2.

5G and 3G Telecommunications Systems

An assignment Submitted for the partial requirement for the FULL TECHNOLOGICAL DIPLOMA IN TELECOMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

by: Mohamed Zumri A.H. LHI0069

City & Guilds Institute of London 2012

Candidate Profile
CANDIDATES NAME ENR NO INSTITUTE CENTRE NUMBER UNIT NAME TITLE SUPERVISOR : : : : : : : A. H. Mohamed Zumri LHI0069 APSS International Networks (Pvt) Ltd 844022 Advanced Radio Systems Practice 2.5G and 3G Telecommunications Systems

Prof. Dr. Chandirabose

Contact Information Candidates Address : F 73/1, Gampola Road, Hijragama, Hemmathagama, 71530. Contact Number E-mail Address : : 071 599 0 599 ahmzumri@gmai.com

3.2.1: Current position regarding the deployment of 2.5G systems

As we are conducting this research in Sri Lanka, we have to look at the service providers in the nation. There are five mobile network operators currently providing service in Sri Lanka. Not like earlier days, now the services provided for the data communication by the providers are very vast and in low cost. At the introducing period of cellular networks in Sri Lanka, the service providers were only capable of giving 2G services. In other words, those services were mainly based on the voice facilities. People were able to communicate or have the service only in voice. But, with time, the service providers increased their services to another dimension. It is the data communication services. By the arrival of these data communication solutions, the trend of mobile communication was changed in Sri Lanka. At the same time, mobile devices also came into the market and they were in an expensive price range. But with time, the mobile devices were cheaper in price as well as the rates for the services by the network operators also were reduced. They offered the 2.5G services. In other words, we can say it as General Packet Radio Service (GPRS). This service is mainly targeted in internet browsing. Most people were so interested in browsing internet using their mobile devices. As well as some chatting software also were so popular in Sri Lanka. People were able to install those chatting software into their mobile phones or mobile devices and can chat with their friends for a long time for just for a low amount of service charge. Later on the network operators went for another improved version of data communication. The main reason for the next improved solution was the slow data rate of GPRS technology. So people needed a technology which has a speeder data communication experience.

Then the 3G technology came to the play in Sri Lanka. Also with some time period, some network operators were able to provide 3.5G services as well. Then different kinds of data communication services were provided in Sri Lanka. The main advantage is all these services were provided for a low cost service charge. The technology advancement in Sri Lanka increased drastically. If we look at the current situation, some network providers are demonstrating 4G LTE technology. And also one of the network operators is providing 3.75G services in high speed data rates. With in a small period, 4G services will be provided all around the Sri Lanka. By this advancement of technology availability in Sri Lanka, people are getting high quality services with a low cost. Its good for all people in the country. And we hope more and more services should come to Sri Lanka and the people of this nation should have a chance to experience the real technology advancement of this era.

3.2.2: Details of existing networks and data rates provided As we discussed earlier, there are five service providers operating in Sri Lanka. If we have a look on them, they are Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel Ltd. Dialog Axiata Ltd. Etisalat Lanka Ltd. Bharthi Airtel Ltd. Hutchison Telecommunications Ltd. These are the main 5 data communication providing operators in Sri Lanka. And they provide different data rates and different services from the 2.5G and 3G technology. If we look at the data rates provided by the operators, Mobitel network is currently demonstrating 4G LTE technology. Buts it still provides services in 3.5G. The data rate provided by Mobitel is 3.6Mbps. This download rate can be achieved for a Mobitel user. Below is the coverage map of Mobitel.

GSM Coverage

3G Coverage

If we look at Dialog network, it also provides a data rate of 3.6Mbps. At the same time the Dialog network also have started demonstrating 4G LTE technology. Below picture shows the coverage map of Dialog.

GSM Coverage

3G Coverage

If we come to the 3rd network I have listed above, the Etisalat is using 3.75G technology and providing a data rate of 7.2Mbps. Below is the coverage map of Etisalat.

