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Optical/IP

Flarion Cookin' Up Seoul Food

Flarion Technologies scored another goal for itself and the small band of alternative wireless broadband access equipment suppliers today by announcing a trial with SK Telecom (Nasdaq: SKM), the leading Korean mobile operator, with more than 16 million customers.

When a major champion of CDMA decides to trial equipment from a supplier such as Flarion, currently number one in our ranking of privately-held wireless companies (see Unstrung's Top 25 Startups), that's a big hint that this alternative equipment has something to offer the carrier community.

"CDMA has proved itself as good technology for advanced data services," says Phil Marshall, director of the wireless mobile technologies group at Yankee Group. "This really demonstrates that SK is looking at alternative technologies as a possible overlay to what they already have in high-demand markets."

Flarion's Flash-OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) technology uses a digital modulation technique that splits the signal into several different strands at different frequencies, making it more spectrally efficient than 3G technologies such as CDMA 2000 or WCDMA by a factor of four or five. Its base stations overlay existing cell sites and spectrum and provide a routing interface to existing IP networks. The vendor claims that deploying its infrastructure to provide data services can help mobile operators deliver secure IP services to business customers at between 10 percent and 20 percent of the cost of traditional CDMA and TDMA systems.

Flarion's equipment has already been trialed by Nextel Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: NXTL) in the U.S.

Flarion's senior director of marketing strategy, Ronny Haraldsvik says the trial is likely to start in November and the timescale will be "open-ended." The testing will take place at SK's R&D headquarters near Seoul. The carrier will test the suitability of the equipment for wireless last mile and mobility services. The test area will cover between 30 and 50 miles. Flarion ain't saying how many base stations SK will use in the trial. However, the Haraldsvik says that six units can cover a 100 mile area.

There's still one minor problem to be ironed out before Flarion can get a little Seoul food -- SK Telecom and the South Korean government have to agree on exactly what spectrum can be used for the trial. "We don't expect any delays," Haraldsvik says, adding that Flarion has held off announcing the trial before now because of the spectrum issue.

News of the Flarion trial comes as SK Telecom subsidiary, SK IMT, enters an intensive phase of testing WCDMA kit from five vendors that have made its infrastructure shortlist -- Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics Inc., Nortel Networks Corp. (NYSE/Toronto: NT), Alcatel SA (NYSE: ALA; Paris: CGEP:PA), and Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK). At least two companies will provide network kit that reports suggest will be worth $230 million in total. Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERICY), Lucent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: LU), and Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) were eliminated earlier in the process. SK IMT, in which SK Telecom holds a 61.3 percent stake, is planning to offer services using WCDMA kit by the end of next year in the cities of Seoul and Busan in competition with KT Freetel Co. — Ray Le Maistre, European Editor, and Dan Jones, Senior Editor, Unstrung
http://www.unstrung.com
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FastFourier 12/5/2012 | 12:43:38 AM
re: Flarion Cookin' Up Seoul Food Well, since I last posted in October, there has been no attention in this space on 802.16a.

It finally landed last week, see
http://ieee802.org/16/arc/802-...

( as an aside, most of the dissenting votes in hte final ballot were from one company - Alvarion ( formerly breezecom. One wonders what their problem is.)

Given the mess in the 11g/11b space that is
forming, I'd say it is time people had a serious look into it.

FF
joset01 12/5/2012 | 12:43:34 AM
re: Flarion Cookin' Up Seoul Food Uh-huh, just talking to the chairman a little while ago. There could still be some problems with interference because equipment based on the new standard could work in the same band as 802.11a/b/g equipment. Story soon...

DJ Unstrung
FastFourier 12/5/2012 | 12:43:23 AM
re: Flarion Cookin' Up Seoul Food "802.11g" and "802.11b" are at 2.4 ghz,
the interference was a recent story by Unstrung, I believe

802.16a is at sub 11 ghz and "802.11a" is at 5 ghz. As the PHY for 16a is the same as 11a, the problem - if any - is only in the unlicensed spectra and at higher layers in the protocol stack.

Most of the early movers in the space offer their
"prototype" 16a equipment for the licensed space (i.e centered on three point something ghz)

I've also heard rumours of some in trial use tuned in the sub 900 Mhz space.
lrmobile_castro 12/4/2012 | 9:36:10 PM
re: Flarion Cookin' Up Seoul Food All the current information suggests that flarion's system delivers low cost and high performance as promised.

Flarion started with a blank piece of paper and designed a system that operators need. the UMTS forum, by comparison, started with a blank sheet of paper and designed what the vendors wanted.

I believe that flarion's flash ofdm is a diruptive technology, and it illustrates a very important issue.

competition is very very important, and you can't just have competition within a standard (as the UMTS forum seems to think). you have to have competition between air interfaces/systems as well or the market will become unhealthy, as it now is.

It will interesting to see what happens if flarion wins one of these contracts (Sk or nextel). There is clearly discontent with existing 3G solutions. Once one carrier jumps off the UMTS ship, then many others might follow.



NextNet 12/4/2012 | 9:35:58 PM
re: Flarion Cookin' Up Seoul Food Mexico's President Vicente Fox recently inaugurated an OFDM-based broadband wireless system provided by NextNet Wireless, the industryGÇÖs largest supplier of non-line-of-sight (NLOS) broadband wireless access systems.

The carrier is MVS Comunicaciones, Mexico's largest MMDS (2.5-1.686 GHz) service provider (five times larger than Sprint). MVS selected the NextNet system over all other platforms and technologies, for nationwide rollout beginning this quarter. NextNetGÇÖs system is being branded by MVS under the product name, i-goGäó. The i-go system provides an always on, uninterrupted high-speed Internet connection that is 15 times faster than traditional dial-up service. MVS and NextNet plan to cover 25,000 business and residential subscribers, across 700 sq. km. in Mexico City, by year-end.

