In late December 2008, the WiMAXCounts Operator Tracking Service changed its name to 4GCounts, as Maravedis has started tracking operators committed to launching an LTE network. We have been conducting interviews with major mobile carriers who are following a network evolution path from HSPA, to HSPA+ and later on, LTE.

Earlier this year over 100 operators announced their intention to launch an LTE network in the future, but whether they follow through or not remains to be seen, since launching LTE requires an all IP network infrastructure and the appropriate spectrum.

Based on exhaustive research, Maravedis has identified the top 30 operators who are committed to LTE. 4GCounts is already covering these operators and through direct dialogues and interviews we are tracking their plans and network evolution strategies. Some operators already covered by 4GCounts include Verizon Wireless (USA), NTT DoCoMo (Japan), China Mobile, Korea Telecom Freetel, AT&T Mobility (USA), Orange Group (France), KDDI (Japan), Telstra (Australia), Telecom New Zealand, Teliasonera (Norway and Sweden), Telecom Italia, among others.

The following is a portion of a recent interview we had with Telecom Italia.

Interview with Alberto Carnellio, responsible of Business Innovation Division, at Telecom Italia.

Maravedis: Given that you obtained a 3,5GHz license in Italy, what are your plans with that spectrum? Do you envision deploying WiMAX in the future?

Telecom Italia: Yes it is true we obtained that spectrum but at the moment our focus won’t be on WiMAX, it is going to be LTE.

In what spectrum are you planning to deploy LTE?
The availability of LTE in Italy is going to be in the 2.6 GHz band, which is not licensed yet. It is likely that the allocation of this band in Europe will occur in a short time frame. There are several countries in the European region that have announced plans to allocate the 2.6 GHz spectrum, and we look forward of course to when this is scheduled in Italy, our main market. We have presence in Brazil, where we have already launched 2G with UMTS technology.

Are you planning to deploy LTE as a replacement for 3G or as an overlay of the 3G network for higher bandwidth services?

We have invested substantially in 3G and HSPA, so at the moment we have HSDPA and HSUPA available, we will move very quickly from 7.2 Mbps to 14.4 Mbps in that platform, and we will keep on improving our 3G and HSPA platforms while we are preparing for the LTE technology evolution, which means that LTE will be an overlay technology; we see 3G as having a very healthy and long life cycle.

What do you see as the main opportunities in Italy for LTE?

If you look at the Italian market, especially at our mobile service TIM (Telecom Italia Mobile), which has one of the largest shares of subscribers in 3G, in absolute terms I think that our 3G subscriber base is one of the largest in the European region. 3G and HSPA have had great success, and we were the first company in Italy to launch net books, low cost embedded devices, as well as USB dongles. So overall 3G and HSPA have been very successful; we see 4G as an evolution from 3G and HSPA as a technology that brings improvements from the efficiency standpoint, from the cost and performance standpoint, and a number of other advantages as well.

Does that include MIMO for handsets?

Yes, we started when MIMO was not available yet, but we see that over time devices will be including this functionality. As a new technology matures, there will be a point at which you have an existing mature technology and a new maturing technology, and all the volumes will have to be shifted from one technology to the other. That’s the experience we had when moving from 2G to 3G, and then from 3G to 3.5G, and we expect to experience the same dynamics when moving from 3.5G to 4G.

Do you have a timeframe for when that will occur?

Everything will depend on when the spectrum is available, so at this moment it is difficult to anticipate.

Has Telecom Italia conducted any LTE trails?

We haven’t announced anything yet, but we have conducted a number of trials on HSPA and if you stay tuned you will see a couple of announcements coming soon. The availability of spectrum to start trials of LTE is also a key element. Another important step that is targeted in Italy as well as in other European countries is the refarming process of 2G bandwidth for 3G, which will eventually bring 3G technology into the 2G bandwidth. Definitely a lot of things will happen; the refarming process will play an important role as well. LTE is the technology that will bring mobile Internet to next level. The market in Italy has developed very well on data empowered by HSPA services. So we believe that by the time LTE come to the mass market, we will be in a good position to take advantage.

For more details about this and other interviews with LTE operators please subscribe to 4GCounts.com