LTE is the Future Technology for Broadband

By Asim S. Husain

The Military College of Signals (MCS) held a 2-day seminar on broadband networks at its Pindi campus on April 19th and 20th.

Participants of the seminar included Chairman PTA, experts from the industry, MCS faculty and students. Seminar covered detailed presentations on different broadband technologies including wired broadband such as DSL and HFC/PONs and wireless broadband such as Wimax, EVDO, and satellite broadband.

Opening address was delivered by Chairman PTA, Dr. Yaseen, who talked about the rapid growth in broadband in Pakistan and the future potential for broadband.

As of end of 2009, 57% of broadband users were on DSL, 29% on Wimax, 8% on EVDO, and 6% on HFC. He said that USF is funding projects to bring broadband to underserved areas of Pakistan. Broadband users grew by 140% in 2009. The opening address was followed by presentations on different broadband technologies as follows:

• Wired broadband technologies by Dr. Faisal Khan, MCS
• Tactical broadband networks by Faisal Munir, Harris
• HFC/PONS by Mustanser Siddique, Worldcall
• DSL/ fiber access by Khalid Hanif, Huawei
• NGC/IMS by Emaad Ahmed, Huawei

The second day of the seminar focused on wireless broadband technologies with presentations as follows:

• Introduction to wireless broadband technologies by Dr. Syed Khayam, MCS
• Wimax/ LTE by Yahya Sethi, Motorola
• CDMA/ EVDO by Altaf Khan, Worldcall
• Satellite broadband by Hamid Nawaz, Supernet

The seminar was concluded with a useful panel discussion where questions were posed to the industry experts about the future of broadband.

The vision of broadband has changed from fiber to wireless. The experts said that because LTE, which is a 4G technology¸ supports both triple play and mobility at an economical cost, LTE is the future technology for broadband.

Wimax cannot support triple play (2-way interactivity) with a good quality. Although HFC supports triple play and high speeds, it is an expensive technology for the Pakistani consumer because of the high costs of the end user device. LTE will be a natural upgrade path for both GSM and EVDO operators. Hence, it is possible that operators might skip 3G and go directly for LTE.

The seminar was concluded with speeches from Commandant MCS, Major General Shahid Maqbool and pro-rector NUST, Rear Admiral Mushtaq and an award giving ceremony for the speakers and participants.