2006 promises to deliver several exciting developments in the field of mobile telephony service provision, including improvements in signal distribution as well as efforts to reduce the costs of delivering connectivity - and whether these products are used in developed or emerging markets, this will result in more affordable telephony.
K Christoph Caselitz, president of Siemens Mobile Networks globally, says these developments include attention to the base stations that play a critical role in extending networks across territories.
"Our customers - the providers of mobile networks - have been asking for solutions that deliver easier manageability and lower deployment and maintenance costs. As such, integrated controllers are now being delivered that enable both [legacy] GSM as well as UMTS [3G] signals to be handled from the same base station," says Caselitz.
"There is also further talk in the industry around multi-standard base stations that include other connectivity modes such as WiMax and WiFi. This holds the potential to reduce a host of costs associated with establishing separate networks, such as the cost of the site itself, infrastructure deployment and the availability of electricity," says Caselitz.
He notes, however, that Siemens is an organisation that does not bring immature technologies to market as the organisation's customers rely on technology that delivers a reliable return on investment for the capital expenditure invested.
"As such, it is necessary that any products undergo a complete development lifecycle and are based upon accepted industry standards," he says.
While a level of commoditisation has entered the market - especially at the level of the handset where new models are constantly being introduced - the same cannot be said for enabling networks.
"A good supplier cannot force operators to throw away hardware as new technologies are introduced - delivering investment protection is mandatory," he says.
Even as new standards are ushered into the market - including WiMax - the challenge is to deliver backwards compatibility with existing equipment. However, says Caselitz, this has the effect of driving up network complexity. Therefore, he tips managed cellular networks as another cost reducing strategy for operators that is likely to gain increasing acceptance in 2006 and beyond.
"Differentiation in the mobile network is not likely at the level of the network; the only given is that it [the network] must be always available. As technology becomes more and more complex, network planning, execution and delivery is an increasing challenge for the operator. As such, there is a growing trend to leave the management of this aspect of service provision in the hands of the vendor that supplied the equipment, allowing the operator to concentrate on the core business of acquiring and managing subscribers," he says.
With the enabling infrastructure for mobile networks the undoubted focus for Siemens since the disposal of its handset business, Caselitz says the organisation is confident of its value proposition even as competition from other vendors is stepped up.
"We intend to maintain our leading position by continuing to invest in innovation and focusing on the quality and support of our product. We believe that the question of reliability and support are the most important aspects for service providers, and will continue to bring technology leadership to the market with that focus," he concludes.
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