EDGE Evolution - Part 1

Hi All,

Even though the Mobile world is running behind LTE & LTE-A, there should be some concern put on existing mobile operators. In many countries 4G Licenses are preferred to be auctioned freshly to create some additional economy stream for Governments of respective countries.

So there is great possibility that couple of operators to remain with 2G Technologies. Since GSM is the most spread 2G Technology. EDGE is one of the key enhancer rolled out in these networks to cater the Mobile Data service demands.


As per GSMA March,2011 report 531 Networks in 196 countries employed EDGE in their network. 12 more Operators in 2 more counties about to launch.

 

In some of the Asian countries the uptake of mobile broadband in the form of 3G Subscription is not as expected.Even though the growth rate is good, operators cannot invest further in 3G technology various 4G operators are already in completion for the niche "Mobile Broadband" segment which existing players cannot avoid.

Again 4G deployment has its own challenges in the form of Regulatory/Handsets/Frequency. 

 

So the operator who has substantial investment in the 2G form can use EDGE Evolution to address the mass market who are just using ( or starting ) to use data networks for the purpose of social networks/news/sports. This is one of the biggest segment in customers unlike the market segment who are all heavy users with dongles/tablets

In telecom , as in the past every step in telecom evolution has its own  risks and per-requisites.

I will address couple of them in next update along with the argument why EDGE Evolution (i.e. EDGE II) is must as a survival kit for 2G Only operators or even fr the operators who are overlaying a 4G Capable network over their existing 2G / 3G Networks.

Part-2 available here : EDGE Evolution - Part2

Part-3 available here : EDGE Evolution - Part3