US : 3G Americas has published a white paper titled, The Case for Evolved EDGE, an educational reference document explaining Evolved EDGE as another technology evolution option for GSM operators to consider.  The white paper outlines possible reasons for upgrading EDGE networks and defines opportunities for a complementary technology strategy of EDGE and UMTS/HSPA mobile broadband deployments.

“As wireless networks evolve to 3G and beyond with UMTS/HSPA and in the future to LTE, there are opportunities in some instances for EDGE networks to also be upgraded to Evolved EDGE,” stated Chris Pearson, President of 3G Americas. “In this white paper, 3G Americas explores Evolved EDGE as yet another option for GSM operators from the 3GPP technology evolution portfolio.”  

Today, there are more than 360 operators with EDGE networks either in service or committed to service in 165 countries across the globe and 175 operators have already deployed both EDGE and UMTS/HSPA as part of their strategy.  The Case for Evolved EDGE explains that GSM/EDGE networks will continue to form the foundation for global mobile voice and data in the foreseeable future for the following reasons:

• Some regions do not have the licensed spectrum and resources to install a completely new radio technology such as UMTS/HSPA or LTE
• For customers in emerging markets, the retail price for a single radio GSM/EDGE handset is lower than the retail price of smartphones that include more than one radio access technology
• There are many viable services that can be supported and are therefore available across the globe in a roaming context

Practically all of today’s GSM smartphones and dual mode GSM/HSPA phones have EDGE capability since the GSM network is the fallback radio network for roamers in different countries as well as in rural areas.

Evolved EDGE is a further data service enhancement to GSM, which continues to leverage the maturity of GSM voice and core network functionalities.  Evolved EDGE is standardized by 3GPP in Release 7 of the GSM specifications to provide many benefits:

• ·         Increased data rates
• ·         Reduced latency
• ·         Improved user experience
• ·         Improved capacity and efficiency
• ·         Improved cell coverage 

The feature set that comprises Evolved EDGE can improve the data rate of GSM networks to a theoretical peak downlink throughput rate of 1.2 Mbps and a peak theoretical uplink throughput rate of 473 kbps, while increasing spectral efficiency, capacity and coverage.  These features have the benefit of working within the spectrum that exists today, without new requirements.  The feature set was chosen such that wherever possible, gains from each feature could be achieved with a software upgrade for newer GSM BTS with no changes required to the core network.

The white paper is not an organizational endorsement of Evolved EDGE by 3G Americas, but an educational reference document. Yet, worldwide, the common access for the long term is GSM.  In The Case for Evolved EDGE white paper, the consideration is that upgrading this common access gives benefits in terms of the data packages and services that can be offered.  The white paper explains the premise that there may be very little downside to upgrading to Evolved EDGE.  The infrastructure upgrade is simple, straightforward and requires minimal capital expenditure. The rollout of Evolved EDGE features may be managed by operators in terms of software updates to infrastructure or hardware replacement where end of life is a consideration or the operator wants to take advantage of OPEX improvements. 

The Case for Evolved EDGE white paper was written collaboratively by members of 3G Americas and is available for free download on the 3G Americas website at www.3gamericas.org.