As a follow up to Wireless 101 Part 1: A Brief History of Wireless Webinar, our guest commentator Iain Gillott has kindly offered to answer some of the questions we could not get to during the session. Please click here to view the recorded webinars or register for parts 3-4 of the series.
Q: Are they ever going to make the Broadband access cards for computers more reliable so far as maintaining connections, (reducing drop out)?
A: The short answer is yes. The connection quality is dependent on the antenna in the laptop (these will get better with new designs) and the coverage of the network. Also, ATT will soon start to integrate WiFi connectivity based on its recent Wayport acquisition. Remember when a reliable voice connection was hard to find? Data connectivity will evolve the same way and it will get better.
Q: Is the 3G backwards compatible to the 2G network? 2.5G?
A: Yes - a UMTS device will work on EDGE, GPRS and GSM. And a CDMA2000 device will support IS-95a CDMA. There are also some devices that support both CDMA2000 and GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS for roaming (Verizon Wireless has these for use on Vodafone's networks when roaming).
Q: How is cell phone usage replacing the traditional land line phone and what is expected that to be in the future?
A: About 25 percent of cellular subscribers, principally those aged under 30, do not have a landline. Typically, a college grad moving into their first apartment will have their cell phone and a broadband connection. And more households are expected to cut the landline as the economy sours - disconnecting the landline is an easy way to save money, especially in the 60 percent of households that have a cellular family rate plan.
Q: Is the 4G gsm standard going to be universal, i.e. will I be able to use my U.S. gsm phone in Europe? Will the US and Europe work together?
A: LTE will be universal and will support roaming, dependent on frequency. Verizon Wireless is planning to allow roaming immediately into Vodafone properties.
Q: Do you know how the world economy is going to effect the growth of the industry?
A: Well, few people are going to disconnect their mobile phones - cellular is seen as necessity these days, rather than discretionary spending. They are more likely to disconnect their landline phone. But people are delaying handset purchases or replacements. And operators are delaying capital expenditures as much as possible, which is seriously affecting the infrastructure vendors. So generally, good to be an operator, bad to be an equipment or device vendor.
Q: Is there such a thing as secure wireless?
A: Sure. The old analog networks leaked like a sieve but the digital networks were much tighter. Today, there are multiple levels of security available and wireless networks can be made extremely secure. The weak link is always the people involved - employees can be bribed or blackmailed to access private information - for example, peeking into a celebrity's email. This can occur on landline and wireless - it is not a fault of the technology :)
Q: Does the 220k base stations include in-building systems?
A: Yes, this is a statistic from the CTIA and it includes micro and pico cells in-building.
Q: There's been a lot of recent consolidation among the mobile carriers in the US. How much more do you see happening in the next 24 months or so?
A: Not as much - the recent wave of consolidation was probably due to the change in administration (the Obama administration is not expected to be as friendly to consolidation) and the act that the FCC chairmanship will change. Also, the financial markets are not conducive to merger and acquisition at present. If some operators enter bankruptcy, that may trigger some acquisitions.
Q: What will happen with the abandoned frequencies the old technologies operated on? Can new Technology be deployed on the old frequency?
A: Operators do not abandon spectrum - it is far too valuable. Instead, new technologies are deployed in the old frequencies as the redundant network is decommissioned. Operators and live and die for spectrum - bandwidth is very valuable and no operator will ever admit they have enough spectrum!
Iain Gillott - iGR Research
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