15 things we learnt from Nokia

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15 things we learnt from Nokia

Nokia Networks gave those congregated at the ITU Telecom World in Doha a taste of the future.

"Right now people in advanced economies use, on an average, 2-3 GB of mobile data per month. Within a few years, this will increase to 1 GB a day." Joachim Wuilmet, Head of Customer Marketing, Middle East, Nokia Networks

66 > QATAR TODAY > FEBRUARY 2015

In

the extended discussion we had after that with company representatives, Qatar Today came away with some exciting insights into what’s ahead for mobile broadband. Here’s the meat, minus all the trimmings. With Adnan Kureshy, Head of Marketing and Communications, MENA; and Joachim Wuilmet, Head of Customer Marketing, Middle East

1

Looking Ahead Nokia Networks broke its own speed record by demonstrating a mobile network that can deliver 4.1 Gbps. It was achieved by aggregating 10 carriers. Commercially, the best we can do right now is the aggregation of two frequency bands. This is called LTE-A in the industry. And even this feat is something only 20 operators in the whole world can boast of being able to do. These kinds of speeds and capacity will be necessary for the realisation of the Internet of Things. The 50 billion devices which will supposedly be connected by 2025 will need this kind of advance technology to handle traffic throughput.

2

While it’s hard to predict the future, moments like these serve to give you a glimpse. It’s not just a concept anymore, it’s a reality. The tech is there but commercialisation needs to catch up. And why would anyone even want need these kinds of speeds on their mobile phones? People in advanced economies use, on an average, 2-3 GB of mobile data per month right now. Within a few years, this will increase to 1 GB a day, with the main driver being video traffic. South Korea is one the world’s biggest markets where video is consumed on mobile handsets. The second largest, incidentally, is Saudi Arabia.

3

This explosive rate of data usage is exactly with the flat rate of pricing by telecom operators is not sustainable. Because operators now generate more revenue from data than traditional telecom services like voice or texts. In some extreme cases, this is as high as 75% of the total revenue. The challenge for operators now is to address driving the right pricing model for data. Also people are more willing to pay more for data, because it is increasingly being consumed as entertainment rather than means of communication (and people don’t mind paying more for entertainment).

4

The world is going data. Even voice is becoming a data application. Nokia Networks have previously demonstrated VoLTE (Voice of LTE) and have even started their first deployment globally. It has proved to be very beneficial in terms of spectrum efficiency, voice quality, call setup time, etc.

5

We are still only in the beginning stages of commericalising LTE-A but its current adoption rate is even faster than that of 3G and 2G during their time. This will further accelerate as the combined effect of network evolution, more spectrum allocation, increased user demand and device availability. The latter is one of the reasons why networks Japan and South Korea are a bit more advanced in LTE-A technology because often handsets that have the specific capability are available in these markets before they are deployed globally.

6

An introspection After Nokia sold its handsets business to Microsoft last year, it has concentrated its focus on three key verticals – Nokia Networks, HERE and Nokia Technologies which is involved in intellectual


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