By Telecom Lead Team: Wireless equipment major Ericsson
will be assisting eAccess, a mobile broadband operator in Japan, to launch a
Mixed Mode solution for WCDMA and LTE.
Ericsson’s Mixed Mode solution will be leveraged by
eAccess to use the same radio frequency band for both LTE and WCDMA services.
eAccess will become the first operator in the world to use a mixed mode
solution.
By switching to this new technology, eAccess customers
will enjoy an enhanced user experience. It will also simplify the process of
adjusting frequency allocation in the future as traffic demand shifts from
WCDMA to LTE, allowing the operator to optimize its use of spectrum. Commercial
launch of the Mixed Mode solution will begin in major cities across the country
from March 2012.
“Ericsson’s global leadership, experience and vision
for LTE were the key factors behind our decision to select the company as our
LTE network partner,” said Eric Gan, representative director, president of
eAccess.
With more than 5.6 million mobile broadband and wired
internet subscribers, eAccess is a leader in mobile broadband in Japan,
and has been working closely with Ericsson since 2006 as its main supplier.
Under the agreement, Ericsson will supply LTE functionality to Japan’s
metropolitan areas, such as Tokyo, Tokai and Osaka.
Under the terms of the agreement, Ericsson will provide
eAccess with full turnkey Network Rollout, Network Optimization &
Consulting, and upgrade the Packet Core network to an Evolved Packet Core
architecture.
As mobile broadband is enabling the Networked Society,
this is yet another important step toward realizing Ericsson’s vision.
Ericsson’s LTE technology and experience will allow us to take a smarter
approach to addressing the complexity that comes with the exponential growth in
data exchange. With LTE access, the operator can meet users’ demands for new
and enhanced mobile internet applications of the future,” said Jan
Signell, president of Ericsson Japan.
According to Signals and Systems Telecom, Ericsson is
leading the LTE infrastructure market with 24.8 percent in Q4 2011.
Ericsson leads LTE market
Its nearest competitor Nokia Siemens Networks has 13.1
percent market share. The size of LTE infrastructure segment in Q4 was $2.9
billion. LTE subscriptions currently comprise only 0.1 percent of the market
will significantly grow over the next 5 years, eventually representing more
than 8 percent of the market in 2016. Presently, U.S operator Verizon Wireless
and Japanese operator NTT DoCoMo are leading the LTE market with market shares
of 63 percent and 22 percent respectively, driven by their early adoption of
LTE technology.
editor@telecomlead.com
