Mobile Forum on Infrastructure: What's Next for the Last Mile? April 17, 2009

Mobile telecom networks have been built with the same basic topology since their emergence in the late 80s, with towers erected at the center of (hopefully) overlapping cells. Through the 90s networks were expanded for better coverage, and afterwards expanded for better capacity, but after almost 20 years, the same basic architecture still rules. But it's different in the advanced markets of Korea and Japan, where repeaters and picocells rule the day, and signals reach even into subway tunnels. In fact, it's not just Asia, but the whole world is teetering on the edge of radical changes in the way our networks are designed. Consider the following sampling of technologies that are emergent:

*Core Network: How does the cellular core network need to change to accommodate new usage patterns of voice, data, and upstream data?
* Backhaul: There data growth is rapidly outpacing a single T1. Metro Ethernet, P2P microwave, optical loops need to be considered. What else?
* Antenna: MIMO, phased array aim-able SDMA, tower sharing, leaky coax, DAS
* Repeaters, Picocells: How do we get the quality of coverage enjoyed in Seoul, in our tunnels and buildings?
* Femtocells, hybrid networks, and UMA: Getting better coverage in private buildings and homes, and optimize spectrum use by keeping that traffic off-the-air. Also, using hybrid networks to tailor the technology for the task (fiber/coax, FTTN, UMA, Wi-Fi/Cellular).
* 4G: There is going to be lots of capital spent in the LTE and WiMAX deployments. Will the old vendors be challenged by new ones?
* Unlicensed or other Spectrum: Not all solutions will come from incumbents. What can we expect from unlicensed or new entrants

If you or a fellow executive would like to be considered for one of the start-up presentation slots, please fill out a speaker application, indicating your desire to speak at the Mobile Infrastructure meeting.

This meeting is free for Telecom Council members, $200 for non-members.

Free for Telecom Council members, $200 for non-members.

Official Website: http://guest.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Summary.aspx?e=011e0088-99d0-4fc3-adf3-38427ac4c709