The next network we are talking about is Airtel. This network provides data rates up to 3.6Mbps. Below picture shows the coverage map of Airtel.

If we look at the last network which is mentioned in the list, the Hutch network provides a data rate of 7.2Mbps. Also the Hutch is providing 3G services from 2012 March onwards.

From these data rates provided in Sri Lanka, the community is getting a very reasonable service compared to other Asian countries. As Sri Lankan citizens, we can be satisfied with the services given to us by the service providers. It is al so a main reason for the competitive atmosphere in the mobile telecommunication sector.

3.2.3: Details of main applications carried By these data rates, the providers were able to give different applications for the users. For example, Multimedia messaging services, location services, e-commerce services and gaming can be identified as the main applications If we have a look on the multimedia messaging service, people are able to send photos through the phone. It helped people in various occasions. For example, if any one wants to share the photos of a party with another person, he could simply send some photos through the mobile phone using this multimedia messaging service. This service made people to share the moments with others. If we look at location services, from this 2.5G technology, a persons or a devices location can be identified. By this location service, maps can be read and also GPS or Global Positioning System facilities can be achieved. This made a revolution in the military services and in the intelligence field. They used this GPS technology to find a place or a person they needed. The next service provided is, e-commerce service. By this e-commerce service, people were able to do business through the mobile devices. This enabled online banking, online shopping etc. From these kinds of services, people did their needs from their homes, by not going any where. By the use of 2.5G data services, a user could access the internet and also he gets the chance to access for online gaming. There are lot of online gaming sites and applications available in the internet. By this 2.5G service given to the people, these games can be played between even two players, where both players are in two different countries. There are so many applications provided by the 2.5G technology. I have mentioned some of them as examples. But many new applications are created based on this data communication technology.

3.2.4: Challenges exist in the deployment of 2.5G systems

When implementing this technology in Sri Lanka, the service providers faced some challenges to maintain and provide services in the country. We can categorize those challenges in main 5 categories. Those categories can be listed as, Technical challenges Environmental challenges Safety challenges Marketing challenges Financial challenges Well look at each of these challenges in brief. If we look at the technical challenges, when the service provider wishes to upgrade them into the new technology from the 2G technology, they are required to upgrade their equipments as well. For this purpose, the service providers have to use new equipments which are compatible with the old equipments which they used. In this situation, some equipment from some manufactures did not support the old versions. So the network providers are forced to install separate equipment set for the 2.5G and for the old 2G services as well. This was a main challenge for the service providers. And also, training people for the new equipment is a necessary need for them. So they wanted to teach and train their employees to the new technology and wanted them to study the technical things. This was another challenge in technical field. The next challenge was the environmental challenge. If we look at them, with the change of the climate, the ability of radio propagation is difficult. With the environment change, and with the obstacles of the environment, the radio propagation disturbed. One of the main challenges of the environmental obstacle is multi path propagation. If we look at the safety challenges, we can mainly identify one thing. To do the upgrades, man power is involved. In these occasions, the chance of occurring accidents is high. So the network operator has to consider about reducing the risk. So it is also a major challenge.

Marketing is another big challenge in this field. Because all the other operators are also do their marketing. All the operators try to increase their users. So in this situation, the risk of promoting the services offered by a particular network is high. So every user has to find different and attractive marketing solutions to increase the number of users of them. So marketing is also a big challenge in implementing services. Financial challenge is the biggest challenge ever. And the financial challenge stays in the top of all these challenges. To upgrade for a new technology, they have to buy new equipments and do the upgrade. For this purpose wee need a lot of money. So the network operators need a lot of money to invest in this particular upgrade. But all these investments have to take place in a bigger risk that is weather the people will use their network for their need or not. All these things are some of the challenges take place in the implementation of 2.5G and 3G for the existing 2G network.

