“All
of the major, and even some minor populations and households can avail
themselves of 4G. We're going to be vastly superior to what we have today”
Managing Director of
LIME Gary Sinclair in his interview with the Financial Gleaner dated Friday
April 11th 2014
Telecom
Provider LIME has decided to take the
AWS Spectrum and utilize it to launch 4G LTE (long Term Evolution), despite any
negative Press surrounding their decision to use what’s considered very
difficult Spectrum to utilize as stated in “LIME
Jamaica makes big bet on AWS Spectrum”, Published Friday April 11, 2014, The Jamaica Gleaner.
Specifically,
they purchased the following Blocks of Frequency and its associated 15 year
license for a tidy sum of US$30 million:
1.
12 MHz Band consisting of Spectrum from 1710
MHz to 1722 MHz
2.
12 MHz Band consisting of Spectrum from 2110
MHz to 2122 MHz
It’s
pretty much equivalent to the 700 MHz Band 17 that was granted to Telecom
Provider Digicel, in that it’s 12
MHz is size. The difference here being
that Telecom Provider LIME took 1 Block
of 12 MHz whereas Telecom Provider LIME
took 2 non-adjacent Blocks of Spectrum.
There
seems to be some confusion though between the actions of the Ministry of
Science, Technology Energy and Mining, Telecom Provider LIME and the SMA (Spectrum Management
Authority).
Apparently,
the SMA has declared they’ve not issued any such Spectrum License for any Blocks
of AWS Spectrum to Telecom Provider LIME,
to quote their emailed response to the Financial Gleaner: “At present, no Spectrum in the AWS Band has
been licensed. Consideration is also being given to making frequencies in the
1700/2100 MHz Band (AWS-3) available for licensing”.
LIME chooses to go 4G
LTE – HSDPA+ plans refashioned as Jamaicans falling in love with Data
Telecom
Provider LIME upgrade of their 3G Network
to 4G LTE is really a change of direction from their plans to go HSDPA+ (High
Speed Downlink Packet Access Plus) Release 7 (64-QAM) to a full on 4G LTE Network as stated
in my blog article
entitled “LIME
and Digicel have purchase AWS and 700 MHZ Spectrum for 4G LTE - Spectrum
Purchase by the Number with Strings Attached as Ministry gets kitty donations
from Local Telcos”.
That’s
clearly obvious from their figure of US$80 million, which C&W PLC, their
Parent company, had gifted them back in 2011 for a December 2012 launch as I’d pointed out in my blog article entitled
“LIME's
4G plans are really a HSDPA+ Release 7 Upgrade - Telecom Provider LIME’s
Deception as HSDPA+ is really just a faster 3G Plan from the past”.
Back then,
the plan was to use the influx of tourists into the islands as the main users
of the faster HSDPA+ or H+ Network for short. But
since the MTR (Mobile Termination Rate) was adjusted by the OUR (Office of
Utilities Regulation), Telecom Provider LIME
has seen a 25% increase in its Customer Base as stated in my blog article
entitled “LIME
experiences 25% increase in Profits due to MTR - 4G LTE and FTTH like Bahamas
with IPTV Streaming LIME TV will give LIME 3 Days to Kill” to their current
number of 700,000 customers!
Thanks
also in part to Telecom Provider Digicel
for their launch of DL600 and DL700 smartphones, the appetites of most
Jamaicans for Data Services was whetted by these low-end JA$10,000 budget
smartphones as stated in my blog article entitled “Jamaicans
fall in love with Digicel's DL600 and DL700 during Christmas 2013 - Sub-US$100
smartphones driving rapid smartphone adoption in Jamaica as Manufacturing is
Possible”.
Positive
feedback from the Bahamas launch of 4G LTE as described in my blog article
entitled “Bahamas
Telecommunications Company launched 4G LTE on Valentine's Day - Jamaicans need
UNCHR Right to Broadband Access needed to empower Jamaicans before 4G LTE can
go National” may have also changed their minds as well, making them realize
after the Christmas of 2013 that many Jamaicans were indeed interested in
paying for Wireless Broadband.
AWS vs 700 MHz – Link
Budget for AWS different from the US of A due to reduce Shadowing
But
are these higher frequency Block of Spectrum up to the Task? Short answer, yes!
