Hutch to double 3 capacityChris JenkinsOctober 25, 2004MOBILE...

Hutch to double 3 capacity
Chris Jenkins
October 25, 2004

MOBILE operator Hutchison is set to more than double the capacity of its third generation network to 1.7 million subscribers, planning to accelerate download speeds to 2Mbps within 18 months.

The upgrade comes soon after a recently completed capacity expansion to 800,000 subscribers, Hutchison director of technology, infrastructure and services Mike Young said.

"We are now planning and procuring to create network capacity for 1.7 million subscribers, which will be completed during the course of 2005," he said.

Much of the work would be carried out with Hutchison's main network supplier Ericsson, although the total cost of the capital program was still being negotiated, Mr Young said.

The upgrade will concentrate on the core network and include expansion of IT platforms such as billing, video and voice call systems, and content management platforms.










In line with the evolution of the 3G standard, Hutchison would also be offering faster data speeds on its network within about 18 months, with speeds going from the current 384kbps up to 2Mbps, Mr Young said.

"Within three or maybe four years, it will be a 10Mbps downlink speed," he said.

Third-generation mobile networks were inherently more efficient in delivering capacity than second generation networks, Mr Young said. While Hutchison continued to roll out new base stations, most new capacity would come from the core network, he said.

"The reality is that because of the efficiency of the air interface, that (capacity) is not an issue for us on the radio part of the network at all."

Consequently, Hutchison's $450 million infrastructure sharing agreement signed with Telstra in August would remain largely unaffected by the upgrade. "If you look at the Telstra deal, it is for the radio access network. What we are doing is the core, and we are not sharing the core between us," Mr Young said.

Nevertheless, network planning for the Telstra partnership had already commenced. "We do have one eye on the Telstra deal and our technical teams have been working for the past two months on the long form agreement, as well as on how we are going to do this operationally from January."

Cheaper call rates and "bucket" plans recently announced by other carriers could see them squeezed on capacity, Mr Young said. With planning already under way for their own 3G networks, they would be reluctant to spend more money on upgrading existing 2G platforms, he said.

Hutchison was moving from one upgrade project to the next because "the nature of our growth mandates that we have to do that", Mr Young said.

"Our CEO Kevin Russell has been very clear that capacity will never be an issue for us. We need to make sure that we are ahead of the game. He has been very clear on that."

Much criticised in the months after it launched, the reliability of the 3 network was now on par with other mobile carriers, Mr Young said.

"If we look at the major metros, they are at about 1.2 to 1.4 per cent dropped call rates. That's consistent with the GSM networks and consistent with the Orange network," he said.

Australian IT