3.2.5: How high speed data services are marketed today As we discussed earlier, 2.5G and 3G high speed services should be marketed in an effective way to increase the amount of users for each network operators. For this purpose, network operators handle many marketing strategies. One of the main strategies taken into care is segmentation of groups. By segmenting people into groups, a vast area can be covered, and also small groups can cover all the area without leaving any area. By this strategy, a maximum efficient marketing can be achieved. Another main strategy is applied in the billing. In other terms, some low cost facilities are provided to the existing users and also new low cost billing plans are introduced to the users. By doing this, the users think, the particular network operator provides us the lowest cost and best service, so we have to be with operator. This mentality makes the people to join with the particular operator. This is a very good strategy in marketing. Another method used in marketing is, using multimedia services to promote their network. By using these multimedia services, all users are alerted and explained about their facilities provided. So it is a good chance to do the marketing through the multimedia services. Another thing is, the operator gives multimedia services to the user are also done as a marketing strategy. By giving those multimedia services make the user to be interconnected with the operator. So this strategy is also implemented in marketing the marketing of 2.5G.

3.2.6: Current position regarding the deployment of 3G systems If we come to the 3G services, the current situation of the operators in the country is in a very high stage. The 3G facility is used in internet access as well as in the video calling. Most people call each other by looking at their face. This method is called video calling. This king of higher services is achieved because of the higher data rate of the 3G service. As every one knows, 3G systems use higher order modulation and it has a capability of carrying data in a higher amount. With this ability a high speed internet is available for the users of Sri Lanka. Also, by using USB dongles, people access internet any where and any time by just plugging the dongle to their laptops. Also the mobile service providers give many value added services for the 3G users. These have been made the people easy of doing their daily needs. Different operators give different value added services. So there is always a competition between every operator to provide high quality service for the users. This is how the 3G services deployed in the country. These are some of them, but there is lot of other services given to the users. Those services are given as a kind of marketing.

3.2.7: How 3G services are being marketed As we mentioned in the earlier topic, giving value added services to the users is a main marketing strategy of 3G systems. By giving these value added services, the users are always being with the network operator to obtain those services. If we look at some examples of those value added services such as, e-channeling, e-banking, online flight booking, and even ordering foods also are given as a value added service to the 3G users. There are many other marketing strategies used to promote the 3G service in the country. Some groups from the network operators are sent to the villages and they are instructed to introduce the 3G services to the village people and also the villagers are given free chances to get mobile phones, dongles and some free data packages by a raffle draw system. So some people are attracted by this raffle draw system and they are become as users of the particular network operator. Another idea of promoting the 3G services is, by selling internet accessible device to the people in low cost and also in installment basis. As a result of this technique, much kind of USB dongles can be bought in many network operators arcades in low prices and in many installment schemes. Like this, many marketing strategies are used in promoting the 3G services. There is no need to include all the strategies, but I have mentioned some of them.

3.2.8: Details of the main 3G applications Already I have mentioned some of the 3G applications given to the users. But I will include some of them to the assignment. One of the other main services is, wireless advertising. By this wireless advertising service, a user can publish advertisements or classifieds to a news paper or to a website by using his mobile phone. Its just a simple method to advertise. Where ever a user stays or what ever a user does, he doesnt want to worry about publishing an advertisement in the paper or in the website. He just wants to use his mobile and create the advertisement which he wants to publish, and just send it through the wireless advertisement service. This facility became very popular among the people. And mobile entertainment solutions also provided as a 3G service. By this service, the users are able to access songs, movies and other entertainment facilities through the mobile device. Because of the high speed internet facility, even a movie can be buffered and watched in the mobile phone by the 3G service. So the young generation is very interested in the entertainment solutions given by the network. GPS facility is also given the mobile users by operators. By this facility, the user can easily identify a place or a person by just clicking the GPS software. Also live traffic update also provided as a service, so the user can easily change his travelling his route to a lesser traffic route and go his journey by just hearing to the daily traffic update. This option reduces the time wastage in the road. So working crowd liked this 3G service very much and it is very popular in the country. These are some of other 3G services provided by the network operators in Sri Lanka.

