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4G (LTE) mobile broadband to cost less than £100 per GByte!

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  • 14-02-2009 12:20am
    #1
    cowboy1981
    Closed Accounts Posts: 73 ✭✭


    Interesting article here suggesting the likely true cost per GByte downloaded over 4th generation LTE networks is likely to be around £100 per GByte! This suggests that todays rates for mobile broadband are substantially below cost, and will need to rise substantially if mobile networks are built out to cater for the true demand. It would appear to corroborate a lot of what Watty is saying. When the NBS contract is over (5 years), 3 will have a monopoly in all NBS areas, and can be expected to adjust subscriptions to this kind of level.

    http://www.samknows.com/broadband/news/cost-of-4g-mobile-data-506.html

    It appears that the UK is considering an NBS type scheme using 3G for very rural areas. However, they already have had an initial scheme where the Govt. gave money to BT to do DSL in most of the smaller exchanges, so they only really need to worry about long lines etc. Similar opposition to it in UK, as here.

    http://www.samknows.com/broadband/news/mobile-broadband-for-fixed-use-a-significant-player-502.html


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    #2
    watty
    Registered Users Posts: 32,417 ✭✭✭✭watty


    they make maybe 400x as much money from phone calls.

    No-one knows what LTE will cost as the licences have not been auctioned.

    It depends on the cost of backhaul. You need 1Gbps (1000Mbps) per mast. Masts today are 2Mbps up to 35Mbps.

    To have the 2.6Ghz coverage and maintain speed/capacity with MIMO you need x4 to x16 as many masts.

    LTE is a MOBILE solution delivering about x5 the performance of 3G/HSPA at light load and x10 the performance at full load.

    Will the operators do lots more masts at x5 HSPA performance or slightly more masts at no more speed than HSDPA for most users?


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    #3
    cowboy1981
    Closed Accounts Posts: 73 ✭✭cowboy1981


    watty wrote: »
    Will the operators do lots more masts at x5 HSPA performance or slightly more masts at no more speed than HSDPA for most users?
    3 won't go beyond the 160 masts that the State is subsidising. This will give them oodles of additional voice revenue. They badly need this coverage, because their existing coverage is very poor vs Vodafone/Meteor/O2, and they have to pay Vodafone roaming charges outside of their own coverage. They are very unlikely to get their money back outside of this area. They are not interested in Broadband - it is just a cover to get State subsidies for their mobile voice revenues.


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    #4
    watty
    Registered Users Posts: 32,417 ✭✭✭✭watty


    I laugh at your measly 100Mbps center of cell, 400Kbps edge of cell LTE.

    I raise the stakes to 1000,000Mbps. AKA 1 Tera bps. aka 1000Gbps

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/02/16/terabit_ethernet_optics/
    Apparently the current 10Gbps (10,000Mbps, 25,000x LTE cell edgespeed ) on existing fibre is old hat. You can get up to 4 x 10Gbps streams of laser into the fibre. The Japanese have demonstrated 64 streams. A new technique should allow 100 streams at 10Gbps each, = 1Tbps.

    LTE isn't the future of Broadband. Multiplexed 10Gbps fibre at 1000Gbps (1Tbps) is. 10,000MBps (10Gbps) is today's broadband fibre.


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    #5
    Thraktor
    Closed Accounts Posts: 287 ✭✭Thraktor


    Watty, do you know if this was demonstrated (or could be implemented) on the same single-mode fiber as is used for FTTH connections? (ITU standard G.652 if I recall correctly) I had a skim through the research paper, but didn't see if it was specified.


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    #6
    watty
    Registered Users Posts: 32,417 ✭✭✭✭watty


    No Idea.

    However ANY modern FTTH can out do LTE (real life per user speeds) by about 5000:1 performance per person and 20x at least the best (< 100m) VDSL over kms.

    This stuff is for backhaul & backbone links.


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    #7
    Thraktor
    Closed Accounts Posts: 287 ✭✭Thraktor


    I know we wouldn't actually see these sort of speeds in the local loop for a couple of decades yet, but it's nice to be able to point out that the fiber-optic cable that can be laid today is forward compatible to the tune of 1Tbps. It puts 3's claims that the NBS service can be "upgraded" to 14Mbps into perspective.


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    #8
    watty
    Registered Users Posts: 32,417 ✭✭✭✭watty


    The 14Mbps is barely 80kbps when 10 users in the outer 1/2 radius (75% area) of a rural cell are simultaneously streaming. Even 100Mbps LTE is about 400kbps for those users.

    3 can't compete with Fixed Wireless like Breeze, never mind High performance Metro Fixed wireless, Basic DSL at 5km or 20 year old coax cable with Broadband on it never mind ANY kind of Fibre.


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