Russia: MegaFon and Ericcson to work on M2M.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jes�s.

Russia: MegaFon and Ericcson to work on M2M.

Ericsson and Russian operator MegaFon have announced plans to work together to develop M2M wireless communications. 

The use of Ericsson�s cloud-based Device Connection Platform as well as consultancy and systems integration support from the Swedish infrastructure giant will allow MegaFon to offer M2M connectivity to enterprises and tap into new revenue streams.

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LTE: TDC of Denmark Selects Ericsson for LTE

WorlsWideTech. Francisco De Jes�s.

Denmark's mobile operator TDC has chosen Ericsson to supply and manage the LTE network. Under the deal, Ericsson will roll out a complete LTE solution including radio access and core network equipment as well as managed services. 

This is Ericsson's first full-scope managed service contract for an LTE/Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network, company said in a statement. The roll out of the network starts immediately.

"It's a historic day for us - not only for our business in Denmark but also from an international perspective because TDC is an important customer for Ericsson," says Lars Tofft, Head of Ericsson Denmark and Norway.

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Ericsson deploys its first LTE network in North America

Ericsson Inc. (ERIC) supplied the network equipment for MetroPCS Communications Inc.'s LTE rollout in the Dallas area.

The operator is offering services on one device, the Samsung Craft, a dual-mode handset that operates on the carrier's CDMA and LTE networks. MetroPCS deployed LTE services last week in Las Vegas, using network equipment from Samsung Telecommunications America.

Ericsson said its network equipment for MetroPCS was a custom solution that allows MetroPCS to reuse a substantial part of its existing infrastructure.

In an interview with Thomas Noren, head of Product Line LTE at Ericsson, Noren said the company upgraded MetroPCS's transmission to the base station site "so we are now using an Ericsson solution for the transmission that is common for both CDMA and LTE. You can use one transport network and share the bandwidth and get synergies from using the same IP connectivity for both technologies so this is future-proof and a very sustainable solution that offers synergies and simplifies network management. It lowers costs. It simplifies the network."

Ericsson is supplying the end-to-end solution for MetroPCS -- its RBS 6000 base station, which supports LTE and GSM-based protocols; its IP-RAN, which allows MetroPCS to operate its CDMA and LTE networks over a common connection, its Evolved Packet Core; and network services.

"We also have deployed our EPC, our state-of-the-art gateway thats based on a true IP platform as well as our MME (Mobility Management Entity)," Noren said. "They basically bought the entire end-to-end solution from Ericsson ... It's up to Ericsson to make sure things work end to end and we certainly take that responsiblity." Noren noted that by using one equipment vendor, MetroPCS launched faster because the carrier didnt need to worry about interoperability testing between network vendors.

Noren, who holds the distinction as the world's first LTE customer, said TeliaSonera, which deployed the world's first LTE network in Norway and Sweden, said TeliaSonera is seeing download speeds of 40 to 50 megabits per second. "The performance is very, very good."

Ericsson said it expects to own 25% of the essential patents for LTE, making it the largest patent holder in the industry.

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AT&T to launch LTE by mid-2011

AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T) will launch commercial LTE service by mid-2011, and will cover between 70 million and 75 million POPs by the end of next year, a top executive said.

Speaking at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2010 Media, Communications & Entertainment Conference, AT&T Operations CEO John Stankey said the company is actively working with its primary LTE vendor partners--Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) and Alcatel-Lucent (NASDAQ:ALU)--to get the network ready for launch. The company is currently conducting LTE trials in Baltimore and Dallas, Stankey said.

AT&T has said it wanted to wait for the LTE market to mature before moving forward with a full-scale deployment. Stankey said AT&T is working on a different kind of implementation for LTE than other carriers, and needs to carry forward its UMTS services to ensure that voice and data services can work simultaneously on both UMTS and LTE. The company is spending $700 million in capital expenditures on LTE this year and "will go far beyond that" in 2011, Stankey said.

By contrast, Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) intends to launch 25-30 commercial LTE markets in the fourth quarter of this year, covering 100 million POPs. Verizon has said it plans to double the number of its LTE markets 15 months after its initial launch this year.

Stankey also touched on AT&T's 3G network. AT&T is readying a nationwide HSPA+ upgrade for this year, which AT&T executives have said will allow the carrier to deliver real-world download speeds of 7 Mbps. In the meantime, the carrier continues to upgrade backhaul to cell sites it has upgraded to HSPA 7.2 technology.

Stankey said he is "never satisfied" with AT&T's network, and that the company is continually working to improve it. He said that by Oct. 1, AT&T will have added 600 additional radio carriers in San Francisco, which has been a trouble spot for the company.

However, Stankey said, AT&T's network upgrade efforts have been hampered by continuing parts shortages from key vendors. He said AT&T is currently dealing with $300 million worth of backlogged network equipment. "We know we need that to deal with capacity," he said. 

 

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