3G and 4G in Russia
From an interview with Denis Sverdov, Scartel CEO (Yota brand) to the Kommersant newspaper
- Now, third-generation (3G) cellular networks are being deployed in Moscow, which allow providing Internet access at a theoretical speed of up to 14 Mbit / s. Do you fear competition? After all, cellular networks have an advantage: they have many times more coverage?
- The great advantage of 3G, of course, is the prevalence of end devices. But the difference lies in consumption patterns. We have operators with 3G in Ufa and St. Petersburg, but we do not have any effect compared to Moscow, where these networks have just begun to deploy.
In addition, the 14 Mbit / s. That you mentioned in the question is the speed at which the end device can operate, but the limiting factor is not the speed of the device, but the throughput of the base station. In particular, now 3G base stations, as far as I know, are connected at 4 Mbit / s. Suppose 1 thousand of them were installed in Moscow, that is, the peak capacity of all base stations is 4 Gbit / s, and the same 1 thousand WiMax stations are 100 Gbit / s, that is, 25 times more. In Moscow, we plan to install 3 thousand stations. For a comparable bandwidth in 3G, you will need to deliver 75 thousand stations to each operator.
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The restrictions of operators are that when they built networks, the speed of construction was important for them. And you can quickly build only radio-relay, but not fiber-optic networks. Today, not a single Russian operator has a sufficient fiber optic infrastructure for 4G development. Of course, now this problem is being solved: operators are beginning to invest a lot of money in this area, but this will take time.
But even if we assume that everything will be fine with the connection, then the next limiting factor will be the capacity of the base station itself. It is determined by the technology and the width of the radio channel. 3G uses the 5 MHz channel, and WiMax uses 10 MHz. The large channel width is reflected not only in speed, but also in the number of subscribers that can be served simultaneously by one base station.
- What do you think about the risk for your business from the LTE cellular standard, the introduction of which is already being discussed in Russia?
- I would like to first clarify that we have never been fans of WiMax technology. We do not care what technology to use. We are focused on a service that will change people's lives just like cell phones. Most recently, people used landlines, but then everything changed dramatically. The same will happen with the Internet, when they reach speeds comparable to cable Internet. Now the most popular technology on the market is ADSL with a speed of 2.4 Mbit / s, that is, the WiMax speed is already higher.
Frankly, LTE is a very serious competitor for WiMax. We are ready. Let's take a look at the standards. The abbreviation LTE means two standards: LTE release 8, for which equipment is available today, and LTE Advanced (release 10), for which equipment has not even been developed yet. Analog LTE Advanced is WiMax 16m. Both standards (LTE Advanced and WiMax 16m) are stated in ITU. In terms of performance, LTE release 8 and WiMax 802.16e (currently used by the Yota network) are the same. But we only have WiMax 802.16e today, and we are just starting to talk about LTE.
- Why did you choose WiMax?
- Very simple. We had conceived a service - mobile Internet. Really mobile and in speed commensurate with the cable. What do we have? And there is only WiMax 16e, and there is nothing else.
Moreover. Where is the internet mostly consumed? We understand that in the first place on the computer: even 3G operators get the main income from the traffic through the big screen, and not the small one. Who is the player in this market? Intel Intel can make WiMax integrated in all laptops, like WiFi? There is such a probability. And it is more than the built-in 3G modules: 3G has been on the market for more than nine years, and laptops with built-in 3G units. Based on this logic, we understood that WiMax is good. But not because we are fans of technology, but because it gives us the opportunity today to give this service better than anyone else.
We are always dancing from the service. There will be another technology - we will deal with another technology. We are not a technology company. For me, this competition is not technology, but business models. WiMax is not a cheap technology, it requires a tight installation of base stations so that the service is of high quality and continuous. To do this in Moscow alone, you need to put several thousand base stations. It pulls in hundreds of millions of dollars. How many companies in Russia are able to do this and for how long? Therefore, I would say not about the technology dispute, but about the business model dispute. I can give you an example. Why do we have hundreds of thousands of subscribers, and our competitors have only a few thousand?
You can read the full interview here kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=1311544&NodesID=4
-
In my opinion, 3G in Russia has few prospects, especially considering the problems that the Big Three have been facing lately. For example, in the near future, none of the operators can introduce equipment, since the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan exists already from January 1, and there are no general rules for importing and obtaining licenses. So, in terms of mobile Internet, Yota is much more likely to become a market leader.
