#NSN-004 Titel [Alt+T]

Reuse GSM assets when launching LTE

The decision to launch LTE is often governed by the need to find the most cost-effective way to combine data rates, coverage and capacity. LTE on the 1800 MHz band provides an added advantage in parts of the world where there are already GSM deployments in the same spectrum.

The first wave of LTE network launches focused on new frequency bands such as 2.6 GHz or digital dividend spectrum at 700 MHz or 800 MHz. But more than 30 frequency bands have been defined for LTE and TD-LTE deployments, and the 1800 MHz band has been attracting considerable attention from communications service providers (CSPs). Thats because many CSPs are already running GSM networks at 1800 MHz, which enables them to reuse existing GSM antennas and antenna lines in a new LTE deployment. The coverage of a base station at 1800 MHz is roughly twice as big as at 2.6 GHz. That means in practice that an LTE rollout at 1800 MHz can be fully supported by an existing 1800 MHz GSM (GSM1800) base station grid. Global potential and momentum GSM1800 is used throughout Europe, large parts of Asia Pacific and Africa, as well as Brazil. According to the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), more than 350 CSPs have been allocated 1800 MHz spectrum. Many of these markets are way behind the front-runner LTE

markets in allocating new frequency bands. Deploying LTE on spare capacity in the 1800 MHz band or via re-farming from GSM1800 is therefore an extremely effective way for CSPs to provide their customers with the low-latency and high downlink and uplink speeds made possible by LTE. Make more of existing assets Reusing the GSM sites requires available capacity in the frequency band, as well as physical space at the base station site. Frequency refarming can meet these needs, especially in combination with the Flexi Multiradio Base Station from Nokia Siemens Networks. The Flexi Multiradio Base Station supports concurrent GSM and LTE operation, as demonstrated at the Mobile World Congress in February 2011. It enables CSPs to deploy an extremely compact, combined GSM/LTE 1800 base station, without the need for any extra floor space or air conditioning. The Finnish experience Finnish CSP Elisa, is a great example. The company has been working with Nokia Siemens Networks on an LTE1800 trial in the

Helsinki area since 2010. In Finland, the 1800 MHz band is technology-neutral, so Elisa has regulatory approval to deploy LTE on this band, says Elisas Timo Sippola. We have a total of 25 MHz of spectrum in this band. This provides us with the potential to combine good, existing urban and suburban coverage with highly competitive data rates by initially using depending on GSM traffic 10 to 20 MHz of our spectrum for LTE. In the long term, we can refarm further frequency blocks and will then be able to deliver up to 150 Mbps peak data rate from our existing GSM1800 antennas. Even faster in future As more subscribers migrate from GSM to HSPA+ and LTE over time, the drive to re-farm further GSM frequency blocks to LTE will increase. For example, evolving an initial LTE1800 deployment of 10 MHz band to a deployment of 20 MHz band doubles the data rates experienced by users. The Nokia Siemens Networks Single RAN Advanced solution allows for smooth re-farming via a software upgrade from GSM to LTE and even beyond to LTE-Advanced.

Copyright 2011 Nokia Siemens Networks.