of creating an more bands,” says Carson. “Some QTI custom- very strong need to support the somewhat LTE world phone; it’s just not very easy to ers now have designs with 15 LTE bands or fragmented picture of band configurations at do. That’s not to say it’s impossible, but as more, plus 4-bands of 2G and 5-bands of 3G.” 700MHz and also the AWS band for some of with most technological challenges it has to There seem, therefore, to be two disparate the Americas. Beyond that, there is not going be worth the effort—there needs to be some factors at work here: the will of the world’s to be the critical mass of operators placing clear return on investment. operators to standardize around a small num- orders for more “niche” bands.” The core challenge involved in creating ber of LTE bands and demand from device Does Kendall agree with Qualcomm, then, an LTE world phone is the fragmented state vendors to produce the mythical LTE world that it’s the operators that hold the whip- of the world’s LTE spectrum, with around phone. “A device with all world LTE bands hand in this matter? “There are certainly 30 bands in total currently in use. While supported is a positive goal to look to achieve,” players with enough scale to warrant the harmonization around, say, 5-10 bands would says Graham Wheeler, director of commerciali- near-unique support (China Mobile, AT&T theoretically benefit everyone, the technology zation product management at smartphone and Verizon Wireless have all influenced spe- industry has a rich history of fragmenting to specialist HTC. “When designing a device, cific device configurations), but that does not a self-destructive extent, as local considera- while the chipset can usually support a num- necessarily mean even those requirements tions, financial vested interests and compet- ber of bands, to enable all world LTE bands in make it into a universal world phone. As such, ing egos all combine to make everyone pull in one device creates significant challenges for it would really take the device vendors in the different directions. antenna and hardware designers.” middle of the value chain to set the agenda A good place to start the search for global And here we come to the nub of the matter on an LTE world phone—using economies LTE unity might be the leading mobile chipset from a device vendor’s perspective: nice idea, of scale in ordering one chipset supporting a provider. “The technical challenge of designing but is it worth the hassle? Of course it would larger number of bands, rather than multiple a universal LTE phone has been solved with make life easier for device vendors if they chipsets supporting fewer bands.” the combination of our world mode modems/ didn’t have to produce unique SKUs to cater So, to summarize the story so far: the com- transceivers,” says Peter Carson, director of for every different LTE environment they ponent guys think it’s an operator problem, marketing for Gobi Modem and RF at Qual- operate in, but if the cost of producing a world the device vendors identify components as a

28 Telecoms.com | LTE Outlook 2014

28-30_LTEOutlook_Sept14.indd 28 15/08/2014 12:39 | Handsets

Qualcomm Single SKU Advantages Single SKU design will help drive volume/cost curve to make LTE available to the masses

Band 1 Band 1 (1) Band M • Multiplies NRE • Fragmented BOM(2) ¥¥¥¥ Band L Band 1 • Higher Inventories Single SKU Design Single SKU $$$$

Band K

Band 1 • Reduces NRE(1) • Consolidated BOM(2) ¥ Band N • Lower Inventories $

1. NRE: Non-recurring Engineering costs Multiple SKU Design Multiple SKU 2. BOM: Bill of Materials Source: Qualcomm

Some of the potential benefits of having a single handset SKU that supports LTE universally

technical bottle-neck and the analysts think able. In many cases 700MHz spectrum has it’s down to the device vendors to set the been made available when legacy, analogue agenda. Clear enough? TV signals, which were broadcast over that One solution to this problem that has been frequency, were turned off. in discussion for several years now is APT700 But each country has a unique agenda and (band 28)—an initiative promoted by the Asia timetable for that process so, even if you got GMA LTE Band Devices Table Pacific Telecommunity (APT) that aims to everyone in the world to agree that APT700 is harmonize LTE services around the 700MHz a good idea, we might still have to wait several LTE FDD band. Put simply, if every country/territory years for the spectrum to become globally 1800 MHz band 3 589 devices supported the APT700 band, then a phone available. Latin America, for example, has also 2600 MHz band 7 582 devices that also supported 700MHz would therefore shown a keen interest in the APT700 concept, be an LTE world phone. but it will be a few years before some Latin 2100 MHz band 1 423 devices “Over the past 12 months industry and American countries switch of their analogue 800 MHz band 20 392 devices market support for the APT700 band plan TV signals and free-up the requisite spectrum. has been building and great progress is Qualcomm’s Carson concedes that quite a 800/1800/2600 tri-band 340 devices being made,” says Alan Hadden, president few LTE bands are likely to be necessary for AWS band 4 334 devices of the Global Mobile Suppliers Association. the foreseeable future. “These [roaming] agree- “700MHz is an excellent frequency for wide ments and the ensuing global band harmo- 700 MHz bands 12 or 17 327 devices area coverage in regional and rural environ- nization will take at least a couple of years. 850 MHz band 5 282 devices Given that many LTE operators have deployed ments, and for penetrating homes and build- 700 MHz band 13 275 devices ings, and is an important digital dividend 2-3 LTE bands already and perhaps more in arising from the shift by TV broadcasters the future, global roaming devices will not 900 MHz band 8 246 devices from analogue to digital transmissions. More necessarily need to support all ~30 LTE bands, 1900 MHz band 2 169 devices needs to be done in those markets where the but the number is likely to be above 20.” transition to digital TV has not yet been com- This just adds to the challenges faced by 1900 MHz band 25 97 devices pleted, to overcome regulatory delays. APT700 device vendors, especially those that focus on is the clear direction and goal for achieving smartphones. Right now the global smart- LTE TDD near-global spectrum harmonisation for LTE, phone industry is dominated by two players: 2600 MHz band 38 278 devices the greatest economies of scale, the lowest Apple and Samsung. Since the launch of the iP- 2300 MHz band 40 269 devices user terminal costs, and the broadest mobile hone back on 2007, Apple has done a great job broadband access.” of owning the highest price tier of the smart- 1900 MHz band 39 125 devices If history is any guide, efforts to get the phone market by exploiting its strong brand, 2600 MHz band 41 120 devices entire world to pull in the same direction unique software and superior app developer are likely to be, at the very least, challenging. ecosystem to convince many consumers the 3500 MHz band 42,43 17 devices Not only are there the inevitable competing premium price of an iPhone is worth paying. This table, provided by the Global Mobile interests, disparate entrenched habits, and Much of the current global smartphone Suppliers Association nicely summarizes cultural barriers, there’s the small matter of growth, however, is coming from developing how varied LTE support currently is whether or not this spectrum is even avail- markets where the majority of the population

