Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering

Consultation Paper on Wireless Broadband Access

By Mustafa M. Hussain
( MSc, Telecommunications Engineering, Kings College, London)

Assistant Professor East West University Phone: 01713129549 Email: mustafamhussain@gmail.com

43 Mohakhali C/A,Dhaka 1212,Bangladesh Tel: +880-2-881138, +880-2-9882308 Fax: +880-2-8812336

Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering

Introduction

Bangladesh started its economic liberalization program in 1991. Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) is an independent Commission established under the Bangladesh Telecommunication Act, 2001 (Act no. 18 of 2001) published by the Parliament in the Bangladesh Gazette, extraordinary issue of April 16, 2001. BTRC started functioning from January 31, 2002 with a vision to Facilitate affordable telecommunication services of acceptable quality for all regardless of their location. In 2007, International Long Distance Telecommunication Services (ILDTS) has formulated to facilitate, liberalize and legitimize ILDTS including VoIP and Next Generation Network (NGN) Technology. The policy is primarily focused on providing affordable communication means to the people at home and abroad, encouraging local entrepreneurs, encouraging new technologies to grow and ensuring due earning of revenues for the government. The result is that the number of telephone connections (wireline and wireless lines) has amazing increased in the past ten years. The total number of Mobile Phone Subscribers has reached 42.04 million at the end of May 2008 and The total number of PSTN Phone Subscribers has reached 1270.796 thousand at the end of May 2008. The effective telecom tariff for domestic voice service has dropped from BDT 7 per minute (US$0.3 at US$1 = BDT 70) to about BDT 2 (US$0.02) per minute in the last 5 years. That may seem like a large figure, but with a population of 15 crore , it translates to just 25 phones for every 100 people. And that number is skewed by the relative wealth of the cities while urban teledensity is around 31 percent, just 2 percent of the rural population has phone lines. With respect to rural connectivity, the governments objective is to reach millions rural connections soon. Governments are prioritizing broadband as a key objective for all citizens to overcome the broadband gap also known as the digital divide.

43 Mohakhali C/A,Dhaka 1212,Bangladesh Tel: +880-2-881138, +880-2-9882308 Fax: +880-2-8812336

Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering

Broadband internet access is one of the catalyst for economic development of a country in the long run . Ability of Broadband access encourages greater availability and usage of information leading to increase in productivity and efficiency. The explosive growth of the Internet over the last decade has led to an increasing demand for high-speed, ubiquitous Internet access. Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) is increasingly gaining popularity as an alternative last mile technology in this domain. WiMAX technology aims to provide low-cost, high-performance broadband wireless access to residential and business applications. Standardization was also completed recently for 802.16e, generally known as Mobile WiMAX, which will provide mobility to end users in a MAN environment. Broadband services were launched in Bangladesh in 2003. ADSL services now cover mostly urban areas, while broadband wireless subscriber figures are still negligible. While low broadband penetration is a clear opportunity for BWA/WiMAX, the market take off will require sufficient spectrum, very low cost CPE and affordable end-to-end connectivity. A country where broadbands average revenue per user (ARPU) is estimated at US$12-15 requires very low equipment cost.

43 Mohakhali C/A,Dhaka 1212,Bangladesh Tel: +880-2-881138, +880-2-9882308 Fax: +880-2-8812336

Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering

Comments and Opinions About BTRCs Wireless Broadband Access (WBA) Draft guideline

