GSM makes an attempt to EDGE forward

GSM makes an attempt to EDGE forward

Zatni Arbi, Columnist, zatni@cbn.net.id

If you think that terms like GSM, CDMA, 2G, 3G, WAP and GPRS are
confusing enough, be really prepared for more confusion in the
years ahead as operators introduce new technologies that promise
more bandwidth, more support for richer applications and, alas,
not necessarily cheaper services. But, at least, as consumers, we
are in the position to choose what we want to use.

One of the promises of 3G services is the ability of the
operators to provide different levels of service quality. Do you
need a really fast connection so that you can have a video-
conferencing session, or do you need just the right level of
speed to participate in an online gaming competition? We pay
different rates for different level of network services, of
course.

The race for 3G market share is still as fierce as ever, if
not increasingly so. Industry estimates have it that, currently,
the GSM technology is used by 70 to 75 percent of cellphone
operators worldwide. CDMA, which is the American contender of the
European

As we all know, the GSM front has been moving more slowly as
GSM vendors fight which each other for domination. In a way, they
have the advantage over the faster moving Qualcomm. The GSM front
is able to come up with technological enhancements that can be
built on top of their existing infrastructure. This allows GSM
operators, for example, introduce the General Packet Radio
Service (GPRS), which is now gradually making inroads into
Indonesia.

The next transitional technology, which will pave the way to
the 3G services-which Alcatel calls Universal Mobile Telephone
Services (UMTS)-is EDGE. We have already touched on this upcoming
offering from our GSM operators such as Satelindo and Telkomsel
for a couple of times in this column.

EDGE stands for Enhanced Data Rate for GSM Evolution.
Linguistically, the abbreviation and what it stands for do not
match, of course, but it is clear that the new technology, which
promises a data rate of 384 Kbps, is an evolution rather than a
revolutionary breakthrough.

As I wrote some time ago in this column, operators who bought
their base terminal stations in the past two or three years are
actually ready to offer the services. But they will still have to
invest in the necessary software, though. On the consumers side,
the drawback will be that we have to buy a new handset to take
advantage of the new services, as EDGE uses a different coding
scheme.

Come to think of that, the cellphones already meet our basic
need of voice communication that allows us to call or be called
by other people regardless our location. The SMS meet the need
for a less intrusive and much cheaper means of communication.

Beyond these two needs, very little need exists to drive the
adoption of new technology. Most users still see features such as
MMS video conferencing as features that are nice to have but they
can easily live without. Operators wishing to move to a higher
level of sophistication are hard pressed to invent killer
applications that will make a new technology a real necessity. It
is not an easy exercise. And past experience has taught us not to
invest in cool technology that is still looking for a question
that it can answer (think Teletext and Videotext). They have
ended up being free rather than revenue generating services.

Content has always been a considered the source of killer
applications. The introduction of a service that will allow us to
monitor traffic condition on the toll road with the help of MMS-
capable cellphones will definitely offer a compelling value
proposition for motorists. They will be willing to pay more for
the services, and the operators and the service providers be able
to split the revenues.

Location based services, services that provides subscribers
with the information specific to the locations where they are at
a given time will be another potential driver. Again, the service
is not cheap to provide, and the content provider must think hard
to invent the services that subscribers really want to spend
their money on.

Incidentally, if you remember the Chateau digital surveillance
system that I wrote about last week, rumors have it that you will
be able to check traffic condition in real time where some
providers are installing their cameras.

Vendors, including Alcatel-which brought the first GSM service
to Indonesia in 1996-are really eager to push their 3G
technologies to the market. The French company, for example, has
opened a number of 3G Reality Centers in various places in the
world, including in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In these centers,
operators, service providers and applications developers can have
real experience of the future 3G services and explore various
opportunities for partnership in bringing killer applications to
the market.

The big question remains, how can we take part in all of this
exciting development?