Telecoms.com | LTE Outlook 2014 29

28-30_LTEOutlook_Sept14.indd 29 15/08/2014 12:39 Handsets |

GSMA Band 288 Map

ITU region 1

CEPT

CITEL ASMG ITU region 3 ITU region 2 ATU APT

US Band Plan

Band 28 decisions/preference

Band 28 possible

APT Asia Pacific Telecommunity ASMG Arab Spectrum Management Group ATU African Telecommunications Union CEPT Conference Européenne de administrations des Postes et des Télécommunications CITEL Comisión Interamericana de Telecomunicaciones Source: GSMA, Feb 2013

The vast majority of the world has the potential to support APT700

simply can’t afford an iPhone. This is where good distribution and localized content. Samsung has performed especially well, com- Between them Apple and Samsung account bining an extensive device portfolio cover- for nearly all of the profit generated by the ing all price tiers with a massive marketing global smartphone industry and most global budget and blanket distribution to ensure growth is currently being grabbed by lean Chi- Before your average they have a smartphone for everyone. nese vendors such as Lenovo and TCL Alcatel. Apple and Samsung’s two-pronged attack Traditional smartphone powerhouses such smartphone vendor can has left few crumbs on the table for the other as Nokia, Sony, HTC and LG have to concern smartphone vendors, despite most of them themselves first and foremost with generating allow itself to worry about consistently producing very high quality a profit, and only then with the complexities of the LTE roaming capabilities hardware. One consolation for the chasing international standards arrangements. pack is potentially China—the world’s largest “When we launch a device in EMEA, we need of its devices it needs to smartphone market and its growth engine to tune the sensitivity of the European bands for the past couple of years—where neither so that they are able to hold calls and signal work out how to sell a few Apple nor Samsung are as dominant as they for all conditions and this requires physi- more of them are elsewhere. However, local vendors such cal space on the device,” says HTC’s Wheeler. as Huawei, Lenovo, Coolpad and Xiaomi have “If we were to add more LTE bands it would been growing sales rapidly in China on the either mean more physical antenna space back of close ties with local manufacturers, needed in the structural design or reduced sensitivity of the bands supported ( i.e. losing LTE signal more easily).” In short; there’s no point in covering more bands if that’s to the detriment of the overall user experience. Before your average smartphone vendor can allow itself to worry about the LTE roaming capabilities of its devices it needs to work out how to sell a few more of them and how to avoid making a loss in so doing. Things are moving in the right direction in terms of components and LTE band harmonization, but if the rest of the industry wants that iPhone5s SONY Xperia Z2 HTC One crucial device vendor buy-in it looks like they need to make it even easier to produce an LTE If only LTE band support was as uniform as smartphone design is these days world phone.

30 Telecoms.com | LTE Outlook 2014

28-30_LTEOutlook_Sept14.indd 30 15/08/2014 12:39 29_BCN_NEC.indd 1 19/05/2014 11:15 Marketplace |

Accuver www.accuver.com

Accuver is a leading provider of wireless test and measurement solutions that optimise the performance and reliability of mobile networks. Working with all major network operators, infrastructure vendors, chipset manufacturers, and wireless equipment OEM’s. We measure, troubleshoot, and optimise network performance and wireless service delivery.

Alcatel-Lucent www.alcatel-lucent.com

We are at the forefront of global communications, providing products and innovations in IP and cloud networking, as well as ultra-broadband ﬁ xed and wireless access to service providers and their customers, and to enterprises and institutions throughout the world. With revenues of Euro 14.4 billion in 2013, Alcatel-Lucent is listed on the Paris and New York stock exchanges.

