TDD-LTE equipments by Q1 2011: Ericsson

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Ericsson in its claim has shortened the time period for availability of TDD (time division duplex)-LTE equipment from 2013 end to first quarter of 2011.

“We will start commercial supplies by first quarter of 2011 worldwide. In India, supplies will depend on the demand from operators,” said P Balaji, vice-president, Ericsson India in an interaction with CIOL on sidelines of 6th Assocham Global Telecom Summit 2010.

At a China Mobile event in China, Ericsson for the first time showcased its complete end-to-end TDD-LTE solution for the first time. Together with ST-Ericsson devices, the system showcased super-fast mobile broadband applications such as video on demand (VOD) and video streaming using a live camera.

Per Thorzell, head, radio Access Network, Ericsson India added that Ericsson also did a TDD-LTE trial run in India using 20 Mhz spectrum and achieved a download speed of 71 mbps per second.

“Technically it could go up to 90 mbps but we were able to achieve 71 mbps with 20 Mhz of spectrum,” said Thorzell.

Thorzell mentioned that Ericsson has already done commercial launch of FDD (frequency division duplex)-LTE in some parts of the world and eco-system is gearing up for LTE. He added that the chipset that supported FDD-LTE will also support TDD-LTE.

“There are approximately 95 per cent functional similarity between TDD and FDD-LTE. Therefore chipsets that support FDD-LTE will also support TDD-LTE,” said Thorzell.

Both these LTE technology have earned appreciations from operators because of the high download speed that these technologies are able to deliver.

LTE technology evangelist claim that it is best suited technology for Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) services that have been allocated to four operators in India namely RIL-owned-Infotel, Bharti Airtel, Aircel and Tikona Digital. The other two players Augere (Mauritius) and Qualcomm are yet to get spectrum as they need to find their Indian partners to form a joint venture in India for securing license.

Wimax is another technology that is presently being used in India for delivery of wireless broadband services by BSNL.

LTE technology is seen as a technology that is already being considered as 4G technology. According to experts, Wimax will be able to enter 4G club after manufacturers come up with new equipments on IEEE 802.16m standard.

As far as access devices are concerned, there are a number of handheld devices already available to support Wimax technology. However, to support TDD-LTE, Ericsson feels there will be dongles as access devices in the first half of 2011 and later handheld devices.

“In the first half of 2011 there will be dongles that will support access to TDD-LTE services. In the second half, we expect many handheld devices to come up to support this service,” said Thorzell.

According to Thorzell, Samsung, Nokia, LG and Sony Ericsson are some of players who are committed to develop TDD-LTE devices. Main silicon vendors for TDD-LTE are ST-Ericsson and Qualcomm.