DENVER, United States-Major European carriers are conducting Enhanced Data Networks for Global Evolution (EDGE) trials, highlighting a major triumph for a technology once proclaimed dead.
Burdened by the cost of third-generation (3G) licenses and technical hiccups with launching Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) networks and devices, sources say some of the major carriers have focused on the protocol as a transitional measure.
Despite testing, these large carriers have not made any public declarations because they have not delivered on their promised rollout timeframe for UMTS, according to industry sources. But some small carriers have built the capability into their GSM systems, sources said.
“The carriers have their own reasons,” remarked Riitta Mart, media relations manager at Nokia, who would not disclose the European carriers with which her company is working.
“In previous forecasts, we excluded EDGE since it appeared that 3G technology would be implemented in Europe before EDGE,” said the Yankee Group in a report on Western European handset forecasts. “Over the last six months, there has been greater vendor advocacy, particularly since EDGE can fill the high-speed gap left by delayed 3G deployment.”
Controversy swirled around U.S. operators Cingular Wireless and AT&T Wireless Services when they committed to the technology as a migration path after GSM/General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), although both carriers explained it was a practical decision in light of the undetermined license allocation for W-CDMA in the United States.
“We have always believed that the technologies are complementary,” said Dave Murashige, vice president of strategic marketing at Nortel Networks.
Without naming any carrier, Nokia, Ericsson and Nortel said they are conducting EDGE trials with operators in Europe. Outside Europe, Nokia said it is conducting trials with about 20 carriers, including Telcel in Mexico, Bermuda Telecom in Bermuda, Telecom Personal in Argentina and Etisalat in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Alan Hadden, president of the Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), said European carriers are gravitating to EDGE for a variety of reasons:
- It has been standardized;
- More carriers understand the opportunities it offers;
- It requires low-cost enhancement;
- It has great throughput for voice and data;
- And hundreds of carriers already have GPRS networks, which makes the upgrade relatively easy.
“That’s the message made clear to the operators over the last year,” said Hadden, adding that EDGE triples GPRS capacity while providing other benefits, including no new spectrum requirements or cell planning.
Yankee Group analyst Farid Yunus said carriers want EDGE not only for new services but also because of capacity.
Murashige remarked that at the outset of next-generation technology discussions a couple of years ago, EDGE stood with UMTS, cdma2000 1x and GPRS as the competing protocols. But within six months, he said, the only thing industry talked about was UMTS.
“The truth is that it is a narrow, self-imposed view,” he said, adding both 1x and GPRS are now thriving networks.
Hadden said that up to 500 operators and vendors have taken part in seven closed-door discussions since December 2001 regarding EDGE under the sponsorship of the GSA, with the GSM Association pooling the operator representatives and 3G Americas representing U.S. interests.
The dialogues helped boost current EDGE interest worldwide, including in Europe, Hadden said. Another meeting is to be held in February in Cannes, France.
Major vendors like Nokia, Siemens, Alcatel, Ericsson and Nortel have entered into EDGE equipment contracts with carriers, but would not disclose costs or volumes. Most major vendors, as well as Motorola and Sony Ericsson Communications are working on handsets for the technology. Nokia said its EDGE-capable phones will hit the market this year.
Yankee Group’s Yunus said the move to EDGE and a delay to roll out UMTS service is a vote of no confidence in all vendors that did not meet the rollout roadmap.
Yet carriers with EDGE capability built into their GSM base stations may have advantages because no major system changes will arise, said Yunus and Alan Pritchard, vice president of GSM/GPRS/EDGE at Nortel. GW
