Data Only licence to be issued in GSM bands

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See Here and on the Comreg site.

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From TotalTele (behind the registration page or I'd link it)

News analysis: Is EDGE really moving center stage?
Elizabeth Biddlecombe
13 December 2002
Vendors claim a data technology first designed for TDMA networks is getting a new lease on life from GSM operators.

European and Asian mobile operators are lining up behind EDGE (enhanced data for GSM evolution), a mobile data technology that until recently only operators in the United States were supposed to use.

Worldwide, 10 operators have publicly endorsed EDGE (see table). But equipment vendors Nokia and Ericsson say they have supplied EDGE trial networks to more than 20 operators in Europe and Asia, and they expect most will deploy services before they move to third generation UMTS systems.

"The operators that don't will be a clear minority," claims Bo Langemark, director of EDGE marketing at Ericsson in Stockholm.

But if EDGE services are launched in these regions, they are likely to be patchy. Operators can't decide whether EDGE is an exciting data services platform, or just something to take the pressure off voice networks. Analysts say the operators risk wasting a lot of money before they find out that EDGE is neither of these.

"Operators aren't going to invest in any more network tweaks for data on 2G systems," said Paul May, director of Verista, an independent consultancy in London.

The trouble is that EDGE needs its own handsets and new hardware in base stations. And, unlike GPRS, EDGE needs changes to radio planning and operational parameters. Even advocates admit the case for EDGE still needs proving.

"If GPRS is a success in the market next year, then operators can think about EDGE services in 2004," said Ronny Gorlicki, executive vice president marketing at Comsys Ltd., of Herzelia, Israel, which last week announced contracts to supply Texas Instruments and base station manufacturer Airnet with its EDGE chipset technology.

EDGE was originally developed as a means for TDMA operators to provide next-generation mobile multimedia services. It was thought that outside North America the only other operators to use the technology would be GSM operators who failed to get licenses for high-speed UMTS or third generation (3G) mobile services.

But European operators are looking for other ways to stretch their mobile data budgets as they think about the cost of full UMTS network rollout.

In France, Bouygues Telecom says it will use EDGE technology for multimedia services, even though the company now has its own 3G license. And in a recent purchase order Orange SA in Paris has specified that base stations supplied by Alcatel to upgrade the former Itineris network should be "EDGE-activated."

EDGE proponents say it represents a low cost way for anyone with a GPRS network to increase capacity between two and four times, offer higher data speeds for data - theoretically up to 384 kilobits per second but more likely to be around 100 kbps in practice - and ultimately increase voice capacity.

But that puzzles many in the industry. "EDGE is a data strategy," said Rupert Baines, director at PicoChip. "If I wanted to improve my GSM voice capacity I'd be looking at acquiring another operator rather than trying to wring more channels out of GSM in this way."

Orange UK and Telecom Italia Mobile, two of Europe's leading operators in mobile data services, both told CWI they had no plans to deploy EDGE in their networks.

"EDGE is low cost for operators who built their networks after 2000," said Amer El-Nahi, marketing and strategy director, mobility, at Lucent Technologies.

In September, Nokia said that all GSM base stations being shipped worldwide will need only a software upgrade to be EDGE capable. Operators like Hungary's Westel, which is building out a new GSM network, have EDGE capability by default. In the Middle East, both Bahrain's Batelco and Etisalat in the United Arab Emirates are buying EDGE. Telstra and Optus in Australia, Starhub in Singapore, DTAC in Thailand, and China's Peoples Telephone all have EDGE projects or study groups.

A spokesperson for MobileOne in Singapore said it is "actively reviewing whether to deploy EDGE as and when handsets become available later next year." He added that a significant portion of the M1 network is both 3G and EDGE-ready.

Jonathan Tirone, Pyramid Research's senior analyst for the Americas, says that anywhere 3G spectrum auctions have been delayed or under-subscribed, EDGE has an opportunity to step in.

In the United States, AT&T Wireless, Cingular Wireless and T-Mobile have all been advocates of EDGE, mainly because there is no network roadmap to UMTS.

AT&T Wireless says it expects to have EDGE systems deployed in 50% of its markets by end of this year with nationwide deployment achieved in 2003.

Dave Williams, vice president of strategic planning at Cingular Wireless, says the operator will run a trial with a friendly customer in March 2003, most likely with a laptop card running applications such as e-mail.

In the meantime, Nokia is taking the lead on the phone side, claiming that GSM/EDGE handsets will be shipped in the first quarter of 2003 for North America and with GSM/EDGE/WCDMA handsets to follow in 2003 or 2004