MexicoGÇÖs President Vicente Fox recently inaugurated MVSGÇÖ i-go system in a ceremony held at his official residence in Los Pinos, Mexico. GÇ£Ambitious projects such as this, will speed the adoption of Internet and digital services across Mexico and elevate the social and economic well-being of all Mexico citizens,GÇ¥ commented President Fox.

GÇ£MVS is extremely pleased to support President FoxGÇÖs e-Mexico initiatives,GÇ¥ stated Joaquin Vargas, CEO of MVS Comunicaciones. GÇ£The i-go system is the first of its kind in the world. We look forward to providing the citizens of Mexico with new technology that will connect them to greater opportunities for knowledge, growth and prosperity in the future.GÇ¥

See photo at: http://www.businesswire.com/cg...

MVS holds the MMDS (2.5 GÇô 2.686 GHz) spectrum covering over 67 million potential broadband subscribers nationwide, and plans to expand its i-go system from Mexico City into Guadalajara, Monterrey and 9 other cities during the coming 18 months.

NextNetGÇÖs ExpedienceGäó NLOS broadband wireless access system is currently deployed in 10 markets worldwide, including the U.S., Asia, Africa and CALA. It provides wireless service providers with a highly profitable means to deliver consistent high-speed Internet access to residential and business subscribers, across the industryGÇÖs greatest NLOS coverage area. The Expedience system utilizes
indoor, plug-and-play subscriber units, and convenient outdoor (bracket-mount) subscriber units, with extended range NLOS cell radiuses of up to 30 kilometers GÇô the largest NLOS cell size in the industry.

For more info visit: http://www.nextnetwireless.com




spc_King 12/4/2012 | 9:35:53 PM
re: Flarion Cookin' Up Seoul Food Castro,

Are you a Flarion employee, investor or simply just a fan?

Your post below will upset a lot of people no doubt, but I will try to stay objective and argue based on the facts as I see them:

It's great with disruptive ideas if they can be implemented constructively! I fear Flarion simply wants to become the next Qualcomm or worse. It is bad enough as it is with Qualcomm having such a stranglehold on the 3G business case with its way too strong IPR portfolio and high demands for royalty.

Wireless has been plagued with incompatible systems regionally and nationaly since the beginning. Standardization has been a god send and enabled international roaming and economies of scale that has made cellphones commodity items (I once read a course manual stating Cellular phones was, and would probably always be, a privilige for the wealthy or specific business applications - I'm glad they were completely wrong!)

There is however a cost to pay for standardization - it does slow things down!

Imho, Wireless operators don't need another wireless technology and certainly not one based on a single company's IPR.

I think the 'disruptivness' and dynamic enteprise that you could rightly ask for is well served by the WLAN element which will keep 3G in check and make sure that they don't get complacent, too pricy or too far behind technically.

It will be interesting indeed to see if Nextel or others go for Flarion's concept. Though, I do remember reading that a Nextel official stated that the Flarion trial was entirely on Flarion's insistance and not really to be taken as a sign of any decision or strategy shift on behalf of Nextel since they explore nifty technology and products all the time.

How many times better freqency reuse do you recon Flash OFDM gives compared to WCDMA or CDMA2000?

Why doesn't Flarion try to add Flash OFDM as a standardized air-interface mechanism while we wait for Nextel/SK's decisions?

My $0.02 worth,

/X-Eri
spc_King 12/4/2012 | 9:35:48 PM
re: Flarion Cookin' Up Seoul Food Should have read the blasted article before jumping into this...forget my question about frequency reuse and suggestion about getting it standardised (I see 4-5 reuse increase and 4G was mentioned in the article)

Browsing through Flarion's website I get the impression their RadioRouter is supposed to replace RANs and PDSNs in CDMA2000 and RANs and SGSN/GGSNs in WCDMA and that they have solved mobility management using a more IP centric approach.

I guess it is not impossible that they are on to something here, but it is bit of a leap of faith.
I can see why all eyes are on the SK trial now :-)

/X-Eri

lrmobile_castro 12/4/2012 | 9:35:45 PM
re: Flarion Cookin' Up Seoul Food just for the record, i have no affiliation with flarion. I just don't beleive in standards that are concocted in a board room by a politically motivated consortium.

I believe the system has a frequency resuse of one.

http://www.flarion.com/technol...
spc_King 12/4/2012 | 9:35:36 PM
re: Flarion Cookin' Up Seoul Food Castro,

If you're going to hate standardization you should hate it for the right reasons :-)

Boardroom execs have little or no clue what is happening at the standardization meetings. It is not only the vendors who are there either, operators are just as involved and have had years of opportunity to add to the 3G standard what they wanted.
The standard work on 3G started out (from a WCDMA perspective) with some research/study contracts won by Ericsson and Nokia for the Japanese market and thus they had a lot of momentum and credibility to add to the standardization meetings when a ETSI standard for 3G was being formed. I could agree that the 3G standarded has been somewhat skewed towards the incumbent vendors ideas/interest because. That has probably been the root cause for some of the mess (Take the QoS cock-up with ETSI R97 for instance) since these incumbent vendors simply didn't have all the inhouse competence to properly design the IP based networks of the future!

This could be a very long thread...:-)

/X-Eri
lrmobile_castro 12/4/2012 | 9:35:36 PM
re: Flarion Cookin' Up Seoul Food I have nothing against standards, i just think they should be determined by the market and not by Europe's protectionist governments or a few vendors looking to control the market. I also think the mindset that the GSM and UMTS consoritiums are selling is very dangerous. Competition is good and standardization is not the answer to everything. In fact standardization, if done too early or for the wrong reasons, can be a rather bad thing. ISDN anyone?
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