Mobile Operator Landgrab for MMDS Band

Sponge Bob

http://news.zdnet.co.uk/communications/0,1000000085,39290156,00.htm

(NOT co-incidentally almost the very day before WRC07 kicks off to plan global spectrum needs for the next 10 years or so)

WiMax has effectively been folded into 3G's future development, after the International Telecommunication Union decided on Friday to include it in the IMT-2000 set of standards.

Peace and love between the ITU and the IEEE, but hark!!! whats this ???

...the bit in bold....

With WiMax technology now included, it places us on equal footing with the legacy-based technologies ITU-R [ITU Radiocommunication Sector, the spectrum management sector of the ITU] already endorses. The bottom line is that operators across the globe now have the freedom to select the right technology to best meet their business and regional needs," Resnick added.

David Pringle, a spokesperson for the GSM Association (GSMA), an organisation which represents mobile operators, told ZDNet.co.uk that the GSMA was "relaxed" about the development. "We think it is good that operators will have the flexibility to use WiMax in IMT-2000 spectrum if they wish," he said. "We do see WiMax as a complimentary or niche technology alongside the main GSM evolution path, which essentially today is HSPA so we expect the majority of operators to focus their energy and resources on that path. But WiMax has a role to play."
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The long-range, high-bandwidth wireless technology is on its way, but how it will be adopted is still unclear



Pringle said that operators would want future wireless technology to be compatible and would therefore want to reuse their existing investment in infrastructure and radio spectrum. He also noted that the "long-term evolution" (LTE) of 3G should also use "the very latest radio access technologies and techniques for utilising spectrum". He added: "We are confident that HSPA has a very long evolution path."


An auction is to be held next year in which spectrum around the 2.6GHz band — which is usable for both 3G and mobile WiMax — will be sold off on a technology-neutral basis. It remains to be seen what the implications of Friday's announcement are for that auction but, as the investments already made in 3G infrastructure had been a major detrimental factor for WiMax, its inclusion in IMT-2000 has the potential to shake up the entire argument.
"We welcome this because it fits in very closely with Ofcom's flexible approach to spectrum management in the UK," a spokesperson for Ofcom told ZDNet.co.uk on Friday.

A net result of this will be that there shall soon be no tolerance for any MMDS overspill across into the North and that the Comreg will come under pressure to auction off the 100mhz they are squatting between 2.5ghz and 2.6ghz .

Solair

I don't really see MMDS lasting as a viable platform anyway. It's really only duplicating Sky Digital direct satellite services and duplicating them quite badly at that. So, I really can't see how it will survive in the long term anyway.

There is a market there for fewer channels than sky, but realistically that should be served by basic DTT and perhaps a premium bouquet of channels like TopUp TV. If DTT here uses MPEG4, it also means it will have a good bit more capacity than existing MPEG2 based systems.

It would be very interesting to see the economics behind MMDS. Cable service has a lot of potential advantages in terms of bandwidth and interactivity. It's not purely a TV service. MMDS on the other hand is extremely limited in terms of what it can do.

The other thing, is that UPC could just claim ownership of the MMDS spectrum and roll out IP TV services using MPEG4 carried on WiMax + data services. I don't know if it has to be technology-specific.

Sponge Bob

Solair wrote: »

I don't really see MMDS lasting as a viable platform anyway. It's really only duplicating Sky Digital direct satellite services and duplicating them quite badly at that. So, I really can't see how it will survive in the long term anyway.

Quite strong arguments have been made , not least by Watty , that Digital MMDS is as spectrum efficient as DTT overall with the same compression tech. The problem is that regulators will be inclined to monetise this band and that finance ministries will see the $$$ signs too.

There is a market there for fewer channels than sky, but realistically that should be served by basic DTT and perhaps a premium bouquet of channels like TopUp TV. If DTT here uses MPEG4, it also means it will have a good bit more capacity than existing MPEG2 based systems.

I feel that UPC could see a trade off here where 'they' get topup TV for leaving the 2.5-2.7 band free to be auctioned off. If the band is widely used by mobile operators the standard 3g phone and especially the datacards will start to interefere with MMDS fairly soon as things now look.

The other thing, is that UPC could just claim ownership of the MMDS spectrum and roll out IP TV services using MPEG4 carried on WiMax + data services. I don't know if it has to be technology-specific.

I would personally think not . UPC launching Wimax in their 100mhz of remaining spectrum would open a right can of worms . I think the licence is explicitly broadcast..ie one way.

watty

MPEG4 gives the MMDS about 220 channel capacity, or 10 HD channels + 180 Regular channels. Comreg already took away part of MMDS spectrum.

watty

Cambridge Audio moved to
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055219512

Puggy

The issue is not really about efficiency of MMDS, is about the the money to be made from the bandwidth. Using the spectrum for MMDS has a very limited audience. Using it for WiFi or an extension of WiFi has a huge potential market, with lots of euro's to be made. So I have no doubt that MMDS will lose its currently assigned spectrum in the long run. Its already happening in the good old US of A.

Though as a UPC MMDS customer, there is no alternative, apart from DTT or Satellite. But I guess cable is always going to be a better option, in terms of bandwidth and duplex.

May have to move house...