Mobile broadband a boon to society

Mobile broadband a boon to society, enterprises and individuals, says Ericsson CEO

After posting strong consumer uptake of mobile broadband in 2007, the world has yet to see and realize the true power of this technology, which when harnessed to its full potential can help contribute to productivity and enhance the quality of life to benefit society, enterprises and individuals.


Carl-Henric Svanberg, president and CEO of Ericsson, the world’s leading provider of telecommunications equipment and related services to mobile and fixed networks operators globally, speaking at the recent Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona said, that mobile broadband benefits society in more ways than one – including the current drive to reduce travel and shrink carbon footprints – as a pitch in the global effort to help conserve the environment.

"It is important, if you really want to have a society that works, to use communications to reduce travel and make this planet work for the long perspective," he said.

Svanberg believes that key to quality of life issue is sustainability, which he adds has become business critical today, with energy optimization driving competitiveness and dominating global political agendas.

Proudly proclaiming that his company has taken the lead in this area, he mentions some of Ericsson’s energy optimization innovations such as innovative radio base station designs like the Tower Tube and other alternative energy solutions that have been rolled out to customers to help reduce total cost of ownership, while at the same time improving the environmental performance of mobile network growth worldwide.

In 2006 Ericsson reduced the power consumption of its latest generation of WCDMA base stations by 35 percent, and has pioneered the introduction of many alternative energy sources such as solar power and biofuels in the telecom sector, to make mobile telephony economically and environmentally sustainable in emerging markets.

In a related development, Ericsson announced in a press release at the event, its new hybrid energy solution for diesel and batteries that’s been deployed by Celtel Uganda, first operator to install this solution. It is a self-contained power solution that enables a parameter setting for the batteries’ optimal charging and discharging levels, thereby extending the lifetime of the battery and the generator. The solution significantly reduces energy consumption in mobile networks outside the electricity grid, cutting network operating costs by up to 50 percent.

At the same event, the Swedish telecom giant took the occasion to unveil its groundbreaking next-generation radio base stations, the RBS 6000 series, the smallest energy efficient site solution available in the market today that supports GSM/EDGE, WCDMA/HSPA and LTE in a single package. Its compact design requires only 25 percent of the space used by previous generations while at the same time doubling capacity. The RBS 6000 series reduces power consumption by 20 to 65 percent, compared with existing Ericsson radio base stations, and offers a simple, energy-efficient site solution that helps operators reduce costs across all areas of ownership.

Breakthrough year for mobile broadband, personal TV

"2007 was a breakthrough year for mobile broadband where we’ve seen a strong uptake in 3G and HSPA (High Speed Pocket Access) technology adoption," he said.

According to the Svanberg, there are at present 174 HSPA networks in commercial operation in 76 countries, majority of which are operating at 3.6Mbps or higher speeds. (HSPA is the natural evolution for GSM/WCDMA, the technology that is used in over 86 percent of the world’s wireless networks today). To date there some 180 million WCDMA subscriptions, including HSPA, a figure that is growing by 6.5 million per month.

He said that the uptake of 3G and HSPA continues to be strong in regions that have networks operating commercially. This year, Ericsson expects to see 3G/HSPA networks rolled out in Latin America, Middle East, Africa and Russia, with India coming on board by end of the year.

"We see that in the 3G networks that we monitor in Europe, data traffic now exceeds voice and accelerates quickly, from between 50 to 1500% depending on the operator’s strategy," Svanberg said.

With the HSPA ecosystem growing fast -- over 400 mobile terminals, embedded modules and personal consumer devices provided by 80 suppliers are available today, and with some 250 companies are delivering HSPA, including operators, suppliers and service providers, Svanberg opines that the unrivalled breadth and depth of the ecosystem available today offers unmatched economies of scale that will benefit all players.

Meanwhile, the Ericsson CEO pointed out the shift that is happening in the television viewing habit of consumers, one that is moving from broadcast to personalized television experience.

"We are now stepping into the individual television experience and we aim for a top position," he said. "Today, we are moving from the classic way to watch television, to more interactive and then to the individual TV experience. We believe that Ericsson is the only company with a complete end-to-end offering when it comes to mobile TV and IPTV, and we understand the consumer."

Svanberg said television is a major opportunity for operators to provide consumers a true multimedia experience and Ericsson has a complete offering, strengthened by its acquisitions of Redback, Marconi, Entrisphere and TANDBERG Television, and its services offering. "The key differentiations between today’s television experience and tomorrow’s are IMS - which is a vital part of the seamless television experience." Red R. Samar - Manila Bulletin