Mobile Service Providers example essay topic

The predominant trend in engineering and telecommunications for the past ten years has been one of convergence and the attempt to merge the varying protocols and standards found throughout the world. Specifically, in the field of mobile communications there have been many recent experiments in providing digital data and multimedia via a simple handset. One could argue that new devices and technologies will progressively become more convergent. In regard to this, I have decided to focus and to elaborate on mobile phones. Wireless communications first became available to the public in the early eighties. The first handsets were crude affairs with bulky batteries and analogue transmitters.

However, as technology progressed through the years both the radio equipment and the handsets became more sophisticated and streamlined. Nevertheless, the big breakthrough for mobile phones came with the introduction of the GSM protocol for mobile communications. GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) was the first concept to be used globally and offered the means for mobile phones to spread through all walks of life, thus we can safely state that GSM is one of the most well designed and functional standards as it is still used to today although it was developed back in the late eighties. In other words, GSM provided a stepping stone to the third generation of mobile communications (3 G).

The new concept for mobile phones is called UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System). More explicitly, the aim of UMTS is to provide a convergence protocol for the various standards that exist at the moment. In fact, the lofty goal the engineer's are attempting reach is the use of a single wireless technology that will encompass all mobile and wireless communications, such as mobile phones, cordless phones, wireless terrestrial phone services, broadband networks and many more. Another innovation of UMTS is that it uses a packet switching protocol (GPRS-General Packet Radio Service). This type of protocol breaks down the digital data into small parts (packets) to make its transmission easier. Packet switching is the protocol that is widely used for computer communications.

An example of this technology is of course the internet. Therefore, we can see how the various communication technologies are moving towards a convergence. By the term convergence we mean the systematic integration of all the digital media, devices and technologies into one format and standard. More specifically, the proposed way to achieve this is to have a common backbone upon which all the digital data is transmitted. That is to say, that mobile phones, computer communications, fixed telephone services and even digital television will all be transmitted over the same medium. In other words, we will have separate 'receivers' (televisions, handsets etc) or even one integrated device (e.g. Nokia have proposed a large screen mobile handset that also hosts a digital camera) but one large communications network that will handle, process and transmit all the data to the separate devices.

In the following paragraphs I will outline some of the experiments that have been conducted to reach convergence, what were their advantages and disadvantages and also the problems that have been encountered. The first attempt at convergence was based on the GSM protocol. Due to the widespread success of both the internet and SMS text messaging an attempt was made to merge the two services. This attempt is the well known WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) protocol.

WAP offered internet browsing and e-mail over a compatible GSM handset. It also offered a range of information and commercial services particular to each mobile service provider. WAP was basically the first experiment in providing cross-platform services. The main advantage of WAP was that it allowed (and still allows) the mobile user to access important information and their e-mail from any point in the world. It was also one of the first attempts at providing internet services without the use of a computer (the other being various tabletop devices that allowed access through a television set).

Of course, the main disadvantage and criticism of WAP was that it was very limited. Due to the small screens and low-data transfer rates associated with GSM handsets it was impossible to provide more than a text interface in the WAP browser. Also the amount of data that could be accessed was limited due to the low number of available WAP compliant web pages. We must not forget that mobile service providers also charged a high price per minute for the use of WAP. Thus we can conclude that WAP was in-successful due to high cost and impracticality. However it provided a very useful foundation (and test basis) for future implementations even though it was not commercially successful.

The second experiment (being implemented at the moment) that was based on WAP is GPRS. The General Packet Radio Service is a new non voice service that allows information to be sent and received across a mobile telephone network. It supplements today's data transmission protocol and Short Message Service. GPRS provides a massive boost to mobile data usage and usefulness. That much seems assured from its flexible feature set - its latency and efficiency and speed. The only question is how soon it takes off and how to ensure that the technical and commercial features do not hinder its widespread use.

For the first time, GPRS fully enables mobile internet functionality by allowing interfacing between the existing internet and the new GPRS network. Any service that is used over the fixed Internet today such as web browsing, chat and email will be available over the mobile network because of GPRS. In fact, many network operators are considering the opportunity to use GPRS to help become wireless Internet Service Providers in their own right. Hence, web browsing is a very important application for GPRS. Because it uses the same protocols, the GPRS network can be viewed as a sub-network of the Internet with GPRS capable mobile phones being viewed as mobile hosts. Some examples of mobile GPRS handsets available in the market at this time are the following: Nokia 8310 - this model offers a constant connection to the internet and an FM radio Nokia 5510 - this model includes an organiser, a keyboard, an MP 3 player, WAP capability and 64 MB of storage memory Nokia 9210 - this high-level model can be used as a palm-top computer (with laptop tendencies! ), a high-definition screen (with 4096 colours supported) and so offers a host of services and facilities Ericsson T 68 M - this uses a protocol developed by Ericsson called Bluetooth and this enables it to connect to various digital devices (such as a digital camera), a colour screen (256 colours) and animated images.

It also offers a multimedia-messaging service that allows the user to send messages with sound, images and text. Sony CMD-Z 5 - this model uses the Microsoft mobile explorer and so can access both WAP and html pages, and also a host of other features Apart from these examples there are also various other handsets that have MP 3 players and other multimedia capabilities. We can see that the advantages of GPRS are obvious as it offers many services associated with other devices in a single mobile handset. On the other hand the disadvantages associated with it are that GPRS does impact a network's existing cell capacity.

