HI READERS, howz ya all doin?

I was after a very important document that I managed to find. India has begun the process of introducing fourth generation (4G) mobile wireless broadband services, even though the government has yet to finalise a date for its long-pending 3G spectrum auction. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) yesterday sought industry views on advanced 4G mobile systems, as it prepares a consultation paper on the new technology, that it said would be 10 times faster than 3G.

“It is necessary that our country should be prepared to introduce 4G services at the earliest,” the TRAI said. It said Sweden and Norway had already launched IMT-Advanced (4G) mobile wireless broadband networks and operators in the United States, Korea and Japan were gearing up for these services. The TRAI said it would deliberate on issues such as pricing of spectrum and licensing in its consultation paper. For the TRAI statement, check http://link.reuters.com/hed78h.

India is the world’s second largest and the fastest growing mobile market in terms of subscribers, but most of its networks are of second generation. The country’s plan to auction spectrum for 3G and broadband wireless access (BWA) services has been delayed as defence forces, which have much of the spectrum, are yet to vacate it for civilian use. The auction was set to begin from January 14, but Telecom Minister Andimuthu Raja said on January 12 some of the differences with the defence ministry were yet to be resolved and that a new date had not been agreed upon.

Media reports have said the auction could be delayed until September when the spectrum is expected to be available. As we know, China has already dropped plans of going for 3G and has opted for 4G instead.
The document released by TRAI states:

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is contemplating on coming up with a consultation paper on IMT-Advanced (4G) Mobile wireless broadband services.

International Mobile Telecommunications-Advanced (IMT-Advanced) systems are mobile systems which include the new capabilities of IMT that go beyond those of IMT-2000. In other words, IMT-Advanced (or 4G) will see progression beyond third-’generation (3G) technology. The new 4G networks will allow users to stream mobile multimedia, such as TV broadcasts and online games, with speeds up to 10 times than that of third-generation (3G) networks. Such systems provide access to a wide range of telecommunication services supported by mobile and fixed networks that are increasingly accessed using hand held devices.

4G network are designed to enable high speed Internet any time, any where. 4G will facilitate higher bandwidth, higher data rate, lower authentication load, and support higher level of user-level customisation. It is expected to provide virtual environment agnostic to network and devices being used.

According to information available, fourth-generation mobile networks have already been commercially launched in Sweden and Norway. The Swedish Post and Telecom Agency has awarded 15-year license for 4G networks in Sweden in May 2008. Operators in other countries like US, Korea, Japan, etc are gearing up to launch IMT-Advanced (4G) Mobile wireless broadband services. It is necessary that our country be prepared to introduce 4G services at the earliest.

TRAI is charged with responsibility of orderly growth of telecom services. In order to facilitate introduction of 4G mobile broadband services, the Authority has decided to deliberate various connected issues such as location and pricing of spectrum for such services and issues related to licensing etc. The objective at this stage is to prepare a consultation paper for wider deliberation, so as to result in recommendations enabling the government to take appropriate decisions or for appropriate regulations by the Authority.

Accordingly, TRAI solicits at this pre-consultation stage, comments/ views from all the stakeholders, by March 15, 2010 on any aspect of 4G which they feel would be relevant to policy making or Regulations.
Till next time, bye!