Market Future:- HSPA+ and LTE

Key Facts:

• 451 million 3GPP mobile broadband subscriptions worldwide; 64 million in the Americas (Informa Telecoms & Media)
• 60 HSPA mobile broadband networks in 26 countries in the Americas
• HSPA 7.2 has been deployed coast-to-coast by AT&T, Rogers and T-Mobile in North America; backhaul upgrades are underway to realize the full potential of the fastest nationwide networks
• 31% of all mobile phones purchased in the United States during Q409 were smartphones, compared to only 23% in Q408 (NPD Group); 40% integrated device penetration by AT&T with wireless data traffic growth more than 5,000% over the past three years
• Average industry percentage contribution of data to overall average revenue per user in the U. S. was 29% at the end of 2009; mobile data will contribute at least 33% of the overall U.S. mobile service revenues by the end of 2010 (Chetan Sharma)
• HSPA+ has been deployed by Rogers across 41% of the Canadian population
• T-Mobile USA launched HSPA+ in Philadelphia with plans for broad national deployment in 2010
• T-Mobile USA’s webConnect Rocket™ USB Laptop Stick – the first HSPA+ device offered by a national U.S. carrier
• Operators are heavily investing in backhaul to cell sites to deliver maximum potential of HSPA and HSPA+ networks and to prepare for LTE
• TeliaSonera commercially launched LTE in Sweden and Norway in 2009; 20 commercial LTE networks are expected in 2010; 130 operators have expressed that LTE will be their future technology evolution (Informa Telecoms & Media)

Top 10 Techonology set to evolve in 2011- by Gartner

Gartner Inc. has identified 10 mobile technologies that will evolve significantly through 2011 in ways that will impact short-term mobile strategies and policies. Investments in mobile applications and technologies will increase through 2011 as organizations emerge from the recession and ramp up both business-to-employee (B2E) and business-to-consumer (B2C) mobile spending.

"We are highlighting these 10 mobile technologies that should be on every organization's radar screen," said Nick Jones, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. "These mobile technologies were selected because they will evolve in ways that affect corporate strategies, significant numbers of customers or employees will adopt or expect them, or they will address particular mobile challenges that organizations will face through 2011."

The 10 mobile technologies to watch in 2010 and 2011 include:

Bluetooth (3 and 4)
Two new Bluetooth versions will emerge by 2011: Bluetooth 3 will introduce 802.11 as a bearer for faster data transmission, and Bluetooth 4 will introduce a new low-energy (LE) mode that will enable communication with external peripherals and sensors. Both versions will include other technical improvements to improve battery life and security. Gartner believes that Bluetooth 3 will facilitate corporate and consumer functions demanding large bandwidth (e.g., downloading images and videos from handsets). Bluetooth LE will enable a range of new sensor-based business models in industries such as fitness, healthcare and environmental control and will be used by handset and PC peripherals to enable new functions, such as PCs that autolock when users move away from them.

The Mobile Web
By 2011, over 85% of handsets shipped globally will include some form of browser. In mature markets, such as Western Europe and Japan, around 60% of handsets shipped will be smartphones with sophisticated browsing capability and the ability to render conventional HTML sites in some manner. The growth in smartphones with relatively large and high-resolution screens will encourage greater numbers of people to access conventional websites on mobile devices, and will make it possible to deliver some B2C applications using conventional Web tools without adaptation. In mature markets, the mobile Web, along with associated Web adaptation tools, will be a leading technology for B2C mobile applications through 2012, and should be part of every organization's B2C technology portfolio.

Mobile Widgets

Widgets are installable Web applications that use technologies such as JavaScript and HTML. Many handsets support widgets running on their home screens, where they are easily visible and accessible. Despite the lack of standards, widgets provide a convenient way to deliver simple, connected applications, especially those involving real-time data updates (such as weather forecasts, email notifications, marketing, blogs and information feeds). Because widgets exploit well-understood tools and technologies, they have lower entry barriers than complex native applications, and thus can be a good first step to assess the demand for an application on a specific platform before undertaking expensive native development.

Platform-Independent Mobile AD Tools
Mobile platforms will become more diverse through 2012 although consolidation will not have started, and, in some markets, five or more platforms may have a significant presence. Therefore, tools that can reduce the burden of delivering installable applications to several platforms will be very attractive. Platform-independent application development (AD) tools cannot deliver a "write once, run anywhere" equivalent to native code; however, they can significantly reduce the cost of delivering and supporting multiplatform applications that provide a more sophisticated experience than the mobile Web and operate outside signal coverage.