43 Mohakhali C/A,Dhaka 1212,Bangladesh Tel: +880-2-881138, +880-2-9882308 Fax: +880-2-8812336

Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering

Deregulation A major driver impacting the broadband wireless explosion is the advent of global telecom deregulation, opening up the telecommunications/Internet access industries to a host of new players. As more and more countries enable carriers and service providers to operate in a variety of frequencies, new and lucrative broadband access markets are springing up everywhere. Wireless technology requires the use of frequencies contained within a given spectrum to transfer voice and data. Governments allocate a specific range of that spectrum to incumbent and competitive carriers, as well as cellular operators, ISPs, and other service providers, enabling them to launch a variety of broadband initiatives based exclusively on wireless networking solutions. There are two main types of spectrum allocation: licensed and unlicensed. Licensed frequencies are typically awarded through an auction to those who present the soundest business plans to the regulatory authorities overseeing the process. Unlicensed frequencies allow multiple service providers to utilize the same section of the spectrum and compete with each other for customers. Recent examples of the global spread of bandwidth allocations/licenses that are available to wireless operators as a result of deregulation include: Italy - 26GHz and 28GHz bands; UK - 2.4GHz, 3.5GHz,10.5 GHz and 28GHz bands; France - 2.4GHz, 3.5GHz, and 26GHz bands; Sweden - 3.5GHz band; EC 5.4GHz, to be made available for carriers throughout continental Europe; China - 2.4GHz, 3.5GHz, 5.8 GHz and 26GHz bands; and Brazil - 3.5GHz and 10.5 GHz bands. Result: millions of new subscribers worldwide are benefiting from broadband access services delivered over wireless networks. Firstly, where rapid roll-out of a network is the motto, de-licensing is the best solution. TRAI agrees not to require licenses for the use of 3.5 GHz to encourage the use of the spectrum in rural areas by local entrepreneurs - delicensed so no charges to be paid. By Terence Graham, A research Associate of WiMAX Forum, Beijing, China- In the pre-deploying stage of WiMAX in Malaysia, NasionCom Holdings collaborating with Deutsche Telekom on
43 Mohakhali C/A,Dhaka 1212,Bangladesh Tel: +880-2-881138, +880-2-9882308 Fax: +880-2-8812336

Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering

WiMax trial in Klang Valley - according to NasionComs CEO WiMax is an unlicensed spectrum and we need not spend money for the license. Where France, Malaysia, South Africa, Bahrain Etc Regulatory commission fist done pretrial with WIMAX technogly and then offer, but why in Bangladesh BTRC not done pretrial Before given License? If Any reason this policy will not success in Bangladesh, the operators who will give 25 corer Minimum and another expenses have to provide, Are they not loser? (Here BTRC Said all kind of payment are nonrefundable)

43 Mohakhali C/A,Dhaka 1212,Bangladesh Tel: +880-2-881138, +880-2-9882308 Fax: +880-2-8812336

Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering

Frequency allocation By the clause 3.03 and 3.04, total 3 licenses will be issued to provide BWA service. 2 of them will be in 2.3 GHz and one in 2.5 GHz. Why not 700 MHz will not be used? 700MHz frequency is now taken by Sheba Phone. Sheba is not using that 700MHz band. In a generic point of view 700 MHz would be more operatorfriendly. 700MHz band has favourable propagational characteristics which enables it to provide longer coverage particularly in rural and remote areas. The importance of this band has already been recognized in TRAIs recommendations for Growth of Telecom Services in Rural India.

Performance of different Frquencies Loss in that frequency will be less prominent and hence more area can be covered by a single BS compared to 2.3 and 2.5 GHz. It is to check carefully whether 2.3 or 2.5 GHz are currently being used by any satellite downlink operation in our country. TRAI is not going to use this 2.543 Mohakhali C/A,Dhaka 1212,Bangladesh Tel: +880-2-881138, +880-2-9882308 Fax: +880-2-8812336

Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering

2.690 GHz band because it is being used by Department of Space for INSAT applications at some locations. Spectral considerations The 802.16e standard supports the frequency range of 2 to 6 GHz, although other frequency bands can also be accommodated. WiMAX operates in a mixture of licensed and unlicensed bands. The unlicensed bands are typically the 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz bands. Licensed spectrum provides operators control over the usage of the band, allowing them to build a high-quality network. The unlicensed band, on the other hand, allows independents to provide backhaul services for hotspots. BTRC offered two spectrum band 2.3GHz and 2.5GHz , Issue is where India using 3.5GHz , Malaysia 2.3GHz, Thailand 2.5GHz South Africa 2.6GHz and Bahrain using 3.5GHz, Question, all countries regulatory Commission's offered only one spectrum band but why Bangladesh BTRC offered more than one Spectrum? Is BTRC has further future plan to increase more than 3 operators?

