Two of the world’s leading mobile operators recently announced plans to leverage HSPA technology to enhance the mobile broadband performance of their 3G networks so they can delay their LTE trials and deployments until 2011 or 2012. AT&T and Telstra of Australia both claim to already offer the fastest mobile broadband service in their respective markets, and plan to use software upgrades to increase the data speed available from their HSPA-powered networks. 4G World will provide a unique opportunity to examine the strategies of AT&T and Telstra which are enhancing their existing 3G networks before deploying LTE using new spectrum.
AT&T already claims to provide the fastest 3G mobile data network, using a combination of EDGE, UMTS and HSUPA (R5) technologies to offer the best combination of coverage and speed. Not to be left behind by these 4G announcements, AT&T recently announced plans to upgrade its 3G mobile data service to boost download speeds during the second half of 2009. Specifically, AT&T announced plans to upgrade its existing 3G mobile broadband network to High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) 7.2 technology beginning later in 2009, with completion expected in 2011. The deployment of HSPA 7.2 technology in more than half of the existing AT&T 3G network footprint will be complemented by the reuse of AT&T’s 850 Mhz spectrum previously used for the TDMA voice network decommissioned in 2008. The near doubling of wireless spectrum dedicated to mobile broadband in most metro areas and adding fiber connectivity and additional capacity to thousands of cell sites is designed to enable AT&T to bridge the gap by accelerating current 3G download speeds. AT&T also plans to add 20 metropolitan areas to its 3G mobile broadband network, expanding from 350 markets currently and build 2,100 new cell sites to improve coverage.
The cost of these AT&T’s mobile broadband network upgrades will be covered by the $17bn to $18bn in capital expenditures forecast for 2009. In contrast to Verizon, AT&T has decided to delay the deployment of LTE until the technology has been fully proven and volume manufacturing has driven network infrastructure and handset prices down. In fact, AT&T has reserved the decision of deploying HSPA+ (R7) technology to further increase download speeds to 20+ Mbps until it has better visibility on the availability and cost of necessary infrastructure and devices. As such, AT&T has yielded to Verizon Wireless as the first major US wireless network operator to upgrade its network to LTE, and does not plan trials of the next generation 4G mobile broadband technology until 2010 with active LTE deployments beginning in 2011.
Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo held a press conference and presented a major keynote at the Mobile World Congress in February, highlighting his company’s accomplishments in delivering its Next G HSPA Evolution mobile broadband network. When the Trujillio team took over the management of Telstra, they embarked on a major transformation of the company to prepare it for deregulation and increased competition. One of their most significant decisions was to replace its existing mobile CDMA-based EV-DO network using 850 MHz. spectrum nationwide with a 3G (WCDMA) equivalent, as part of a three-year project beginning in 2005 to operate a single, super-fast national 3G mobile service. The Telstra Next GTM network was deployed on the existing tower infrastructure in just 10 months, and the excellent radio propagation characteristics of the 850MHz band allowed Telstra to overcome the challenges of distance in Australia. This 3G network now provides Next GTM coverage to 99 per cent of the Australian population with a footprint of more than 6,700 base stations and a footprint of more than two million square kilometers - an area bigger than Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Austria and Switzerland combined, or almost three times the size of Texas.
Mr. Trujillo announced in April that he had completed his transformation objectives and would be leaving his position at the helm of Telstra in June. Prior to his departure from Australia one month early at the end of May, the Telstra CEO announced that he had fulfilled his commitment to delivering Turbo 21 Mbps services to business and consumer customers in April 2009. The Telstra Next GTM network currently holds the distinction of having the world’s fastest mobile broadband service, enabled with peak network speeds of up to 21Mbps downlink and 5.8Mbps uplink in selected areas served by HSPA+ (R7) technology using 850 MHz spectrum. This achievement is comparable to the software upgrade being contemplated by AT&T to increase download speeds to 20+ Mbps until it has better visibility on the availability and cost of necessary LTE infrastructure equipment and devices.