App Stores
App stores will be the primary (and, in some cases, the only) way to distribute applications to smartphones and other mobile devices. App stores also provide a range of business support functions, such as payment processing, that assist smaller organizations. Gartner believes that app stores will play many roles in an organization's B2C and B2E strategies. They will be a distribution channel for mobile applications and a commercial channel to sell applications and content (especially in international markets), and they will provide new options for application sourcing. Many applications will exploit ecosystem cloud services.

Enhanced Location Awareness
By the end of 2011, over 75 percent of devices shipped in mature markets will include a GPS. GPS will be the primary, but not the only, means of establishing handset location. Wi-Fi and cell ID systems will remain important in situations where GPS is unavailable or unreliable. The popularity of location-aware handsets will enable a wide range of B2E and B2C location-aware applications, and will serve as a foundation for more-sophisticated contextual applications in the future. However, organizations must be sensitive to local privacy regulations, ensure that applications that expose location are "opt in", and remain on alert for new risks and concerns that will be raised by location awareness.

Cellular Broadband
During 2010 and 2011, the availability of multimegabit wireless broadband performance will continue to grow as mobile networks enhance their broadband performance. Continuous improvements in wireless broadband performance will increase the range of applications that no longer require fixed networking, and make cellular broadband a more effective fallback when fixed connections fail. Embedded cellular networking will become a standard feature of many corporate laptops, and will enable new types of network-connected devices and business models, such as e-books and media players.

Touchscreens
Touchscreens are emerging as the dominant user interface for large-screen handsets, and will be included in over 60% of mobile devices shipped in Western Europe and North America in 2011. Touch-enabled devices will also make increasing use of techniques such as haptics to enhance user experience. Organizations developing native handset applications may need to exploit single and multitouch interfaces and haptics to give their applications a compelling and competitive user experience.

M2M
Many network service providers increased their commitment to machine to machine (M2M) in 2009, so a good range of both national and multinational M2M service options will be available in mature markets during 2010 and 2011. Although the M2M market is very fragmented, it's growing at over 30% per year. Low-cost M2M modules will enable a wide range of new networked devices and business models. Key applications include smart grid, meter reading, security/surveillance, automotive systems, vending and point of sale, remote monitoring, and track and trace.

Device-Independent Security
This isn't strictly a single technology, but refers to a collection of security technologies, application technologies and sourcing options that enable the provisioning of applications that are secure, but less tightly tied to specific devices and platforms, and that, in many cases, do not require security tools to be installed on the client. It includes thin-client architectures, applications as a service, platform-independent forms of network access control (NAC), portable personality, virtualization, and hosted security services, such as "in the cloud" virus scanning. Device-independent tools cannot provide the rigor of fully installed security, but a blend of several of these tools can enable CIOs to deliver applications that can run on a wider range of devices while reducing security risks.

FCC Tests Spectrum Dashboard

Currently in beta, the tool enables users to search the entire 225 MHz to 3.7 GHz mobile wireless spectrum range.

In a move that promises to remove much of the mystery surrounding mobile wireless spectrum for consumers, the FCC has unveiled a Spectrum Dashboard that transparently reveals many of the intricacies of the cell phone universe.

Currently in beta release, the dashboard enables users to search the entire 225 MHz to 3.7 GHz spectrum range. One particularly valuable feature enables users to produce maps depicting the geographic service area of licensed carriers.

Established this week in conjunction with the FCC's release of its National Broadband Plan, the dashboard will serve as a companion to the FCC's new service that enables users to measure the actual online speeds they are receiving.

"The Spectrum Dashboard allows users to more easily review how spectrum bands are allocated and used," the FCC stated in a release, adding that the dashboard "also allows users to identify license holders in specific areas."

The dashboard will also deliver information of value to commercial interests, because it will help stakeholders interested in deploying additional wireless broadband. Business interests will be easily able to find areas in need of more spectrum that are candidates for new service deployment.

Viewers accessing the dashboard may browse an FCC interactive spectrum chart and, for instance, may examine cellular, backhaul, mobile, or TV bands. Spectrum license holders can be identified over the dashboard, too. Raw data on spectrum may be accessed for export into spreadsheets.

Consumers exposed to advertisements proclaiming wireless coverage by competing carriers may use the dashboard to produce their own spectrum coverage maps. The maps can be broken down by geographic area, county-by-county, or even by specific carrier or licensee.

The data included in the dashboard includes the 700 MHz Band, Advanced Wireless Service (AWS), Broadband Personal Communications Service (PCS), Broadband Radio Service (BRS), Educational Broadband Service (EBS), Cellular, 2.3 GHz Wireless Communications Service (WCS), Full Power TV Broadcast, and Mobile Satellite Services (MSS).

GSM-CDMA-UMTS-LTE till Dec2014

Information regarding the Estimated Market trend and percentage division for Global Wireless Technology

HSPA-LTE Timelines till 2014