Enabling Broadband Britain

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Enabling Broadband Britain

Broadband Wireless Access
Oftel London 21st November, 2000
Stephen Lowe
Chairman - Broadband Wireless Association Member
- UK Spectrum Management Advisory Group Product
Development Director - Eurobell
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The Broadband Wireless Association

• Formed in 1996
• Originally based in Ireland
• To promote the use of wireless for high bandwidth
  local loop
• Focussed on 28 GHz and 40 GHz
• With seven member companies
• Now based in UK
• With over 30 members from Europe and USA
• Works closely with US Wireless Communications
  Association
• Provides forum for technical discussions between
  members
• Provides conduit from members to regulators and
  vice versa

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Some of the members
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Market Drivers
Bandwidth demands go up
Technology costs go down
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But is there really a bandwidth explosion?

• How do you measure it?
• By what a person can use?
• By what a persons support systems need?
• By what an operator can sell?
• By equipment vendors perceptions?
• By market demand?

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What a person can use
Wide screen high definition television at full
digital bit rate 500 Mbps but at typical
compressed bit rate 4 Mbps
Speech output 64 kbps but 8 kbps will do
Stereo audio at CD quality 128 kbps
Required for personal use. No more than 5 Mbps
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What a persons support systems might need
High bandwidth
Even higher Resilience!
The robot affectionately known as Da Vinci
carries out a heart operation
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The truth is probably somewhere between
PC sales USA
To come
Now
Unless machine to machine dominates
1995 ish
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Evolution of systems

• Wireless Local Loop
• WLL
• Local Multipoint Delivery System
• LMDS
• Multipoint Video Distribution System
• MVDS
• Broadband Fixed Wireless Access
• BFWA

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P2P and P-MP and Mesh
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Protocol wars
ATM
IP
Circuit switched
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Technology wars

• TDMA / FDMA for Local Multipoint Distribution
  Systems (LMDS)
• CDMA for Wireless Local Loop
• CDMA is being considered for other bands as they
  move to data rtehr than voice and video
• OFDM for its
• Better spectral efficiency
• Better multipath performance
• Opportunity for a consumer market to drive
  volumes up and prices down
• Present debates are
• FDD throughput versus TDD throughput and spectrum
  efficiency
• QPSK versus 64QAM for payload throughput

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Market Segmentation
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Choice of band

• Unlicensed
• 2.4 GHz and maybe others
• Low cost to own
• Faster to market
• Global opportunities
• OK for data where interference is not an issue
• LMDS at 28 GHz ( Most of Europe is on 26 GHz )
• Bandwidth available 2 X 56 MHz per operator
• Aimed at SMEs
• Works for urban and suburban areas
• Range in single figure kilometres
• WLL
• Usually 2 X 25 MHz allocations
• Primary use is residential voice at 32 Kbps
• Beginning to be used for high speed Internet
  for SOHOs
• Range in the tens of kilometres

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Evolution of standards

• Began with the lower bands for voice local loop
• Moved to higher bands and added analogue video
• Moved to much higher bands to match cable
  services
• Added digital broadcast services to squeeze extra
  out of bands
• Migrated both low and high bands to digital data
• Now focussed on converged services where
  everything is data
• ETSI has standards for Point to Multi-Point for
• 2.4GHz, 3.5 GHz, 26 GHz
• Co-ordination distances being refined as data is
  amassed
• Co-existence of FDD and TDD is promoted by
  regulator
• Presently 1 bit/second/Hz is assumed
• DVB and DOCSIS still in contention

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EU thoughts on regulation in Europe

• Commission now looking for a representative forum
  for Broadband Fixed Wireless Access
• Wants to know
• where to apply mandatory rules
• how to resolve national variations
• Too late for most bands
• Most spectrum below 38 GHz is allocated
• Allocations controlled by World Radio Conferences
• Major conflicts between satellite and terrestrial
  operators
• Some issues over military and broadcasting
  allocations
• They dont pay the market price
• They tend to cling to spectrum even though they
  dont use it

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Value of spectrum

• Wireless is best for mobile applications at the
  lower frequencies
• This brings conflict with broadcasters who use a
  great deal of bandwidth for fixed use
• Communications and data deliver more margin that
  television
• 3G mobile phone spectrum cost may be far in
  excess of its value
• Other bands have greater competition from DSL and
  Cable Modems so their value is likely to be much
  lower -
• 3 - 8 per home not 1,000
• Spectrum trading not allowed yet but will arrive
  in 2002 and will alter the values

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How does wireless enable Broadband Britain?

• Here is a major conflict
• Governments want rural access
• Domestic customers want low costs

• But commercial sense says theres no viable
  business plan
• Operators want maximum margins

Without some political will, broadband will never
reach beyond the leafy suburbs whether by
wireless or by wire
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The wireman and the wireless should be friends

• It could be sung to the Oklahoma refrain
• And its just as true
• Wire and fibre are the best choice for high
  density populations
• Wireless is the best choice for low density
  populations
• So both sides have reasons to encourage Treasury
  to support, subsidise even, the deployment of
  broadband wireless to rural areas.
• It would
• Reduce oversupply in urban areas where there is
  already competition
• Provide competition in rural areas where there
  virtually none at present
• Meet the political aspirations of an information
  society
• Provide increased traffic for both when fibre
  provides the trunk for wireless

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An integrated wire and wireless strategy would
bring greater overall benefit to the economy than
a short term windfall of cash for licences
For Broadband Britain
ADSL Cable Modems
Wireless