For example, voice and GPRS calls both use the same network resources. Additionally, the initial GPRS terminals are expected be severely limited, as such, the theoretical maximum GPRS speeds will not easily be reached. The reality is that mobile networks are always likely to have lower data transmission speeds than fixed networks. Of course we must not forget that new technology can always be expected to have a high price and the success of GPRS will be measured on how well it performs commercially. The third experiment and more recent is, as we have mentioned previously, UMTS. This is also called 3 GSM (3rd generation GSM) and is expected to eventually replace all existing GSM implementations globally.

UMTS will be the first step towards total convergence offering even more services via a mobile terminal but more importantly it will provide the communications protocol required to support the entire technical infrastructure required for such a difficult project. UMTS is a part of the International Telecommunications Union's implementation of a global family of third-generation (3 G) mobile communications systems. It will play a key role in creating the future market for high-quality wireless multimedia communications that is expected to approach 2 billion users worldwide by the year 2010. UMTS also aims to deliver high-value broadband information, commerce and entertainment services to mobile users via fixed, wireless and satellite networks.

It is believed that UMTS will speed convergence between telecommunications, IT, media and content industries and at the moment experimental systems are in field trial with leading vendors worldwide. One of its important advantages is that it has the support of several hundred network operators, manufacturers and equipment vendors worldwide. It has also been the subject of intense worldwide efforts on research and development throughout the present decade and UMTS has the support of many major telecommunications operators and manufacturers because it represents a unique opportunity to create a mass market for highly personalised and user-friendly mobile access. UMTS will deliver pictures, graphics, video communications and other wide-band information as well as voice and data, direct to people who can be on the move.

UMTS will build on and extend the capability of today's mobile technologies (like digital cellular and cordless) by providing increased capacity, data capability and a far greater range of services using an innovative radio access scheme and an enhanced, evolving core network. However, UMTS will require the successful deployment of new technologies, new partnerships and the addressing of many commercial and regulatory issues. Another disadvantage of UMTS is its high cost and the limited range of its base transmitting stations. The construction of the system will be profitable only in urban areas, where interest in innovative technology is high.

Specialists have already published a number of designs and technical parameters, but the total cost of introducing the system is hard to estimate. Before 3 G has even been implemented commercially, attention has already begun to turn to the next major generation of mobile communications- Fourth Generation (4 G), which is expected to be available in the year 2010 or so. As access technology increases, voice, video, multimedia, and broadband data services are becoming integrated into the same network. To achieve the goals of true broadband cellular service, the systems have to make the leap to a fourth-generation (4 G) network.

4 G is intended to provide high speed, high capacity and low cost internet based services. New design techniques, however, are needed to make this happen, in terms of achieving 4 G performance at a desired target of one-tenth the cost of 3 G. The move to 4 G is complicated by attempts to standardize on a single 3 G protocol. Without a single standard on which to build, designers face significant additional challenges. It is clear that convergence is greatly supported from industries, researchers and service providers.

A lot of time, effort and money is being expended to realise the vision of digital integration. However there are, as always, many sceptics and dissenters of the whole idea. I will now move on to the views of some of the people who support divergence instead of convergence. Some say that these devices aren't succeeding because their time hasn't come yet. Another reason some early devices have failed commercially is that companies mistook initial buyer curiosity for long-term success and thus although initial sales were promising there was no duration to them. A big problem with multi-functional devices is that there's always a compromise involved in their design.

Designers of these products face a tough challenge. They must successfully integrate two or more (sometimes unrelated) devices (for example, a watch and a digital camera.) They have to restrict the dimensions of the device (you can't have a watch that's as big as a digital camera or you wouldn't be able to wear it.) And they must do all this within a reasonable price that the market can bear. In other words, it is usually very difficult to do. Apart from the functional issues, these devices also suffer from manufacturers trying to change the way people use these devices. Instead of observing how people do things and developing products around that, companies try and change the way they do them instead.

This usually brings unnecessary complexity. Many people also consider specialized devices to be much better than a device that can do ten things, but not do any of them particularly well. All in all we can see that both parts of the argument have strong points of view to support their side of the story. Even though most of us have a host of facilities on our mobile handsets we usually end up using in simply for text messaging and telephone calls. But we must not forget that the choice is there for us to use these extra facilities. To sum up, in this essay I have attempted to provide a global view of the convergence of new devices and technologies, mostly from a technological point of view.

Nevertheless, since technologies are developed to serve a purpose or a need and also as an implementation of some progressive ideas. Since high-technology devices are becoming more and more part of our everyday lives and work, they are becoming unavoidably more mainstream as designers and manufacturers are trying to cater for a mass-market instead of a specialised one as in the past. Thus, although the underlying technology may well be becoming more complicated, the trend is to attempt to make the interface more 'user-friendly' and uncomplicated. On the contrary, some people are finding that combing too much technology in one device may sound impressive but at the end of the day serves only to confuse the consumer and unnecessarily complicate devices that were previously simple to use. Also, compelling content remains the missing ingredient. There has to be something to draw millions of consumers to a particular device.

In its defence, we have seen that digital convergence has become so compelling that cable, media, and phone companies have been quick to support it. By looking at mobile phones in particular we have witnessed the industry's ardent belief in the future of convergence. Whatever the problems that have been encountered may be the telecommunications industry seems intent on developing this type of technology. After all, we have discussed many worthwhile examples of implementations and designs that have been made and are also proposed for the future. Starting from WAP, we saw how the first steps towards convergence were made, what the current standard is now (GPRS) and what the future holds in store (UMTS, 4 G). We have seen that these experiments have been attracted the public's interest since the latest in technology has become a necessity and social trend, but still do not have a mass-market appeal.

We also looked at the opposite side of the argument and explored the various criticisms and counter-arguments levelled at convergence.