We’ve had some explanations as to what has been going on between the vendors Telia Sonera is working with in Sweden and Norway on its commercial LTE networks.
You may remember that Swedish website NyTeknik extracted from the Telia Sonera CTO the view that Huawei’s LTE equipment is currently offering twice the rates Ericsson’s is, because it can fully exploit the 20MHz bandwidth the operator has available. More on that here.
Anyway, we asked for clarity. Surely, we thought, the decision to deploy at 10MHz or 20 was up to the operator – or has Telia Sonera elected to work with one vendor whose kit is not ready to give it full power?
It seems, of course, that the truth is somewhere in the middle.
First off, Huawei was quick to claim the high ground, with a statement to Mobile Europe as follows:
“In advanced mobile broadband technology such as LTE, 20MHz channel bandwidth and downlink 2 transmission MIMO are the key technologies used to effectively improve the air interface throughput. Huawei is currently the first and only vendor to have successfully accomplished this, demonstrating our strong capabilities in accelerating the commercialization of LTE technology. This is the main reason that Oslo network (using Huawei equipment) demonstrated twice downlink capability higher than the Stockholm network.”
So, a clear technical lead, then, if Huawei is to be believed. But only by two weeks, it seems, if this reply from Telia Sonera itself is to be believed.
A spokesperson said, “The network roll out is continuing in both networks and the suppliers have a little different release plans. Today, the Swedish network runs on 10 MHz and the Oslo network runs on 20 MHz but in a couple of weeks both networks will run on 20 MHz. That’s way the speed differs right now. “
As for Ericsson, it would no doubt reject Huawei’s explanation. Its explanation is that it could have provided sector coverage over 20MHz if it wanted to, but it had, for reasons of stability and coverage, chosen not to. The vendor also said that it will work with Telia Sonera on the next steps, which it seems will include the uplift to full 20MHz coverage.
“Ericsson demonstrated its capability to deliver LTE end-to-end connectivity using the 20MHz carrier over 22 months ago.
“We are now entering the deployment phases of commercial LTE networks and in this regard Ericsson provides TeliaSonera with a complete commercial LTE network in Stockholm, the largest commercial LTE network in the world. As TeliaSonera recently stated in the Swedish media, it is currently based on 10MHz carriers.
“Ericsson took the proactive decision to support 10MHz bandwidth which ensures stable functionality, as well as good coverage, minimized delays and specifically for commercial networks and end users a wide interoperability with devices for an optimal consumer experience. Using the 10MHz bandwidth provides a lower theoretical peak rate than with a 20MHz carrier, however the overall consumer experience is more important than the theoretical peak rate.
“Ericsson and TeliaSonera are jointly evaluating the quality of service and the next steps that will be taken.”
So, perhaps not much to get in a tizz about, although it is an interesting insight into the sorts of claim and counter-claim we will see more of in the months to come, as more and more LTE networks are delivered across Europe.
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