I have just read two recent articles that every operator should pay attention to. The first one discusses the lower-than-expected download speed that a typical user terminal experienced, i.e. 5Mbps versus the 40Mbps advertised speed. This is not surprising given that the speed depends very much on many factors including distance from the basestation, the number of active users in the cell, intra-cell interference, etc.

The second article discusses the fact that the lack of a proper scheduling algorithm that is suitable for 4G may hinder the expected performance and consequently user experience. This demonstrates that we still have a long way to go before we can have a reliable 4G network. My fear is that in their rush to compete for market share operators may end up doing more harm than good when it comes to promoting the use of their newly installed 4G mobile network. If the end user has a bad taste for 4G repairing the damage may not be possible.

  • Share/Bookmark