For Sri Lanka, the battle for LTE has now begun. Dialog and Mobitel both are claiming that they're the South Asia's first LTE network and battling to test LTE. The benefit goes to subscribers. Anyway, there are also two HSPA networks in Sri Lanka now, Airtel and Etisalat. They're also in competition to upgrade their technologies. Let's take a closer look at this new situation. First, Mobitel was the first to announce that they're going to test LTE. Then, Dialog said that they're the first and also they tested it on the day before Mobitel and that anyone can experience it at the Future World. Anyway, now, Sri Lanka is the first from South Asia to have 2 LTE tests at the same period. Maybe first from the world. However, no one (except officials) can say whether they're hoping to deploy the commercial network soon or later. People are also waiting to experience the new technology. It has now become the hottest thing in Sri Lanka's mobile broadband industry. Mobitel also claims that they demonstrated LTE in 96 Mbps and Dialog's official said that they demonstrated it in 128 Mbps. However, final decision goes to people.
Anyway, let me explain a bit what the LTE means, LTE is short for Long Term Evolution and now also accepted as 4G by ITU (International Telecommunication Union) which standardized all digital communication technologies and an all-IP (Internet Protocol) flat architecture, unlike it's predecessor technologies, which use both packet switched and circuit switched networks. It's also hard for operators to maintain a circuit switched network but when used a packet switched network, it reduces the costs. So, subscribers can expect a low cost and enhanced multimedia experience. The technology promises peak download speeds up to 326.4 Mbps for 4*4 antennas and 172.8 Mbps for 2*2 antennas using 20 MHz spectrum. peak upload rate is 86.4 Mbps for every 20 MHz spectrum. At least 200 active users can be in every 5 MHz cell. Optimal performance is within 5 km, reasonable performance within 30 km and acceptable performance within 100 km from the terminal. This technology is backward compatible with GSM/GPRS and UMTS technologies and users can continue an operation in a non-LTE area with GSM/GPRS and UMTS networks. World's first LTE modem was Samsung B3710 and first LTE capable phone was HTC EVO 4G. World's first commercial LTE network was Sweden's TeliaSonera commenced operations on 14th December 2009. Click here, for a feature comparison of LTE and HSPA. In an LTE ebook, the author named 'Antonis Hontzeas' had said, "Most operators will upgrade their packet core network (SGSN, GGSN etc...) towards the Evolved Packet Core functionality (initially this will be a pure software upgrade but eventually, once the CS functionality is totally removed, this will be replaced by high capacity routing mechanisms). These boxes will then be replaced by high capacity high speed dumb IP routers and the mobility intelligence will reside in servers. This means that voice call handling (which will be IP based) will be nothing more than another software application and PCM based communication will be, at least for mobile technology, a thing of the past." Click here to download that ebook by Antonis Hontzeas. This LTE standard also has now officially accepted as 4G by ITU.
Now, let's check about the current HSPA and HSPA+ technologies. HSPA and HSPA+ means High Speed Packet Access and High Speed Packet Access Plus or Evolved HSPA. This technology has now been widely deployed worldwide. HSPA promises a max speed of at least 1 Mbps and HSPA+ promises 21 Mbps. Most countries outside USA, Canada and Japan use E carrier technology to deploy HSPA and HSPA+ networks. In Sri Lanka, there are all 4 HSPA and/or HSPA+ service providers including the newly launched Etisalat HSPA/HSPA+ network. World's first HSPA network was commenced in 2005. Anyway, now there are over 300 HSPA networks worldwide. So, video calling, video IDD and video call roaming should now be a normal in almost every corner of the world.
Anyway, devices for LTE is still being made. It'll take some more time to make them widely available. So, let's look forward to experience this new LTE technology.
Anyway, let me explain a bit what the LTE means, LTE is short for Long Term Evolution and now also accepted as 4G by ITU (International Telecommunication Union) which standardized all digital communication technologies and an all-IP (Internet Protocol) flat architecture, unlike it's predecessor technologies, which use both packet switched and circuit switched networks. It's also hard for operators to maintain a circuit switched network but when used a packet switched network, it reduces the costs. So, subscribers can expect a low cost and enhanced multimedia experience. The technology promises peak download speeds up to 326.4 Mbps for 4*4 antennas and 172.8 Mbps for 2*2 antennas using 20 MHz spectrum. peak upload rate is 86.4 Mbps for every 20 MHz spectrum. At least 200 active users can be in every 5 MHz cell. Optimal performance is within 5 km, reasonable performance within 30 km and acceptable performance within 100 km from the terminal. This technology is backward compatible with GSM/GPRS and UMTS technologies and users can continue an operation in a non-LTE area with GSM/GPRS and UMTS networks. World's first LTE modem was Samsung B3710 and first LTE capable phone was HTC EVO 4G. World's first commercial LTE network was Sweden's TeliaSonera commenced operations on 14th December 2009. Click here, for a feature comparison of LTE and HSPA. In an LTE ebook, the author named 'Antonis Hontzeas' had said, "Most operators will upgrade their packet core network (SGSN, GGSN etc...) towards the Evolved Packet Core functionality (initially this will be a pure software upgrade but eventually, once the CS functionality is totally removed, this will be replaced by high capacity routing mechanisms). These boxes will then be replaced by high capacity high speed dumb IP routers and the mobility intelligence will reside in servers. This means that voice call handling (which will be IP based) will be nothing more than another software application and PCM based communication will be, at least for mobile technology, a thing of the past." Click here to download that ebook by Antonis Hontzeas. This LTE standard also has now officially accepted as 4G by ITU.
Now, let's check about the current HSPA and HSPA+ technologies. HSPA and HSPA+ means High Speed Packet Access and High Speed Packet Access Plus or Evolved HSPA. This technology has now been widely deployed worldwide. HSPA promises a max speed of at least 1 Mbps and HSPA+ promises 21 Mbps. Most countries outside USA, Canada and Japan use E carrier technology to deploy HSPA and HSPA+ networks. In Sri Lanka, there are all 4 HSPA and/or HSPA+ service providers including the newly launched Etisalat HSPA/HSPA+ network. World's first HSPA network was commenced in 2005. Anyway, now there are over 300 HSPA networks worldwide. So, video calling, video IDD and video call roaming should now be a normal in almost every corner of the world.
Anyway, devices for LTE is still being made. It'll take some more time to make them widely available. So, let's look forward to experience this new LTE technology.