4G Now

Can Mobile VoIP Save WiBro?

With Korean telecommunications regulators allowing mobile VoIP, or voice-over-Internet protocol, and imposing an identifier number on Wireless Broadband (WiBro) services like mobile phones, WiBro operators are now able to compete with current mobile service providers, including SK Telecom, KTF and LG Telecom.

The Korea Communication Committee (KCC), in allowing voice communication service, expects WiBro subscribers to increase to 1 million by 2011. Wibro operators, KT and SK Telecom, secured only 190,000 subscribers over two years after its  first commercial service was launched in June 2006. Futhermore, mobile VoIP service will trigger a lowering of telecom service charges and fierce competition among telecom service providers, the KCC said. Emerging the mobile VoIP service will help push down the cost of making a phone call by 30 percent, the watchdog group estimated.

Technically, it seems that there are no obstacles. KT, a leading WiBro service provider, has already developed 'Voice Call Continuity,' technology handed from WiBro to CDMA that supports seamless telecom service even outside of WiBro network coverage areas.

However, market watchers are not agreed with KCC's rosy expectations. "To provide voice communicationss service through WiBro, a service provider should invest more than double its CAPEX (capital expenditure). Reaching the mobile penentration ratio of 93 percent, WiBro providers are not easily securing new subscribers," Jong-in, Yang, a financial analyst with Korea Investment & Securities, said in a recent report. "Expanding its WiBro service to secure more subscribers may cause KT may cannibalize its subsidiary KTF's mobile business revenue," Mr. Yang added.

The other WiBro operator SK Telecom is keeping its stance the WiBro service is a complementary good rather than a competitive good for 3G mobile service.

The third WiBro operator may be a variable factor. The KCC said it will issue one more license for WiBro business soon. Owing to low license fee, newcomers can provide mobile voice and data service for one-tenth of the initial investment compared with 3G operators, SK Telecom, and KTF.

Here Comes 4G...

The 4th generation mobile communication service or 4G arouses hopes throughout the mobile industry. Service providers see the 4G as an opportunity to earn more from data revenues, expand their business into fixedline-mobile convergence and collaborate with other industry sectors. Manufacturers expect they can sell new devices by taking advantage of this paradigm change. Then what good will 4G do for consumers?

In a recent report, LG Economic Research Institute remarks while the 3G marked the very arrival of a variety of data services, the 4G will bring the data services to a degree of perfection. For instance, 100 Mbps speed that is only possible over fixedline broadband as of now will be achieved by wireless internet, which makes a wide range of revolutionary services a reality.

One of those “dream” service is mobile internet telephony. Unlike conventional mobile network, there is no exclusive voice network for 4G and 4G voice service uses the internet. The 4G internet phone is a packet-switched service that costs less than circuit switched conventional mobile telephony. Accordingly, consumers can expect cheaper plans in 4G, the report says. 

IPTV is also likely to go mobile. Presently, the fixedline high-definition IPTV service requires 100Mbps-grade internet access that 4G technologies can meet. The mobile IPTV can provide far more channels and more diverse interactive services than fixedline IPTV.

According to LGERIE, 4G is capable of large-scale content delivery, which will encourage the development of various services. For instance, high-definition images will be useful for health-care service, network games or home-networking.

Mobile web surfing, mobile access to fixedline web and video phone that arrived with the advent of 3G will come into wider use in the 4G era. Mobile web surfing will become more user-friendly, while a dramatic change will occur in the internet access over mobile network. Video phone will overcome major imperfections caused by technology limitations of 3G such as frequent disruptions and poor picture quality.

However, LGERIE warns 4G services might end up being used for marketing ploys, if they fail in meeting consumers’ expectations and merely overheat competition.

Drawing an example from 3G, the report points out video call, one of the typical 3G services, attracted only few customers and some 3G cell phones were launched without the function. Without new values for consumers, 4G will only cause unnecessary marketing competition, the research institute says.

It is also worrying that the expansion of convergence triggered by 4G might eat into existing telecom market, as the growth of convergence services will cause decline in revenues from fixedline broadband and wireless voice communications.

Watchdog Allows Mobile Phone Service over WiBro

The nation's telecommunications regulator decided Wednesday to allow companies to provide mobile phone service using a homegrown wireless Internet technology known as WiBro.

WiBro, one of the world's major third-generation (3G) wireless Internet standards, is an improved version of WiMax, which enables broadband-like Web connectivity even when a user is in motion. WiMax refers to a wireless Internet technology developed by Intel.

The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) said that it made the decision in order to enable handset users to make calls at cheaper rates and to promote the use of WiBro, which will in turn help lay the groundwork for its inroads into overseas markets.