BroadSoft www.broadsoft.com

BroadSoft, a leading Uniﬁ ed Communication innovator, powers solutions for mobile, ﬁ xed and cable telecommunications service providers. With extensive experience in IMS-based networks, BroadSoft is best equipped to enable telecommunication service providers to deliver hosted UC, VoLTE and RCS across various communication devices and help transform the way businesses communicate.

Citrix www.citrix.com

Citrix is a cloud company that enables mobile workstyles empowering people to work and collaborate from anywhere, securely accessing apps and data on any of the latest devices. Citrix solutions for MNOs enable operators to elevate subscriber quality of experience (QoE), monetize big data and virtualize network infrastructure.

32 Telecoms.com | LTE Outlook 2014

32-36_LTEOutlook_Sept14.indd 32 18/08/2014 11:17 With over 290 LTE contracts, 126 commercial LTE launches, and LTE deployments in more than 100 capital cities from Canberra to London, Huawei is enabling the world’s leading operators to take maximum advantage of growing opportunities in vertical markets while offering subscribers a smooth No-Edge network experience. Huawei LTE is part of the vision to grow your business with MBB everywhere. Find out more at WWW.HUAWEI.COM/LTE

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34 Telecoms.com | LTE Outlook 2014

32-36_LTEOutlook_Sept14.indd 34 15/08/2014 12:44 | Marketplace

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Polystar www.polystar.com

Polystar is the premier supplier of Network & Customer Analytics, and Test solutions worldwide. Polystar helps operators monetise data assets in LTE networks and use the resulting insights to improve customer experience. Headquarted in Stockholm, Polystar serves leading telecoms operators and network equipment manufacturers in over 50 countries.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. www.samsung.com

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in technology, opening new possibilities for people everywhere. Through relentless innovation and discovery, we are transforming the worlds of TVs, smartphones, tablets, PCs, cameras, home appliances, printers, LTE systems, medical devices, semiconductors and LED solutions. We employ 286,000 people across 80 countries with annual sales of US$216.7 billion. To discover more, please visit www.samsung.com.

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Tektronix Communications www.tekcomms.com

Tektronix Communications is uniquely positioned as the communications industry’s ﬁ rst Telecommunications Intelligence Provider (TIP) offering both service assurance and monitoring and network intelligence solutions that uniquely cover all four dimensions of the service provider’s environment: subscriber behavior, the services & applications they consume, the network environments they occupy and the technologies that enable them.

Xceed Technologies www.xceedcorp.com

Xceed Technologies is a leading provider of software solutions for wireless network deployment, optimization, O&M, and SON. Xceed software solution includes, Geolocation, performance, big data Analytic, and real time rules based expert system. Wireless operators, infrastructure, and handset vendors use Xceed’s software products worldwide. Xceed’s products are used worldwide and support all major wireless standards, including LTE, WiMAX, HSPA+, UMTS/GSM, CDMA/EVDO, and WiFi.

Telecoms.com www.telecoms.com

Telecoms.com – the leading provider of news, analysis and opinion for the global telecoms industry – provides innovative marketing solutions through different channels such as webinars, TV interviews, newsletters, print products, events and white papers. Whether you are looking to reach operators or vendors our targeted marketing options and vast industry databases will ensure that your marketing message reaches the right people.

ZTE wwwen.zte.com.cn/en/

ZTE Corporation is a globally-leading provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions. With operations in 160 countries, the company is a leader in technology innovation, delivering superior products and business solutions to clients all over the world. Founded in 1985, ZTE is listed on both the Hong Kong and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges.

36 Telecoms.com | LTE Outlook 2014

32-36_LTEOutlook_Sept14.indd 36 15/08/2014 12:45 6TH ANNUAL 4TH ANNUAL 9TH ANNUAL 2ND ANNUAL 7TH ANNUAL 2ND ANNUAL 2ND ANNUAL STILL TO NEW PRECISE TIMING & COME THIS SYNCHRONIZATION SUMMIT 8-9 April 2014 28-30 April 2014 12-13 May 2014 23-25 September 2014 7-8 October 2014 11-13 November 2014 November 18-20, 2014 November 19-20, 2014 Singapore YEARRio de Janeiro,FROM Brazil Dubai, UAE Singapore London, UK Cape Town, South Africa Dallas, Texas, USA Dallas, Texas, USA 6TH ANNUAL 4TH ANNUAL 9TH ANNUAL 2ND ANNUAL 7TH ANNUAL 2ND ANNUAL

2ND ANNUAL NEW PRECISE TIMING & SYNCHRONIZATION SUMMIT 8-9 April 2014 28-30 April 2014 12-13 May 2014 23-25 September 2014 7-8 October 2014 11-13 November 2014 November 18-20, 2014 November 19-20, 2014 Singapore Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Dubai, UAE Singapore London, UK Cape Town, South Africa Dallas, Texas, USA Dallas, Texas, USA

6TH ANNUAL 4TH ANNUAL 9TH ANNUAL 2ND ANNUAL 7TH ANNUAL 2ND ANNUAL

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