New Lease On Life

[Rich]

iDEN, once considered a dead-end technology, is about to reveal its wings. Network enhancements to the Motorola-developed technology mean iDEN networks soon may be able to double their voice capacity and increase data speeds up to 132 kilobits per second. iDEN operators say that by updating their iDEN networks, they can extend the life of their existing networks without having to migrate to another technology.

For Nextel Communications, the largest iDEN operator, the upgrades offer the ability to continue focusing on its differentiated approach while keeping a close check on its capital expenditures. As for Motorola, it means supplying a slew of new base station radios, but that's not all. Motorola is looking ahead to other iDEN upgrades, including integrating Wi-Fi and iDEN technology regardless of whether the iDEN operator owns or doesn't own the Wi-Fi equipment.

[northform]

Even if iDEN doubles its call capacity it leaves them below GSM and CDMA.

[jmccrane]

Call quality: Still below CDMA/GSM.
Capacity: As said by the last poster, still less.
PTT: Being worked on by 2-3 carriers (3 if T-Mobile is included).
Data: 132kbps matches current GPRS/1xRTT rates, but won't match next stage in 1-2 years.
Features: Same as any other network.
Compatibility: ZERO. Gotta get a custom Motorola.
Conclusion: iDEN can't survive forever. It won't keep up with technological advances and will eventually have to be replaced. 2 years at most before a new plan has to come, I guarantee it.

[northform]

Don't forget about the battery life. iDEN phones get nothing.

[Rich]

Here's the whole thing, it's long, but it has alot of info.

Once thought to be a dead-end technology because it didn't have the capability of handling next-generation network services nor allow an easy migration to other network technologies such as 1XRTT, Motorola-developed iDEN technology is getting a new lease on life.

Network enhancements??including 6-to-1 vocoders and a wideband-iDEN technology optionâ??mean that iDEN networks soon may be able to double their voice capacity and increase data speeds from an average of 15 kilobits per second to 132 Kbps.

Encouraged by these network developments, iDEN operators say that by updating their existing iDEN network, they can extend the life of their existing networks without having to migrate to another technology. For Nextel Communications, the largest and most high-profile iDEN operator, this means the company will be able to continue to focus on its differentiated approach to the market while keeping a close check on its capital expenditures. "The key to our success has been our focus on differentiation," says Barry West, Nextel's executive vice president and chief technology officer. "iDEN is a competitive technology that enables us to have industry-leading capital efficiencies."

The company is in the process of updating its network with the 6-to-1 vocoder technology, which company executives estimate will double interconnect capacity. According to Limond Grindstaff, Nextel's senior vice president of engineering, the infrastructure update will require the new vocoders plus a software load. On the handset side, new handsets with the vocoder technology will be seeded in the market in the fourth quarter of this year. Grindstaff expects to see huge benefits from the 6-to-1 vocoder by year-end 2004.

Nextel Partners, an affiliate operator to Nextel, also plans to implement the new 6-to-1 vocoders, but according to David Thaler, vice president of business development, the company initially will deploy the vocoders in markets where it believes it will get the most advantage from the increased capacity. "We look to roll out the technology in 2004 in certain markets," Thaler says. "We'll also be seeding the market with handsets based upon the nature of the handset platform roadmap."

Likewise, regional iDEN operator Southern LINC, a subsidiary of Southern Company, will be implementing the new 6-to-1 vocoders as part of the company's network upgrade this year. "The new vocoder is a big lift in the network," says Bob Dawson, president and CEO of Southern LINC. "But our capacity lift is smaller on the 6-to-1 interconnect because we are more dispatch-centric than Nextel."

Dawson says the new vocoder technology won't be available until late in the third quarter or fourth quarter of this year. "We take a longer time testing handsets than other people do," Dawson says. "Once it's in our customers' handset, we want the bugs out of our new products."

Besides expanding voice capacity, Nextel also is in the midst of optimizing its Direct Connect service so that customers can use Direct Connect to communicate with other subscribers anywhere on Nextel's digital network, regardless of their location. The service is being rolled out in two phases, but the company anticipates being nationwide with Direct Connect by mid-2003. In addition, West alluded to the possibility that Direct Connect could even become an international service if the same software upgrade is installed in Canadian and Mexican iDEN networks.

On the data front, iDEN always has been praised for its ability to deliver packet data over an IP network. But the technology also received some criticism for its inability to deliver data at speeds higher than 15 Kbps. Motorola has been working on that issue and now says that it has developed a wideband version of iDEN technology that will be available in 2004.

According to Fred Wright, vice president and general manager of Motorola's global telecommunications sector, the company has quad-based radios available that can increase data bandwidth. Wright estimates these new radios will increase data rates to about 132 Kbps, effectively making iDEN data rates comparable to 1XRTT data rates. In addition, Wright says existing data users and existing voice users can use and share the same broadband channel. "We believe it produces a competitive experience with CDMA and GSM," Wright says.

