4G tech needed to speed up digitisation

The 3G technology is not robust enough to handle all aspects of digitisation and hence the emergence of fourth generation of mobile telecom technology such as the LTE, said a top official of Huawei.

“If the Bangladesh government goes for LTE services it will help run the country's financial digitisation in a different manner and help accelerate domestic economic growth,” said Qiu Heng, president of wireless marketing operations at Huawei, in an interview.

Huawei recently organised a two-day programme styled Asia-Pacific LTE Summit 2016 in Bangkok, which was attended by more than 300 telecom experts and representatives from different operators.

Heng talked with The Daily Star on the sidelines of the event.

LTE is a standard for wireless communication of high-speed data for mobile phones and data terminals. It is based on the 2G and 3G networks but it increases the capacity and speed using a different radio interface together with core network improvements.

As of April, 1.07 billion people around the globe are using the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) technology for entertainment and surveillance.

“And the people of Bangladesh should not be deprived of it. I am quite sure after launching the LTE service in Bangladesh all the data users will not use 3G. LTE will lead the industry.”

LTE was launched in 2009 with more than 500 operators in 162 countries. Of the 500 operators, 238 are using Huawei technology.

“In a digital society, people need to be prepared for the cyber world to make the world beautiful. Other things such as food and water security are essential for people's daily lives and ICT can give the users' easier surveillance.”

The government can also take LTE services to secure people's lives, Heng said, adding that the modern technology can make mobile payment, mobile transaction, remote education and mobile office faster.

“ICT surveillance with better technology like LTE will ensure better security -- without it you can't make a foolproof security.”

To increase ICT use in the country, three things need to be ensured: allocation of more spectrum to mobile phone operators, giving the carriers the scope to use spectrum efficiently by granting technological neutrality, and increasing base stations.

At present, the mobile operators in Bangladesh have one site for every one million users, whereas globally, there is one site for 480,000 users on an average.

Considering the current situation, Heng suggested Bangladesh should use the 1800 megahertz and 2100 MHz bands for LTE, as both of them are already being used by mobile operators, so it would allow faster rollout.

In contrast, the 700 MHz band that is currently free will take some time for rollout.

Heng refused to comment on the government's plan on spectrum price for the next auction, which is fixed at $25 million for every MHz.

In countries like China and Japan, spectrum is free.

“The government needs to place telecom services as a basic infrastructure and if operators don't spend much money on spectrum purchase then they can spend it on developing a quality network.”

In developing nations like Bangladesh where access to fixed-line broadband connections is limited, LTE will bring super-high-speed connectivity for the first time and will help them compete on a global scale.

There will also be significant gains for workers who use some form of mobile devices.

Employees are already using mobile internet on a daily basis for business purposes such as checking e-mails or accessing documents.

LTE will allow people to work remotely and use cloud services via their mobile devices, which will benefit the economy significantly, Heng said.

However, Huawei, which spends 15 percent of its annual revenues on research and development, has already started work on the next major phase of mobile telecom standards beyond the 4G and introducing 'internet of things'.