43 Mohakhali C/A,Dhaka 1212,Bangladesh Tel: +880-2-881138, +880-2-9882308 Fax: +880-2-8812336

Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering

Threat and Interference Issues According to the clause no. 9.01, The existing ISP license holders operating in 2.3, 3.5, 5.2, 5.4 GHz and 700 MHz will be allowed to continue their wireless Internet services for 5 (five) years with pre-WiMAX equipments (which they have already imported). The 5 years time shall start from the date of issuance of first BWA licenses. Now, the question is, after 1 year, if everything goes on according to the draft, when WiMAX will be in operation in the major cities, wont there be any interference between the WiMAX 2.3 GHz and ISP 2.3 GHz? If yes, then how to minimize it? Existing 2.3 GHz using by ZIP(ISP) , 3.5 GHz is using by Bracnet , 700Mhz is used by the Always online might interferences with new WIMAX operator network for next five years, furthermore Bracnet Who using 3.5 GHz have to close after 5 years later as per BTRC order but issue is what about after 5years as they have 3.5 GHz license with. Law BTRC has not Mentioned any law against WIMAX disturbance but we can easily find from India, USA, France where their regulatory board provide law enforcement.

43 Mohakhali C/A,Dhaka 1212,Bangladesh Tel: +880-2-881138, +880-2-9882308 Fax: +880-2-8812336

Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering

Foreign currency siphoning and money laundering According to BTRC Maximum 60% of FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) or foreign Partnership or investment from NRB (Non-Resident Bangladeshi) with local entrepreneur/consortium/current licensees (excluding licensed cellular mobile operators from the Commission) is permitted. ILDTS Policy is formulated to Encourage local businesses and enterprises in telecommunication sector. Telecom is one of the most vibrating sector thats why a lot of foreign financing house will be interested to invest here with local entrepreneur . We suggest maximum 20% of FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) or foreign Partnership or investment from NRB (Non-Resident Bangladeshi) with local entrepreneur/consortium/current licensees

43 Mohakhali C/A,Dhaka 1212,Bangladesh Tel: +880-2-881138, +880-2-9882308 Fax: +880-2-8812336

Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering

Infrastructure Sharing Clause 7.08, Mentioned by BTRC that all the licensed operators have to share the same tower and the existing infrastructure but here question is occur when three operators, they are competitor each other so how can they share same tower. Suppose one operator Technical find that to link one BTS to another he has to use 80ft high another operator also required 80ft high to get better signal so that how it be settle? in this clause BTRC not mentioned clearly. Not only but also there are some issue occur like power sharing, maintenance, equipment space availability, tower sharing rent etc. BTRC Should Impose a expenditure sharing policy on infrastructure sharing and

BTRC Should Impose a policy on Transmission infrastructure sharing and expenditure sharing

43 Mohakhali C/A,Dhaka 1212,Bangladesh Tel: +880-2-881138, +880-2-9882308 Fax: +880-2-8812336

Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering

Business Model Analysis Costing: Strongly can say in this broadband policy expenses are not proportionate with income/revenue, so operators who will get the license may loser or be lose project. In that case WIMAX Technology Can continuous? Suppose there is an Example in Dhaka city need to cover 200 BTS approx for every 500 meter Omni direction Area . The Vendor like Alcatel, Motorola, offer one BTS expense is near 61 thousand USD which is very much expensive. But issue is, before this large amount expense, BTRC should require to survey the WIMAX user or market that can cover this expenses. Main city of Bangladesh like Dhaka & Chittagong where there were unstructured buildings and hills so technical reason like large scale fading or shading is occurred thats why more BTS is required. Equipment capacity of signal specifications has 30km radius but practically test is done by private sector like BRAC net (ISP) who using WIMAX product and using band 3.5GHZ cover only 1km per BTS, So built-in large amount of BTS is required. It is the limitation of WIMAX in Bangladesh. In the procedure of business operations, there are several critical factors that determine the success of daily business. Such factors include capital, human resource, produce, market, business model, technology and trade. Among all the above factors, business model plays a more important role than all others. It is often used to describe the key components of a given business. Business model is concluded and created base on many daily business operations, and it is the representation of business operations facts. These components depict the major aspects of business model Value Proposition Market Segment Value Chain Structure Revenue Model Partnerships Competitive Strategy
43 Mohakhali C/A,Dhaka 1212,Bangladesh Tel: +880-2-881138, +880-2-9882308 Fax: +880-2-8812336

Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering

Designing business model for WBA The main framework of business model describers the key components of a givenbusiness by inter-relationships influence of different entities from value network. A viable and feasible business model should always deliver value to customers as well as to all other participating actors in the value creation system.7 Finally, the created value will be delivered to customers, and service provider could also obtain a certain profit from the cooperation with network operator. Service concept: service concept design aims to present value proposition to the customer or end users. The provider intends to deliver a certain value proposition which customer or end user expects. The other objective of service design is the nature of innovation. This kind of innovation in one way refers to the service which builds on top of existing old version service, which is the evolution and optimization of old service. Another way is a brand new service with one or more revolutionary elements. Technology architecture: Technological architecture describes the fundamental infrastructure of technical system, which is needed by the companies to deliver strong
43 Mohakhali C/A,Dhaka 1212,Bangladesh Tel: +880-2-881138, +880-2-9882308 Fax: +880-2-8812336

Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering

technical background at service design phase. Organization arrangement: Organizational arrangement presents the value network which could deliver a certain service by good-relationship cooperation between each other. The value network may consist of many different actors. These actors have certain resources and capabilities, and could carry out their own strategies and goals through the organizational arrangement. Financial arrangement: financial arrangement exhibits the financial arrangements between different market players in the value network. The set of finance arrangements between different markets actors may includes how profit, investment, cost, risk, and revenue sharing are arranged SWOT Strategy Analysis SWOT is one of the most straightforward methods often used to analyze business strategy. The decision-makers could recognize organizations environment from both internal and external point of view by analyzing the important aspects

43 Mohakhali C/A,Dhaka 1212,Bangladesh Tel: +880-2-881138, +880-2-9882308 Fax: +880-2-8812336

Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering

Roll out According to the roll out obligation-clause no 15.01, The operators, within 1 year of issuance of license, shall have to install minimum 5 full fledged Base Station Transceiver (BTS) radio sites in areas covering each Divisional Headquarters and 3 BTS covering each District. Further more actual fact in rural area computer and internet user is rear, so operators will be afraid to invest in the rural areas. Deployment schedule should be flexible

43 Mohakhali C/A,Dhaka 1212,Bangladesh Tel: +880-2-881138, +880-2-9882308 Fax: +880-2-8812336

Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering

Existing operators (CDMA & GSM) Issues In BTRC policy there they said that one who have Economically solvent and Technically sound will get license but in 3.07 cluse(II) mentioned the operators (CDMA & GSM) having the cellular Mobile license from BTRC will not be eligible to apply but why? My Question is where like Bahrain, USA, South Africa give WIMAX license both mobile operator and also others, why BTRC give this limitation towards mobile Operator? Further more Mobile operator is economically solvent and their infrastructure was already done whole country. Where coasting of WIMAX is main issue, there if the mobile operator can get, they may reduce of cost and easily the customer get their services with low rate & high Qos.

43 Mohakhali C/A,Dhaka 1212,Bangladesh Tel: +880-2-881138, +880-2-9882308 Fax: +880-2-8812336

Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering

Data Rate In the clause 7.02, there is a straightforward mention that At least 128 kbps per subscriber should be ensured at all time but it is not mentioned that whether it is the local LANs data rate (Example- Wi-Fi) or it is the throughoutput of a WiMAX base station. If it is the speed provided by the local network, then what should be the data rate per BS cell? The minimum spectrum, which can be assigned for WiMAX usage, is 1.75 MHz enables data rate from 1 Mbps to 6 Mbps based on different modulation techniques and coding. So, for a channel of 5-10 MHz bandwidth (by the clause 8.04), speed should far higher. There is no differentiation between the data rate of the urban and rural area. But according to TRAI consultation paper on BWA (Consultation Paper no. 9/2006), It is expected that rural area access may require data rate of the order of 10 Mbps per cell whereas Business centre in big cities may need data rate beyond the order of 20 Mbps per cell.

