Lowest LatencyDiversity, reliability and more than 22,000 kilometer<strong>so</strong>f submarine fiber optic cable connecting <strong>the</strong> Americas.TuckertonBoca RatonBermudaMaiquetíaFortalezaRio de JaneiroGlobeNet provides international capacity services between North and South Americaover a dual ring-protected, fiber optic submarine cable system serving Bermuda, Brazil,Colombia, U.S.A., and Venezuela. Our industry leading submarine network is fullyredundant and offers <strong>the</strong> lowest latency available between <strong>the</strong> Americas.Phone: +1.561.314.0500marketing@globenet.netwww.globenet.net
Spectrum Mobile and payment capacity Mobile systemsaccess issuesAddressing <strong>the</strong> spectrum and capacity crunchby Bruce Brda, Senior VP and GM, Motorola Solutions<strong>As</strong> data use explodes, operators, regulators and technology vendors need to re-think migrationapproaches to new technology. Smart thinking about how to build, deploy and maintainnetworks can help mobile operators address <strong>the</strong> demand for data.Bruce Brda is senior vice president and general manager of Motorola’s networks business. Prior to this role, Mr Brda gained extensiveinternational sales and marketing experience in Motorola’s mobile devices business and was previously vice president of sales andoperations for Motorola’s infrastructure business.Bruce Brda holds a bachelor’s of science degree from Sou<strong>the</strong>rn Illinois University and a master’s of science degree from Illinois Instituteof Technology.Mobile operators are facing a capacity crisis.The fact is we stand at an inflection point as anindustry. The way we have managed transitionsin <strong>the</strong> past and how we must manage <strong>the</strong>m in<strong>the</strong> future are two quite different processes. <strong>As</strong>an industry, we need to revise our thinking andmanage transitions holistically. The first step is foroperators, regulators and technology vendors to rethinkmigration approaches and <strong>the</strong> way we worktoge<strong>the</strong>r. Here, we address this multi-dimensionalapproach with various scenarios highlighting <strong>the</strong>interactions of <strong>the</strong>se variables.Data use explodesThe extent of <strong>the</strong> data explosion is revealed bytwo major mobile operators. Orange disclosedin 2009 that USB dongle data consumption in<strong>the</strong> UK had increased by 4,125 per cent in <strong>the</strong>previous 12 months, while AT&T has managed asurge in data use of 5000 per cent over <strong>the</strong> lastthree years. And with applications including<strong>so</strong>cial networking, video and interactive chatgaining in popularity, burgeoning data demandsaren’t slowing <strong>so</strong>on.By 2011, Motorola estimates that mobile operatorswill provide per month, on average, 11.1GBof data for students (up from 4.5GB), 5GB fortravelling business people (up from 2.4GB) and6GB for professionals (up from 4GB). Suchfigures indicate that degradation in performanceexperienced by <strong>so</strong>me mobile operators will affectmore networks in <strong>the</strong> future. A fundamentalshift in consumer usage models is underwayand accelerating. These <strong>so</strong>aring data streams areenabling users to interact with <strong>the</strong> world in newways. Consumer usage is one of many variables in<strong>the</strong> rapidly evolving telecommunications market.Migration strategies going forward must maintainflexibility to keep pace with this evolution.Consumer usage is just one of <strong>the</strong> variables in play.Changing appsThe popularity of apps and <strong>so</strong>cial networkingis one major factor behind <strong>the</strong> capacity strain.The average smartphone - even if <strong>the</strong> user is notactively using <strong>the</strong>se apps - checks for message<strong>so</strong>r status updates eight times a minute. Each of<strong>the</strong>se checks ties up valuable spectrum re<strong>so</strong>urces.This repetitive behaviour is contributing toservice degradation just like <strong>the</strong> amount of datasent across 3G networks.The spectrum battleThe industry is pressing for greater accessto existing radio spectrum. For example, byreclaiming spectrum bands from <strong>the</strong> cessationof terrestrial TV service - <strong>the</strong> ‘digital dividend’.Regulators are using auctions to ensure fairallocation of spectrum. However, in <strong>so</strong>me markets,<strong>the</strong> process takes time. Legal action is threateningto delay <strong>the</strong> UK’s auction, which was expected tohappen at <strong>the</strong> end of 2010.Ultimately, <strong>the</strong> promise offered by commercialservices to make broadband more available andaffordable is likely to see additional spectrumbecome available. However, given <strong>the</strong> demandsfor data, it’s critical to fully optimize spectrumuse now as well as additional spectrum that mightbecome available in <strong>the</strong> future.Off-load optionsMigration strategies in <strong>the</strong>se circumstancesneed to encompass <strong>so</strong>me near-term creativity. Atactic available immediately is to off-load data. <strong>As</strong>imple way to achieve this is by using unlicencedtechnologies with mobile operators partneringwith existing Wi-Fi mobile operators, or deploying<strong>the</strong>ir own Wi-Fi networks to provide customerswith seamless connectivity to hot-spots without<strong>the</strong> need to manually log-in. This convenientaccess can help remove a significant amountof nomadic data traffic from <strong>the</strong> main mobilenetworks in places where network congestionis most problematic. However, <strong>the</strong> risk of usingunlicenced spectrum could cause <strong>the</strong> operator tolose <strong>so</strong>me control of <strong>the</strong> user experience whereWi-Fi congestion occurs.Ano<strong>the</strong>r viable option in <strong>the</strong> drive to optimizecapacity is network sharing - a way for operatorsNorth America 2010 • 11
Change language