070909: Advocate urges alternative to WiMAX technology

Technology

Written by Rizal Raoul Reyes / Correspondent

THURSDAY, 09 JULY 2009 02:51

AN information and communications technology (ICT) advocate in the government called for the adoption of long-term evolution (LTE) technology in the country because it will be more beneficial for the country to adopt in the future In an interview with the BusinessMirror, George Kintanar, cochairman of the membership committee of the Chief Information Officers Forum Inc., said it is more practical for the Philippines to use LTE instead of the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX). “In terms of spectrum efficiency, LTE is more efficient in terms of deployment,” said Kintanar. He added that LTE requires 20 megahertz (MHz) for deployment, while WiMAX requires 30 MHz. “It’s a fact that spectrum is a scarce resource. Being a rare commodity, the government should definitely think wisely in deploying a more efficient technology so the country can maximize its use,” he said. Since the Philippines is a developing country, Kintanar said many Filipino companies will find it hard to acquire a higher bandwidth because of the limiting cost. With LTE requiring a smaller capacity, Kintanar said more companies will be in a better position to deploy this technology. “More Filipinos will benefit if the government adopts LTE as the standard technology,” he said. Spectrum is an electronic bandwidth that is allotted to various purposes, such as analog TV broadcasts, FM and AM radio transmission and mobile-phone services.   With the growth of wireless communication, allocation for the available spectrum to each technology becomes more complicated. Each user community demands higher bandwidth to be able to sell and service more units. For any given bandwidth slot, there is a limited amount of data that can be shared. Vendors want more bandwidth so they can handle more devices in a given area. Experts said LTE is a set of enhancements to the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) which will be introduced in the Third- Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) According to reports in the technology sector overseas, many believe 3GPP Release 8 will focus on adopting fourth-generation (4G) mobile communications technology, including an all-Internet protocol (IP) flat networking architecture. LTE supports flexible carrier bandwidths, from 1.4 MHz up to 20 MHz, as well as both Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD) and Time Division Duplex (TDD). LTE aims to enhance spectral efficiency, lowering costs, improving services, making use of new spectrum and reformed spectrum opportunities and better integration with other open standards. The main advantages of LTE are high throughput, low latency, plug and play, FDD and TDD in the same platform, improved end-user experience and simple architecture resulting in low operating expenditures. LTE will also support seamless connection to existing networks such as global system for mobile communication, code division multiple access (CDMA), wideband CDMA and CDMA 2000. WiMAX provides wireless transmission of data using a variety of transmission modes, from point-to-multipoint links to portable and fully mobile Internet access. Recently Intel Corp. and Globe Telecom introduced commercial WiMAX services in the country through Globe Broadband. The service is available in southern Luzon, the Visayas, Cagayan de Oro and selected areas in Metro Manila. Advocates of LTE said the only advantage of WiMAX is that it is now available. LTE is scheduled to be rolled out in 2012.

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/component/content/article/52-technology/12931-advocate-urges-alternative-to-wimax-technology.html