3.2.9: Key partners working with the license holders All these 3G services are provided by having a license from a particular body in Sri Lanka. That body is named as the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission Sri Lanka (TRCSL). TRCSL is the legal body that works in the country to provide permissions and to maintain the ability of giving 3G services. Without the permission of the TRCSL, none of the operators can introduce a 3G service. Even to change the calling charge or to change the service charges of a particular network, the network has to take permission from the TRCSL. By this policy, there is a minimum amount and also there is a maximum amount of service charge that every operator can apply. The TRCSL has the full authority to take action against any network operator at any time. And it is governed by the government of the Sri Lanka. Main information is, there is no authority to any other body to be involved in these regulatory issues. TRCSL is the only and it will be the only body has the rights to maintain these regulations for network operators.

3.2.10: Technical challenges exist in 3G systems There is another type of challenge exist in the deployment of 3G systems. Those challenges are made from the terminal equipments. If we look at the terminal equipments that are used for 3G services, they are PDAs, smart phones, voice centric, etc. The operator is aware of major equipment manufacturers. But some small manufacturers also manufacture 3G compatible equipments. Its a responsibility of a service provider to give the support and solutions for any equipment. The network operator has to provide software support for all equipments. In this case, most of the operators have solutions for the major manufacturers, but some people use other unknown manufactures products too. So, if the network operator did not support for all the products, then the users of the particular network will think of selecting another network operator. So it is a must for an operator to keep the existing users with them. So they have to provide all solutions and have to provide technical support for all equipments from all manufacturers. Because of this different type of equipments used in the market, it is a challenge to the operator to give the relevant support to all users with all kind of equipments.

3.2.11: Efforts being made to facilitate global roaming The other main thing we have to discuss in 3G is, the efforts being made to facilitate global roaming. Roaming in the sense, it is a facility given to a user to use his same mobile SIM car in more than one country. He doesnt want to change the SIM card for each country. To facilitate this option, there are many efforts being made all over the world. We can say multi-mode/ multi-band terminal options as one effort. By this effort, the terminal equipment is capable of several bands to be used. The bands are such as HSPA 850, 900, 1900, 2100. By this option the user can use any band. So whatever the band is used in a country, it doesnt matter, still the equipment can be used in any country. We can say the 3GPP, 3GPP2 and OHG projects as another effort taken to facilitate 3G systems. If we look at these projects, all these are just focused on making globally applicable 3G mobile phone specifications. The 3GPP stands for 3rd Generation Partnership Project. We can refer the internet for more details about these projects. 3GPP is for UMTS and 3GPP2 is for CDMA2000 upgrades. Like this, there are many efforts being taken to facilitate 3G and global roaming.

3.2.12: Future enhancements to be made In Sri Lanka, 3G services are available to the people. In future the advancements of these services can be introduced. The simple example for the future advancement is that, already two network operators are demonstrating 4G LTE technology. In near future, 4G services will be available in Sri Lanka. Also we can expect some advancements in the future mobile communication in some categories. Those categories are, Applications, Data rates, Architecture and System advancement. As I have mentioned some categories, higher modulation schemes can be use and more high speed internet data rates can be achieved in the near future advancement. Also many types of applications will be introduced with the 4G technology. Some times, the architecture of the 4G network will be exactly different from the existing 3G and 2G networks. We cannot assume about the architectural advancement to be introduced in the future. Also system advancements also can be made in the future mobile communication. Unexpected advancements came with the 3Gs introduction. Like wise, many more advancements can be made in the introduction of 4G LTE technology. Some times there may be another technology can be introduced after the 4G LTE technology which may change the way we think, and the way we live and even they way we breathe. Hopefully, well wait for the future technology which is going to change the world, and change us