Telstra launch ‘world first’ single data-multiple user technology
Telecoms giant Telstra has announced this afternoon that it has become ‘the first mobile carrier in the world to trial LTE-Broadcast live on a commercial network.’
The launch is claimed to be a world first
The technology, which allows content to be delivered to multiple users from the same data stream, will – Telstra claimed- keep ‘the mobile network humming years into the future.’
“One of the biggest challenges to mobile network operators across the world is how to manage the ever-growing demand for data,” Telstra’s Channa Seneviratne said announcing the launch.
“In Telstra’s case we launched our 3G network in 2006. Since then data usage on our network has grown near on double, year on year.
“Each wireless network is built on a finite amount of spectrum – when a network is fully loaded it’s usually not possible to just add more spectrum to carry extra traffic - so all customers on that network will experience slower speeds.
“Many customers often want the same content delivered to their mobile phone at the same time. This might be a copy of the newspaper in the morning, a new operating software upgrade, or live feed of a sports contest.
“Traditionally if 100 people in a mobile network cell area wanted this content, we would send out 100 different streams of data – which uses a lot of network capacity. Through our LTE-Broadcast trial, we have today demonstrated that it’s possible to use one stream of data, to deliver the same content to multiple users – keeping the rest of the network free for other customers. It’s a similar concept to how TV stations broadcast to multiple television sets with one stream.”
He added that Telstra was working with network partner Ericsson to deliver the technology. Telstra said it will evaluate the technology as it rolls out to establish what services might best be provided using LTE-Broadcast.