Telecom
Provider LIME merely has to upgrade the
Cell Sites in their intended coverage area with the new Firmware and Circuit
Boards that will enable their Ericsson 3G BBU (Base Band Units) to function
with the 4G LTE Spectrum.
Remember,
like Telecom Provider Digicel,
Telecom Provider LIME uses Ericsson as
its Telecom Equiptment Supplier of Choice as stated in my blog article
entitled “LIME
outsources Network Maintenance to Ericsson - The Lone Rangers in Telecoms may
have to Tag Team to get a 700Mhz license for 4G LTE”.
So
they don’t need to purchase all new Telecom Equipment, merely to upgrade their
existing one from 3G to 4G LTE with new Agisson or Andrews Antennas capable of
handling the new Frequencies. Additionally, they’ll also need to upgrade all
Backhaul Network to Fiber Optic to handle the Peak Traffic associated with 4G
LTE.
Finally,
they’ll also have to make sure that the Secondary Power Backup system is
preferably Solar or Wind Turbine powered, specifically for the Backhaul Network
as argued in my blog
article entitled “Phillip
Paulwell allocates 700Mhz and Fiber Optic License for LTE - Broadcasters
effectively on notice for Digital Switch Over”, as at such High Speeds that
4G LTE Networks are capable of, Data Failures and outages are not tolerated by
Business Customers.
The
Financial Gleaner has quoted the SMA in emails requesting information on
Telecom Provider LIME’s AWS Spectrum as
were told they’d have some challenges as according to the SMA, AWS needs three Cell
Towers to provide the equivalent 4G LTE Coverage of a single 700 MHz 4G LTE Cell
Tower.
The
concerns about the Spectrum being too high and requiring more Towers as
mentioned by SMA (Spectrum Management Authority) are completely false.
Interesting comments that have elicited some defensive albeit correct posturing
from Managing Director of LIME Gary
Sinclair who was quoted as saying that the AWS Spectrum is “going to provide us with maximum cost
efficiency”.
Truth
is, the SMA’s comments are based on the experiences of Telecom Provider
AT&T operating in the Cities in the US of A using the 2100 MHz Band back in
2007 to 2008, where there are a lot of high Rise buildings. These buildings
contain a significant amount of Steel and concrete and thus are not transparent
to frequencies above 1 GHz or 1000 MHz.
However,
they suffer more reflection than absorption, which explains many quirks about
these early 2100 MHz 3G Data Networks where persons have spoken anecdotal
stories of standing in particular spots and getting coverage in New York and
San Francisco, California, only to move somewhere else and the 3G Data Signal
drops
Consequently,
when they’d deployed their 3G Wireless Networks in the US of A, they had
problems with reception, resulting in many Americans who owned AT&T Apple
iPhones to curse them for their poor Data Service. In response, Telecom
Provider AT&T eventually made the decision to purchase Blocks of Spectrum
in the 850 MHz Band and had customers having difficulty using their 3G go to
Times Square to use free Wi-Fi Internet.
Good
to note too that Apple also redesigned the Apple iPhone 4 with a new Antenna
design that improved the coverage by enabling the smartphone to pick up reflected
signals as chronicled in my blog article entitled
Apple
iPhone and the Loop Antenna - Strange Encounters of the Third Kind and “Apple
and the Antenna - Black Sabbath and much ado about nothing”.
This
resulted in an improvement in the reception. However, the bandwidth is a little
less for 850 MHz and even more so for the 700 MHz Blocks of Spectrum, a minor
loss for the gain in increased indoor coverage. All this merely suggests is
that higher Spectrum is useful for carrying Wireless Broadband Data, with Spectrum
below 1 GHz being able to handle slower speed Data e.g. 3G and Voice Services.
A
good example of such a service is Digicel’s
very own 4G Broadband Internet service, which is based on WiMaX (Worldwide
Interoperability for Microwave Access) Protocols and uses the 2.5 GHz Band,
very close to the Bands that Telecom Provider LIME has chosen.