WiBro is currently used only in Internet connections on laptop computers and other mobile devices. KT, South Korea's largest fixed-line telephone operator and sole WiBro provider, has already announced its intention to enter the new market. It launched the world's first WiBro service in 2006.

Industry watchers said several others are expected to follow suit. The KCC expects WiBro mobile phone service to begin around the end of 2009, given the time needed to make preparations.

The launch of WiBro-based mobile services is expected to stiffen competition in the country's near-saturated mobile phone industry, which is divided between three companies -- SK Telecom, KTF and LG Telecom.

The three companies already have their own 3G mobile services.

South Korea had 45.04 million mobile service users out of a population of 49 million as of July.

YonhapNewsAgency

KT Unveils WiBro M2M Service

KT, the South Korean WiBro service provider announced the launch of WIBRO CheckLine, the first commercial service combining WiBro with M2M or Machine to Machine.

WIBRO CheckLine proceeds with credit card payment five times faster than the conventional system using a telephone line, saving customers the time for waiting, according to KT. Customers can use the payment service over 3 million times by paying 10,000 won ($ 7.4) a month, which is much cheaper than the existing service charging 39 won (about 2.9 cents) per each payment.

The WiBro CheckLine terminal is in the form of an external modem and simply attached to card readers. Card reader vendors (VAN) provide stores with necessary guides and installation service. KT plans to roll out a WiBro-embedded card reader enabled with banking services early next year.

In November, KT embarked on KT WIBRO Biz Alliance to create new business opportunities by integrating WiBro with a variety of services and working on the development of WiBRo Bus Internet Café and WiBro Kiosk.

Innowireless Pursuing LTE Equipment Supply to KDDI

It was reported that Innowireless, a local start up, developed core LTE equipment and pursues a supply contract with KDDI, the second largest mobile operator in Japan. The equipment developed by Innowireless is SGSA, which is core equipment for signal measurement and device production.

According to Wow TV, the country’s financial news channel, Innowireless had supplied the equipment for 3G providers via Agilent. But as it developed the equipment for 4G service, it is seeking to expand its own sales network at home and abroad.
 
Innowireless considers that chances are high that it would sign up a deal with KDDI because it has maintained close ties with COUEI, which is one of the major suppliers of KDDI. It also expects to expand sales in Korea once local mobile operators including LG would step up investments in 4G services. 

KT Launches Fixed-Mobile WiBro Service

KT, the country's mobile WiMax (WiBro) service provider, begins W Station service that offers multimedia, personal information management and other services by linking personal computer and WiBro device. It also unveiled software development kit(SDK) made for W Station users so that they can develop content and share it with other users.
 
WiBro users can go to www.w-station.co.kr to save their multimedia files together and post pictures taken by mobile phones to their blogs directly, said KT. 
 
Users can use both WiBro phone or laptops with USB modem access. Anyone can easily produce and share programs thanks to the SDK released by KT. KT said that the SDK will encourage people to share more diverse content with others on the W Station web page.
 
KT said, "In the age of mobile 1.0, users didn't have much discretion in using mobile services and devices. W Station, however, will promote participation, sharing, and opening, which are the values of mobile 2.0.
 

DoCoMo Develops LSI Chip for LTE

NTT DOCOMO announced today that it has successfully developed a trial large-scale-integration (LSI) chip that consumes less than 0.04 W of power yet supports multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) signal detection and decoding for downlink transmissions at 100 Mbps, the speed required for the forthcoming mobile system known as Super 3G, or Long Term Evolution (LTE), approved by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).

Compared with chips currently used in handsets compatible with DOCOMO's High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) service, which have a maximum downlink rate of 7.2 Mbps, the new chip will enable downlinks that are more than 10 times as fast.

In September 2007, DOCOMO developed a trial LSI chip that demodulates orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signals and detects MIMO signals transmitted from four antennas at a rate of 200 Mbps, and also consumes no more than 0.1 W of power.

The chip being announced this time demodulates OFDM signals transmitted in the 20MHz bandwidth from two antennas and detects MIMO signals based on Maximum Likelihood Detection (MLD) technology, which ensures relatively high-quality communication even in bad environments for signal reception. The chip also includes error correction decoding, which requires almost the same level of complexity as MIMO signal detection.

In the new chip, which is made with 65-nanometer processing, the circuits have been further optimized, particularly by eliminating redundant circuits for computationally complex processes such as MIMO-signal detection and error-correction decoding.

DOCOMO will incorporate its new LSI chip technology in ongoing research and development of LTE and International Mobile Telecommunications-Advanced (IMT-Advanced) systems, as well as in its active support of the establishment of related international standards.

Released by NTT DoCoMo