43 Mohakhali C/A,Dhaka 1212,Bangladesh Tel: +880-2-881138, +880-2-9882308 Fax: +880-2-8812336

Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering

IP telephony service For the IP telephony service, there is no guideline about integration of existing cellular telephony system and the IP telephony. But it would be beneficial that a subscriber of WiMAX can phone his cellular subscriber mate. WIMAX operator can also give mobile or Voice facility if their licensing and roll out expense is high they can try collect from Subscriber time to time, But Existing Mobile Operator gives low price of Voice per/min and GPRS facility. WIMAX Operator in that case may suffer. According to the clause 7.11, The licensee(s) is allowed to provide IP Telephony services bundled with the instant license. The licensee(s) shall optimize their QoS for providing voice along with basic data services. - but here QoS category isnt well distinguished, even whether the VoIP will be provided on UGS scheme or ErtPS isnt mentioned. WiMAX support 5 kinds of QoS and there should be clear guide line about the QoS category.

43 Mohakhali C/A,Dhaka 1212,Bangladesh Tel: +880-2-881138, +880-2-9882308 Fax: +880-2-8812336

Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering

Cable TV network Many rural areas are still out of the reach of cable network. So, it is to be considered- whether it is possible or not to provide cable channel broadcasting to the rural people through WiMAX Power Issues Power problem in Rural area, where is National grid there were power is dropped every hours in pick and non pick time. BTRC can consider solar power system to resolve rural power issue. Solar power is very well suited for all of Bangladesh because it does not involve expending so much resources on wires, poles and other equipment. Users need to make only a one-time investment in solar panels that last decades with good maintenance. They do not have to pay bills and are not harassed by regular periods of power shut-off of the type suffered by DESA or REB subscribers. Solar power has proved to be efficient in all assessments made so far. Good and almost continuous sunshine is almost guaranteed round the year in Bangladesh. Solar energy again is very clean and thus very environment friendly.

43 Mohakhali C/A,Dhaka 1212,Bangladesh Tel: +880-2-881138, +880-2-9882308 Fax: +880-2-8812336

Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering

Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) Another important point is the Customer Premise Equipment (CPE). There is no direction in the guideline about the kind or specification of the CPE which should be used. In the above mentioned pilot project tender, in the clause 4.4, BTTB mentioned about PCMCIA card Standard compliance: IEEE 802.16e Frequency: 2.5 GHz (for that pilot project) Data speed: Minimum Uplink: 2 Mbps, Minimum Downlink: 5 Mbps Indoor/Desktop CPE Customer Premise Equipment Standard compliance: IEEE 802.16e Frequency: 2.5 GHz (for that pilot project) Data speed: Minimum Uplink: 2 Mbps, Minimum Downlink: 5 Mbps Minimum 1 Ethernet (10/100BaseT) with 1 RJ-11(POTS) port CPE Customer Premise Equipment Standard compliance: IEEE 802.16e Frequency: 2.5 GHz (for that pilot project) Data speed: Minimum Uplink: 2 Mbps, Minimum Downlink: 5 Mbps Minimum 2 Ethernet(10/100BaseT) with 2 RJ-11(POTS) port But, more than those type of devices, as it is allowed for the operators to provide IP telephony services and as voice application will be provided with separate numbering plan, there should be provisions for WiMAX enabled telephony handsets, PDAs, Laptops etc.

