First showcased in 2006, Long Term Evolution (LTE) is the mobile\/cellular broadband technology most telecoms network operators currently aspire to implement. According to the Ericsson 2015 Mobility Report<\/a>, at the end of last year, less than 20% of the mobile broadband subscriptions worldwide were LTE. By 2020, an estimated 50% of mobile broadband subscriptions will be supported by LTE.<\/p>\n
![\"Figure](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Evolution-of-GSM-technology1.jpg?resize=457%2C199\")
Figure 1: Evolution of GSM technology<\/p><\/div>\n
LTE has its foundations in GSM, the Global Standard for Mobile Communications, a second generation (2G) digital standard that was widely adopted and used worldwide, especially in the Caribbean. \u00a0The transition to 3G technologies, of which EDGE was the most widely implemented in the region, mainly supported voice, with data in a supplementary role. LTE is designed to carry data rather than voice. Hence its network architecture uses the Internet Protocol (IP) standard, but is still compatible with older and currently applied technologies.<\/p>\n
Although LTE is widely communicated as 4G \u2013 a fourth generation technology \u2013 strictly speaking, it does not adhere to the established standard. Among other things, it cannot support download speeds of 1 Gbps and upload speeds of 500 Mbps, which can be achieved with LTE Advanced, a true 4G technology. For LTE, its best performance is around 100 Mbps, download, and 50\u00a0Mbps, upload. To varying degrees, and in the writer\u2019s opinion, the use of the term 4G for LTE and other technologies, such as HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) and WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access), has been a marketing tactic to distinguish those newer technologies from those that have gone before.<\/p>\n
Is improved performance assured with LTE?<\/h3>\nLTE and 4G technologies can significantly increase mobile\/cellular network capacity, but achieving superior performance will be dependent on factors, such as:<\/p>\n
\n- the budget that has allocated to support the upgrade of the existing network<\/li>\n
- the extent of the upgrades that will be undertaken<\/li>\n
- the amount of radio frequencies that has been assigned to the network operator.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Without a doubt, the upgrade of existing networks from EDGE or HSPA to support LTE would be considerable and costly. However, outside of the costs and infrastructure requirements, access to adequate radio frequencies bandwidth, especially for base station backhaul, is critical to support the traffic and bandwidth demands on the network.<\/p>\n
Mobile\/cellular broadband services work optimally in the 300 to 3500 MHz band of the radio frequency spectrum. However, in most countries, such as those in the Caribbean, this band is divided into a number of sub-bands that support a range of other uses, including aeronautical and maritime radio-navigation, maritime mobile, amateur radio and broadcasting (ITU Region\u00a02). Hence, in order to be in a position to offer high-speed mobile broadband service to a significant number of customers simultaneously, there is a need for large amounts contiguous spectrum, which are already allocated to other services.<\/p>\n
In summary, the upgrade of existing mobile\/cellular networks in the Caribbean to LTE might introduce some efficiencies, which both the network owner and their subscribers might be experience. However, it is unlikely from the outset that users will experience truly high speed transmission \u2013 in excess of 10 Mbps \u2013 as the operator may not have sufficient bandwidth at its disposal to comprehensively manage the user experience on its network.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Image credit: \u00a0Paul Swansen <\/a>(flickr)<\/em><\/p>\n
________________<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Without a doubt, the upgrade of existing networks from EDGE or HSPA to support LTE would be considerable and costly. However, outside of the costs and infrastructure requirements, access to adequate radio frequencies bandwidth, especially for base station backhaul, is critical to support the traffic and bandwidth demands on the network.<\/p>\n
Mobile\/cellular broadband services work optimally in the 300 to 3500 MHz band of the radio frequency spectrum. However, in most countries, such as those in the Caribbean, this band is divided into a number of sub-bands that support a range of other uses, including aeronautical and maritime radio-navigation, maritime mobile, amateur radio and broadcasting (ITU Region\u00a02). Hence, in order to be in a position to offer high-speed mobile broadband service to a significant number of customers simultaneously, there is a need for large amounts contiguous spectrum, which are already allocated to other services.<\/p>\n
In summary, the upgrade of existing mobile\/cellular networks in the Caribbean to LTE might introduce some efficiencies, which both the network owner and their subscribers might be experience. However, it is unlikely from the outset that users will experience truly high speed transmission \u2013 in excess of 10 Mbps \u2013 as the operator may not have sufficient bandwidth at its disposal to comprehensively manage the user experience on its network.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Image credit: \u00a0Paul Swansen <\/a>(flickr)<\/em><\/p>\n
________________<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"