Wright adds that going forward, all Nextel's base station radios will be replaced with the new quad-based radios; however, the company has not yet committed to the wideband-iDEN upgrade.

Though early in the development stage, w-iDEN is generating a lot of excitement for iDEN operators. Thaler says that while it's relatively early in the w-iDEN development phase, the technology holds great potential because it is so cost effective. However, he believes that Nextel Partners remains cautious of w-iDEN primarily because there still isn't a proven business case for high-speed wireless data. "If there's a business case for higher speed wireless data products, then I think Nextel will be the first to put it out there."

Thaler also notes that while data is a growing portion of the company's business, the heavy data users are those that use specialized vertical applications such as sales automation. The company expects its data usage will grow, especially with the introduction of RIM's BlackBerry device early this year.

However, fellow iDEN operator Southern LINC remains cautious about the w-iDEN upgrade, particularly because the quad-base station radios developed by Motorola won't work with their network. They require four contiguous frequencies and Southern LINC has interleaved frequencies. Dawson says if the company is able to secure more contiguous spectrum, it would consider w-iDEN. However, he also cautions that for Southern LINC's customers, data speed is not an issue. "There still needs to be a business case for the end user," Dawson says.

Beyond increased voice capacity and wideband data speeds, Motorola also is looking ahead to other iDEN upgrades, including incorporating Wi-Fi and iDEN technology regardless of whether the iDEN operator owns or doesn't own the Wi-Fi equipment. Wright says that access can be provided in either situation should the operator want to investigate that type of scenario.

For Nextel Partners, Wi-Fi holds a lot of promise, particularly in the government sector where Thaler envisions being able to outfit large parts of a state capital with Wi-Fi technology. "It offers a tremendous opportunity for ourselves and Nextel to move seamlessly from Wi-Fi to the general network. Add in w-iDEN and that provides a lot of power when you think of overall ubiquity of coverage."

[bobolito]

I wouldn't say that IDEN is revealing any wings. It's just that this is the last shot they've got and they gotta make it look fenomenal. After this?... sorry, I'll see iDEN in the grave.

iDEN is like a moribund hospital patient who is really old and just got a new organ to extend his life for a little more.

R.I.P. iDEN

Sorry to bash iDEN so hard, but old people need to realize that they need to retire [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[NYCDru]

Originally posted by: bobolito
I wouldn't say that IDEN is revealing any wings. It's just that this is the last shot they've got and they gotta make it look fenomenal. After this?... sorry, I'll see iDEN in the grave.

iDEN is like a moribund hospital patient who is really old and just got a new organ to extend his life for a little more.

R.I.P. iDEN

Sorry to bash iDEN so hard, but old people need to realize that they need to retire [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

So, when IDEN finaly does dye...what happens to NEXTEL? Can they posibly migrate to anothetr technology?

[bobolito]

I constantly hear rumours about them moving to CDMA.

[NYCDru]

Originally posted by: bobolito
I constantly hear rumours about them moving to CDMA.

Is that even a viable upgrade path for them though? I mean isn't IDEN closer to TDMA than anything else?

[northform]

The problem with Nextel is that they don't have all 800 or 1900 licences. Some of them are 900 or 700!! Yeah. They are tring to work out a deal with the FCC to get on to more "standard" bands by giving the FCC what they want to move from so that the FCC can use it for emergency organisations. There is no indication that Nextel prefers either technology, but they won't change until it is clear that one can support the direct connect feature as they operate it now.

[michiganeric]

Originally posted by: bobolito
I wouldn't say that IDEN is revealing any wings. It's just that this is the last shot they've got and they gotta make it look fenomenal. After this?... sorry, I'll see iDEN in the grave.

iDEN is like a moribund hospital patient who is really old and just got a new organ to extend his life for a little more.

R.I.P. iDEN

Sorry to bash iDEN so hard, but old people need to realize that they need to retire [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

Doesn't Nextel have something like 10 million subscribers? That's a really, really small chunk of all wireless subscribers, but that's still a lot of people who'd need to change their equipment were Nextel to upgrade their iDEN network to, say, CDMA or GSM. I doubt either they or Motorola would be very enthusiastic about the idea even though it's by no means impossible.

From a technical standpoint, CDs are better than vinyl, but there are still an awful lot of turntables in use out there. The Big 5 record companies may have given up on records long ago, but I sure haven't (even though I just now discovered a big scratch in one of my early Clapton records -- d'oh!) I hang onto my records for many reasons, one of which is that you can find some really good ones dirt cheap at garage sales. I switched from Verizon to Nextel because I'd much rather pay about a penny a minute for included long distance than 15 cents a minute on top of airtime. (Yes, that's a really bad plan, but it's an old one and my contract's almost up.) Nationwide service without roaming charges is also pretty nice. So what if iDEN isn't as good as CDMA? My calls go through and things just work.

When iDEN finally dies (and there is much rejoicing from bobolito -- just kidding), I probably won't care unless I'm getting bad service and/or prices go up. If all I have to do is trade in my old phone for a new one, I probably won't care too much.

--
Eric