- Now, third-generation (3G) cellular networks are being deployed in Moscow, which allow providing Internet access at a theoretical speed of up to 14 Mbit / s. Do you fear competition? After all, cellular networks have an advantage: they have many times more coverage?
- The great advantage of 3G, of course, is the prevalence of end devices. But the difference lies in consumption patterns. We have operators with 3G in Ufa and St. Petersburg, but we do not have any effect compared to Moscow, where these networks have just begun to deploy.
In addition, the 14 Mbit / s. That you mentioned in the question is the speed at which the end device can operate, but the limiting factor is not the speed of the device, but the throughput of the base station. In particular, now 3G base stations, as far as I know, are connected at 4 Mbit / s. Suppose 1 thousand of them were installed in Moscow, that is, the peak capacity of all base stations is 4 Gbit / s, and the same 1 thousand WiMax stations are 100 Gbit / s, that is, 25 times more. In Moscow, we plan to install 3 thousand stations. For a comparable bandwidth in 3G, you will need to deliver 75 thousand stations to each operator.
')
The restrictions of operators are that when they built networks, the speed of construction was important for them. And you can quickly build only radio-relay, but not fiber-optic networks. Today, not a single Russian operator has a sufficient fiber optic infrastructure for 4G development. Of course, now this problem is being solved: operators are beginning to invest a lot of money in this area, but this will take time.
But even if we assume that everything will be fine with the connection, then the next limiting factor will be the capacity of the base station itself. It is determined by the technology and the width of the radio channel. 3G uses the 5 MHz channel, and WiMax uses 10 MHz. The large channel width is reflected not only in speed, but also in the number of subscribers that can be served simultaneously by one base station.
- What do you think about the risk for your business from the LTE cellular standard, the introduction of which is already being discussed in Russia?
- I would like to first clarify that we have never been fans of WiMax technology. We do not care what technology to use. We are focused on a service that will change people's lives just like cell phones. Most recently, people used landlines, but then everything changed dramatically. The same will happen with the Internet, when they reach speeds comparable to cable Internet. Now the most popular technology on the market is ADSL with a speed of 2.4 Mbit / s, that is, the WiMax speed is already higher.
Frankly, LTE is a very serious competitor for WiMax. We are ready. Let's take a look at the standards. The abbreviation LTE means two standards: LTE release 8, for which equipment is available today, and LTE Advanced (release 10), for which equipment has not even been developed yet. Analog LTE Advanced is WiMax 16m. Both standards (LTE Advanced and WiMax 16m) are stated in ITU. In terms of performance, LTE release 8 and WiMax 802.16e (currently used by the Yota network) are the same. But we only have WiMax 802.16e today, and we are just starting to talk about LTE.
- Why did you choose WiMax?
- Very simple. We had conceived a service - mobile Internet. Really mobile and in speed commensurate with the cable. What do we have? And there is only WiMax 16e, and there is nothing else.
Moreover. Where is the internet mostly consumed? We understand that in the first place on the computer: even 3G operators get the main income from the traffic through the big screen, and not the small one. Who is the player in this market? Intel Intel can make WiMax integrated in all laptops, like WiFi? There is such a probability. And it is more than the built-in 3G modules: 3G has been on the market for more than nine years, and laptops with built-in 3G units. Based on this logic, we understood that WiMax is good. But not because we are fans of technology, but because it gives us the opportunity today to give this service better than anyone else.
We are always dancing from the service. There will be another technology - we will deal with another technology. We are not a technology company. For me, this competition is not technology, but business models. WiMax is not a cheap technology, it requires a tight installation of base stations so that the service is of high quality and continuous. To do this in Moscow alone, you need to put several thousand base stations. It pulls in hundreds of millions of dollars. How many companies in Russia are able to do this and for how long? Therefore, I would say not about the technology dispute, but about the business model dispute. I can give you an example. Why do we have hundreds of thousands of subscribers, and our competitors have only a few thousand?
You can read the full interview here kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=1311544&NodesID=4
-
In my opinion, 3G in Russia has few prospects, especially considering the problems that the Big Three have been facing lately. For example, in the near future, none of the operators can introduce equipment, since the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan exists already from January 1, and there are no general rules for importing and obtaining licenses. So, in terms of mobile Internet, Yota is much more likely to become a market leader.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/82341/
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