3G versus WiMax

WITH CDMA taking the backseat, round one of the technology war in telecom has gone to the GSM platform. A second war for supremacy is brewing between the soon-to-be-launched 3G and WiMax technologies. Both are platforms for providing highspeed Internet on mobile, enabling video calls, movie downloads and other multimedia applications on mobiles.

The differences between the proponents of two technologies are heating up ahead of the spectrum auction next month. Ericsson – the biggest supporter and equipment vendor of 3G – is now laying claims even on 2.3 Ghz spectrum band, which is supposed to be used for WiMax in India. On the other hand, WiMax Forum, the international body supporting WiMax deployment, feels that it has products certified for use in that band, which is most spectral efficient for offering high-speed internet on mobile.

WiMax stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access. It can be used to provide voice services too and is considered a rival of 3G since both platforms are used for similar applications. 3G, however, is said to be voice-centric and is expected to be used for easing network congestion before high-end data services can be offered.

As per the Department of Telecom (DoT), spectrum in the 2.1Ghz band will be used for 3G while 2.3 GHz and 2.5Ghz have been earmarked for Broadband Wireless Access (BWA), which is considered synonymous with WiMax. However, Ericsson CTO Hakan Eriksson said BWA is a family of technologies, which include 3G, HSPA (high speed packet access), LTE (long term evolution) as well as WiMax. “There is nothing that specifies it is only for WiMax,” he told ET.

WiMax Forum, however, feels otherwise. “2.3 and 2.5 Ghz bands are globally harmonized bands as per International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT)- 2000 standard. As a telecom professional, I have not seen a 3G network operational in these two bands anywhere in the world,” WiMax Forum India chapter chairman C S Rao said.

WiMAX, which can be fixed as well as mobile, mainly operates in the 2.3 – 2.7GHz range. Japan and the US are using both 2.3 and 2.5 for WiMax/OFDMA, said Mr Rao. Till now, several mobile WiMAX products operating between 2.3GHz and 2.5GHz have been certified by the WiMax Forum, allowing their commercial deployment, like by Sprint Nextel in the USA.

Ericsson, however, anticipates that by 2013, there will be two billion mobile broadband subscribers, with majority using 3G networks. “I don’t think WiMax will ever break the 10% market share,” said Mr Eriksson.
For BWA, the DoT auction will distribute two 20 MHz blocks in both the 2.3 and 2.5 GHz bands. In the 2.1 GHz 3G band, the auction will be for spectrum in blocks of 5 Mhz. The success of both 3G and WiMax will largely depend on the strength of ecosystem around them. The larger the number of equipment vendors, software suppliers and operators supporting a technology, the more widespread will be the usage. How each of them will span out in India will be visible only after the deployment of networks next year.

 

(Source: The Times Of India)