Sevana: CCA 2015: LTE-U, VoLTE, small cells remain hot technology topics

A panel discussion highlighted LTE-U, VoLTE and small cells as technology challenges

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Technology challenges took center stage for the final keynote and panel session at this year’s Competitive Carriers Association Annual Convention, with a handful of technology executives from telecom operators and vendors touched on some of the bigger issues facing the mobile space.

Two of the topics that garnered the most commentary from panel members were LTE-Unlicensed and voice over LTE, a pair of topics that were also prominent during the show.

LTE-U remains a hot button topic across the industry, with many on the carrier and vendor side in support of tapping into unlicensed spectrum in order to augment traditional cellular services, while those companies and industry groups focused more on Wi-Fi technology are looking to keep cellular operations out of unlicensed bands.

Neville Meijers, VP of small cells at Qualcomm, which is one of the supporters of LTE-U technology, said his company has shown LTE-U can coexist with unlicensed use in those spectrum bands, adding that Qualcomm’s own testing has shown that the LTE-U technology causes less interference to Wi-Fi services in unlicensed bands than some Wi-Fi-specific devices.

Mark McDiarmid, VP for radio network engineering and development at T-Mobile US, threw the carrier’s support behind the use of LTE-U technology, noting T-Mobile US also remained steadfast behind the use of traditional Wi-Fi services and thus was very much behind the coexistence of both technologies in unlicensed bands.

“We are not going to stop using unlicensed with LTE-U rollout so we are looking to make sure they still coexist,” McDiarmid said, who added that smartphones currently run multiple technologies that use unlicensed spectrum “so that shows we can do it. The performance advantage is very real. What matters is that we get the innovation we need in the unlicensed band. … The cost of moving bits around is clear in my mind. The reality is that Wi-Fi has not faced any competition in unlicensed bands to date and competition drives more innovation and better performance.”

From a rural carrier perspective, Ken Borner, VP of engineering and network operations at Atlantic Tele-Network, said the company was indeed interested in tapping the unlicensed band in order to provide better services.

“Capacity can be an issue at times,” Borner said. “If we can use unlicensed to augment our capacity, why not.”

As for VoLTE, while the technology is indeed in the hands of consumers, comments seemed to indicate it’s far from an easy deployment or stable platform.

McDiarmid said VoLTE was actually easier to deploy and support than some legacy technologies, noting the standardization process was done several years ago. However, T-Mobile US continues to work with standards bodies to refine VoLTE in order to support better usage between networks.

For rural carriers, McDiarmid said it was key to participate in industry forums like CCA and the GSMA in order to familiarize themselves with VoLTE, as well as to begin deploying the technology even if just on a limited basis in order to understand the impact it can have on a network. That work should focus on a network’s link budget, which McDiarmid said is a “bit fragile” on LTE and is very important to strong VoLTE service. To that end, McDiarmid also suggested that at least with initial VoLTE deployments, carriers should stick with a single vendor in order to minimize compatibility issues.

Jim Lienau, CTO at rural carrier Cellcom, added that VoLTE remained a challenge for rural carriers, but that a “solid LTE network” was paramount before carriers should even think about making the move.

“Most of us are close, but still not there yet,” Lienau said, noting financial and employee skillsets remained a pair of significant challenges facing rural carriers in terms of their VoLTE plans.

“It’s a good technology, but a fragile technology,” Lienau added.

Small cells remains a bit of an enigma for carriers, especially smaller operators, as the business case for such deployments – especially in rural environments – has yet to be mastered. Meijers attempted to soothe the case, noting small cell deployments are essential for carriers looking to support growing consumer demand for data services.

However, the lack of attention paid to the question from the carrier members on the panel seemed to indicate the deployment model remains elusive.

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