43 Mohakhali C/A,Dhaka 1212,Bangladesh Tel: +880-2-881138, +880-2-9882308 Fax: +880-2-8812336

Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering

Technology Issues In the guideline it is also not strictly mentioned that which channel access method is to be adopted but this point is vital to affect the overall throughoutput. Among the channel access method, WiMAX PHY layer supported three area. Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) b. Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) c. Scalable OFDMA (S-OFDMA) For each case the next one is more flexible and robust than the first one. OFDM with 256 sub-carriers the only option supported in Europe by the ETSI, whose rival HiperMAN standard is likely to be subsumed into WiMAX; OFDMA, with 2048 sub-carriers. S-OFDMA provides the ability to adjust OFDMA in accordance with the bandwidth of the channel being used. Channel access method should be clear in guideline. The guideline should mentioned something about the antenna system- whether to or not to use smart antenna system and if yes, then what kind of smart antenna system is to use. According to Alvarion Whitepaper on Mobile WiMAX, The WiMAX Standard supports several smart antenna technologies, including multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) and advanced (or adaptive) antenna system (AAS) on both subscriber terminals and base stations. While MIMO refers to the use of multiple antennas, and the resulting processing required for the additional signals; AAS refers to either Space-Time Coding technique or, Beam-Forming.

43 Mohakhali C/A,Dhaka 1212,Bangladesh Tel: +880-2-881138, +880-2-9882308 Fax: +880-2-8812336

Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering

QoS In this draft, there is no guideline about the coding technique that should be adopted. Though it is relative matter of the operator but there should be a clear mention about it to ensure a satisfactory QoS to the subscriber. In bidding document (Tender No. DP/F-5/IR/2007-2008/2) about Supply, Installation, Testing and Commissioning of a Pilot WiMAX network on turn-key basis issued by BTTB-newly BTCL, on 31-01-2008 they mentioned that a BS should have the modulation function asa. Uplink- QPSK and 16 QAM modulations b. Downlink- QPSK, 16 QAM and 64 QAM modulation So, they may get two different data rate in uplink and downlink direction. It is even not mentioned in BTRC guideline, whether there will be same of different data rate on uplink and downlink direction. Here is a table containing Data rate per cell for various coding technique (in Mbps) collected from TRAI consultation paper on BWA-

43 Mohakhali C/A,Dhaka 1212,Bangladesh Tel: +880-2-881138, +880-2-9882308 Fax: +880-2-8812336

Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering

Summing Up In my opinion, there should be some changes in the roll out obligation clause. Before granting the license operators should undergo a pilot project. (By Terence Graham, A research Associate of WiMAX Forum, Beijing, China-In the pre-deploying stage of WiMAX in Thailand three companies AIS, TOT and TRUE tested with Intel on spectrum range 3.4-3.6 GHz. on the locations of Mae Hong Son, Sarabari and Chiang Mai. Participating companies was not charged for trial spectrums. It is to be in mind that the success will not be achieved by only installing a effective network infrastructure. If the cost of the CPEs remain unaffordable specially for the rural people and the tariffs remain illogical, then WiMAX will not be able to achieve its motto and it will perish in the consequence. Mobile WiMAX technology is designed to provide high-quality, mobile broadband multimedia services; however, it presents challenges that regulators and operators need to consider before deploying their networks. In particular, at higher frequency bands such as 3.5 GHz, RF signals can experience propagation and building penetration losses combined with physical environment considerations which may impact coverage and range reach. By leveraging advanced technology innovations like MIMO/OFDM, a number of these challenges can be addressed to deliver a more spectral efficient, robust, and higher performance mobile WiMAX network.

43 Mohakhali C/A,Dhaka 1212,Bangladesh Tel: +880-2-881138, +880-2-9882308 Fax: +880-2-8812336

Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering

About the Author Mustafa M Hussain, ( MSc, Telecommunications Engineering, Kings College, London) Assistant Professor in Telecommunication Engineering East West University
Phone: 01713129549, Email: mustafamhussain@gmail.com

Mustafa is an Assistant Professor in Telecommunication Engineering at East West University. He is doing teaching and research in telecommunications for several years. He has published more than 10 International Jmynal and conference papers including IEEE. Mustafa brings his expertise in implementing technology solution and led multi-vendor teams in designing and implementing technology integration solutions for self-service and multi-channel contact by diverse groups of customers (CTI, Telcos, Software, Networking, Internet) resulting in annual savings. He led solution implementation teams creating solutions for clients Grameen Phone. Aktel, WorldTel, Fresnel Wireless,UK, Nera Networks, Norway and Nortel Networks, Canada.

43 Mohakhali C/A,Dhaka 1212,Bangladesh Tel: +880-2-881138, +880-2-9882308 Fax: +880-2-8812336