Digicel’s 4G Broadband modems work ok
and deliver good service but work best when located near to a window or area in
the house with little metallic structural interference. But you’ll have to get
used to the Troubleshooting Procedure as it relates to handling your WiMaX Modem
as described in my Geezam blog article
entitled “How
to setup and troubleshoot your Digicel 4G Broadband Modem”.
Good
to note that in the USA of A, which is flat and lacking of any significant
terrain features, the AWS is used by Telecom Provider in the country areas, not
in the Cities, to provide 4G LTE Services. The SMA is thus being very
disingenuous in suggesting that AWS Spectrum costs more, when in fact, it
really comes down to a matter of the difference in the Link Budget (Plan for
Voice and Data Spectrum Deployment from point-to-point or point-to-multi-point).
Thus
the Link Budget in the US of A and Jamaica would be different as here we have
sunny weather and drier air and more mountainous terrain as opposed to the US
of A where they have more moister air and temperate climate with flatter
terrain.
Telecom Engineer and
AWS – It’s all about Optimization and the typical Customer’s Data Usage
Telecom
Engineers can take advantage of these differences in Link Budget between
Jamaica and America when installing 4G LTE antennas by placing them on high
elevations or hills, thus increasing the range of a typical Tower without
boosting power.
In
addition, Optimization exercises, which are constantly ongoing for any Telecom
Network involving the adjusting Tilt angles of the Andrew and Agisson Antennas
as well as adjusting coverage frequencies. These are all part and parcel of the
Telecom Maintenance, with 4G LTE Maintenance being added to that list.
In
addition, in the US of A, the cities aren’t suitable for AWS due to the
shadowing effect of the high rise buildings, but excellent for use in the flat,
rolling countryside. Hence, the Americans are already planning AWS deployments
in these low-lying, flat countryside areas as a Last –Mile solution in what are
called WiSPs as described in “Meet
WISP, the wireless future of Internet service”, published Dec 2, 2013 3:30
AM by Eric Geier, PCWorld. Ditto that too for AWS in Jamaica and
thus with benefits to Telecom Provider LIME,
with the added benefit of higher Bandwidth.
Also
the usage habits of humans come into play. The typical engrossed Data user on
his smartphone will often stop stock still while walking and messaging, deep in
concentration. This is atypical of any person on their smartphone using Data
Applications, the little screen holding them in rapt attention to the point of
ignoring all about them.
This
as humans cannot multi-task in any activity that requires the eyes and both
hands. Hands-free phone conversations, however, require less mental agility,
making it easy to do both. To that end, Telecom Provider LIME need not worry about dropped Data
connections for users in the future using smartphones or Tablets to access
their 4G LTE Network; they’ll be standing stock still!
As
for the same of smartphones that support the AWS Spectrum, most smartphones and
Tablets that have the ability to access 4G LTE are Quad Band. Thus in choosing 1710
MHz to 1722 MHz and 2110 MHz to 2122 MHz, Telecom Provider LIME has chosen a commonly used Spectrum
that’s already trending in the US of A as a common choice for 4G LTE as
mentioned in my blog article
entitled “LIME
and Digicel have purchase AWS and 700 MHZ Spectrum for 4G LTE - Spectrum
Purchase by the Number with Strings Attached as Ministry gets kitty donations
from Local Telcos”.
All
they merely have to do is just make sure that devices that use the AWS
Spectrum
for Data Services are mainly of two types:
1.
Mi-Fi with fairly large antennas
connected to a Power Supply
2.
Fixed Units at home where the customer
doesn’t do a lot of moving about
3.
Smartphones that use the Spectrum that
they’ve purchased
Hopefully,
they’ll also offer other services such as Fixed Line Telephony similar to Digicel DigiHome as described in my blog article
entitled “Digicel
rolls out DigiHome, their first Residential Postpaid Fixed Line Service - Ramp
up for Landline Number Portability and LIME’s Homefone XPress”.
Telecom
Provider LIME can thus provide reliable
4G LTE Service to Jamaica and with enough bandwidth to handle the traffic, once
they’ve significantly upgraded their Backhaul Network to handle the increased Data
Traffic with a Fiber Optic Backhaul as Telecom Provider Digicel is currently
doing as stated in “Digicel to
build sophisticated underground fibre network”, published Wednesday March
26, 2014, The Jamaica Gleaner.
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