The LTE spectrum battle: the scenery should be long-term

If you want to deploy an excellent LTE network in a short time, then the low frequency band below 2GHz is obviously the best choice, which is also a valuable resource that the three major operators are eager to obtain. Previously, government departments planned a total of 190M frequency band resources for TDD, and used the 1.8GHz and 2.1GHz band 2 & TImes; 60MHz (total 120MHz) bands that were planned but not yet allocated at that time as 3G and LTE-FDD and LTE-A FDD system use frequencies , For operators to train troops.

Recently, the above two unallocated frequency bands have been finalized. The 1.8GHz band (1755 ～ 1785MHZ / 1850 ～ 1880MHz) is allocated to China Telecom for use. The second is the 2.1GHz band (1955 ～ 1980MHz / 2145 ～ 2170MHz) assigned to China. For China Unicom, since these two frequency bands are not in the TD-LTE frequency bands allocated by the country, the two are used for FDD LTE network construction to become the biggest possibility.

It is also reported that government departments are still planning to use some low-band resources below 1 GHz for TD-LTE. Obviously, the development of domestic TD-LTE is still the highlight, but the frequency resources can determine the quality of network coverage but it is difficult to determine the future market. As 4G licensing approaches, operators ’competition for LTE will require a combination of frequency resources and mixed network From the focus of attention, a large part of the energy is devoted to commercial business development and flow system optimization. A convincing example is that the more successful commercial operators in the world have their greater competitiveness stemming from business innovation and improved services including multiple tariffs, rather than the network itself.

TD-LTE: Coverage is no longer a keyword

With the promotion of various favorable factors, for China Mobile, the development of 4G with a converged network as a major trend has no technical problems.

First, there are currently many operators with both TDD and FDD networks in the world. A large number of scattered frequency bands and new frequency bands such as 2.3 GHz, 2.6 GHz, 3.5 GHz, and 3.6 GHz are all issued in TDD mode. A considerable amount of experience has been accumulated in the integration and utilization of frequency bands. There are many mature solutions for the dual-mode convergence industry chain. On the one hand, it can improve and improve the performance of the existing FDD network, on the other hand, it can make full use of the TDD spectrum.

The second is that the International Standards Organization has taken into account the need for a high degree of convergence at the beginning of the LTE standard formulation. FDD and TDD are completely consistent in terms of core network and interface. The air interface mode is also completely consistent with the interoperability between frequency bands. The biggest difference lies in the industry. Therefore, China Mobile Hong Kong has invested heavily in the end-to-end network integration in the dual-mode LTE network construction, so that the reselection and switching of TDD and FDD and the user experience tend to improve.

The third is a series of support from multiple parties in the upstream and downstream industry chains, which provides favorable support for China Mobile ’s dual-mode converged network. Equipment manufacturers including Huawei, ZTE, Datang, Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Networks, and Alang have launched TDD / FDD common platform products, all LTE chip manufacturers have also launched dual-mode (LTE TDD / FDD) chips.

In light of these backgrounds, coverage of the current TD-LTE development focus is no longer the most important contradiction. Network capacity guarantee, traffic carding management, and commercialized service strategies are the most in need of layout and consideration.

Telecom and Unicom: 3G value can be deep

As the most high-profile LTE operator this year, China Telecom ’s LTE limelight surpassed China Mobile once it changed from a low-key avoidance to a high-profile candid with a drastic network construction strategy.

Under the active layout, China Telecom's LTE network has expanded from less than 10 key cities in 31 provinces to adopt TDD + FDD mixed network networking. According to the initial plan, China Telecom's TD-LTE test network uses 2.6GHz (2600-2620MHz or 2635-2655MHz) as the main frequency; 1.8G (1755-1785MHz / 1850-1880MHz) is the preferred frequency for deploying FDD LTE, 2.1GHz ( 1920-1935MHz / 2110-2125MHz) is the auxiliary frequency band. The 1.8GHz frequency has not been planned for China Telecom before. Its first phase of LTE pilot city adopted 2.1GHz to deploy FDD LTE network.

If the government department of the 1.8GHz band in China Telecom ’s previous application did not give a clear answer, and the unknown number of frequency bands also poses certain challenges to the industry chain. Then after the new round of frequency allocation is clear, China Telecom ’s drastic LTE construction will greatly reduce the risks caused by frequency, and make the industry chain ’s R & D direction more focused. Under this situation, for a stable China Telecom, which has benefited a lot from 3G networks, how to ensure its wide range of 3G services and stable revenue, and at the same time, it can quickly build an LTE network in hotspot demand areas and assume the main force of high-traffic services. Attracting 3G users to 4G networks is undoubtedly its biggest issue. In this regard, the successful transformation of South Korean CDMA operators to LTE is a very useful example.

Compared with China Mobile and China Telecom, China Unicom's cold treatment on the topic of 4G also reflects to a certain extent its low-key before 4G licensing, and it also largely does not want new competition to affect its 3G that has just entered the harvest period. Network upgrade and service.

The author very much agrees with an expert in the industry chain: If China Unicom can upgrade the existing WCDMA base station to FDD LTE, and the new base station locks TD-LTE, it is a dual network strategy. China Mobile ’s dual network LTE in Hong Kong has Is a good example.