The recent departure of Telstra’s CEO Sol Trujillo and the appointment of chief executive-elect David Thodey will not significantly affect the Networks and Services unit of Telstra headed by Group Managing Director Michael Rocca or the Wireless Engineering and Operations unit supervised by executive director Mike Wright. With the support of ecosystem partners including Ericsson, Qualcomm and Alcatel Lucent, Telstra was the first operator in the world to launch a commercial HSPA+ (R7) network and the company is now planning to increase this to peak network downlink speeds to 42Mbps in parts of its network by yearend 2009 with testing and availability of devices during 2010.
The Telstra Next G(TM) network provides access to a whole new world of mobile Internet rich media content for consumers, and high speed Internet access to hosted applications for businesses in Australia. Telstra is leveraging the mobile broadband Internet connectivity to drive increased productivity and innovation ultimately stimulating economic development. Telstra has commissioned research that demonstrates that Australia’s rapid take-up of mobile broadband has resulted in an annual productivity dividend of $7.4 billion from mobile broadband and better equipped business to weather the global financial crisis.
Like its US counterparts, Telstra’s transport and core networks are heading toward all-IP interfaces, and the evolution to LTE is viewed as a capacity overlay layer in the densest areas of the network over the top of the HSPA+ enabled network. For now, Telstra sees LTE as a data only layer with the existing WCDMA network continuing to carry voice over R99 circuit connections with evolution to VOIP as a later evolution.
Mobile operators like Telstra, AT&T and Verizon believe that LTE will deliver desktop-like broadband data speeds to handsets and help fuel the growth of mobile internet services offsetting flat or declining revenues from traditional mobile voice services. These leading mobile operators have embarked on a new battle for supremacy based on broadband connectivity and speed. As the base of mobile broadband data cards and subscribers are doubling each year, mobile broadband revenues are increasing at a rate of 40% CAGR. Add to that the millions of broadband enabled notebooks, netbooks, and advanced smartphones with Internet browsers being purchased annually, such as the Apple iPhone and RIM Blackberry. The race to 4G is being driven by the competition to capture these high-end mobile broadband customers, and the need to build the capacity to carry the fast growing rich media content of the mobile internet over the next five years.
Comparing the Mobile Broadband Strategies of AT&T, Telstra Verizon and Sprint
| Mobile Network Operator | Current MB Network | Next MB Network | 4G Deployment Date |
| AT&T | HSDPA (R5) | HSPA (R6) in 2009 | LTE Trials in 2010 |
| Maximum 3.6 Mbps | Maximum 7.2 Mbps | Deployment Begin 2011 | |
| Ave. 400-700 Kbps | Ave. 700-1,700 Kbps | ||
| Telstra - Australia | HSPA (R6) | HSPA+ (R7) in 2009 | HSPA+ (42 Mbps) in 2010 |
| Maximum 7.2 Mbps | Maximum 21 Mbps | No Announced Date for LTE | |
| Ave 700-1,700 Kbps | Ave. 550 Kbps – 8 Mbps | ||
| Verizon Wireless | EV-DO Rev. A | LTE | LTE Trials by yearend 2009 |
| Maximum 2 Mbps | Ave. Download 600-1,400 Kbps | Deployment Begin 2010 | |
| Ave. Download 600 Kbps – 1.4 Mbps | Ave upload 500-800 Kbps. | ||
| Ave. upload 500 Kbps – 800 Kbps | |||
| Sprint | EV-DO Rev A | Mobile WiMAX 2009 | Clearwire Network Build out in 2009-2010 |
| Maximum 2 Mbps | Maximum 12 Mbps | ||
| Ave. Download 600Kbps - 1.4 Mbps | Ave. Download 2-4 Mbps | ||
| Ave. Upload 500 Kbps – 800 Kbps | Ave Upload.75 -1.5 Mbps |
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