What indeed is this new technological wonder in mobile telecommunications called 3G? Third Generation (3G) networks provide high-speed bandwidth (high data transfer rates) to handheld devices in mobile telephony. The high data transfer rate allows 3G networks to offer multi-media services combining voice and data. It unfolds the miracle of hearing and seeing the person at the other end of the line in real time. Even breaking news can be flashed on a screen and transmitted in real time on one’s cell phone.
Businessmen who want to assess the sincerity of a potential business partner as they speak can actually do so. For that matter, so can lovers, married couples, etc. It will be great for our OFWs. So, what about service costs to the subscriber, both pre-paid and post-paid? Will they be reasonable?
It is currently taking the world by storm. Europe, Japan and Asia have agreed upon a 3G standard called Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) operating at 2.1 GHz (gigahertz). The US and other parts of the Americas had to use another part of the radio spectrum. Most of the world’s wireless operators use UMTS.
I owe a lot of my knowledge and familiarity with 3G to one of the most brilliant and nicest functionaries in the public ICT (Information and Communications Technology) sector, the chief of the Common Carriers’ Department of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), who has occupied that position since1989, Edgardo Cabarrios. "Eggay," as I’ve always known him, holds the degree of Electronics and Communications Engineering from the University of the East and is a gentleman to the core. He has been with the NTC since 1981, and performs his work excellently, armed with the technical knowledge he possesses and the experience of a career official through all these years. And his integrity is beyond reproach.
During my stint as the head of the NTC, engineer Cabarrios impressed me as one of those few NTC gems that the telecom regulatory body depends on and cannot do without. The man is quiet and unassuming, but when he said something in many of those meetings which are still fresh in my memory, the words he utters are words the meeting/conference could not have done without. Still young today at 50, he is one brilliant engineer I am proud to have worked with during those years.
Remember when the First Generation (1G) mobile telephony system was born? The year was 1987 when the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) was authorized by the NTC to install, operate and maintain a cellular mobile telephone system (CMTS) and offer the advanced mobile phone system (AMPS), an American CMTS standard. Three months after commercial operations, the subscribers reached 3,000. PLDT applied and was authorized by the NTC to expand its CMTS network to serve 10,000 subscribers. And then, Extelcom (Express Telecommunications Co.) came into the picture.
The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) in late 1992 issued a circular lifting the limit on the number of nationwide CMTS operators. Additional CMTS frequencies were allocated by the NTC. In 1993, the Commission authorized three more CMTS operators: Globe Telecom Inc., Isla Communications Inc (now INNOVE), and Smart Communications Inc. The other applications for CMTS were archived. Thus, 2G (Second Generation) networks were in full swing.
Less than eight years ago, the CMTS operators requested additional frequencies to serve the increasing demand for GSM cellphones. This is the digital standard which outpaced the analog standard. At this time the short messaging or text messaging service was in very high demand. That same year, the NTC called the PCS (Personal Communications Service)/PCN (Personal Communications Network) providers to a government-private sector meeting to get their concurrence to the assignment of the 1800 MHz band to existing operators. The operators agreed, provided their applications would be treated as applications for what is now known as 3G. This was followed by a memorandum circular allocating additional frequencies in the abovementioned band for existing CMTS operators. We now know how the subscribers increased by leaps and bounds from 1999 to 2002 because of the popularity of text messaging services. We became the text capital of the world. The telecom sector of the country became an exciting, thriving industry – the most thriving, in fact, up to today.
We now have a telecom private sector, existing carriers and new applicants alike, seduced by the wonders of 3G and fighting for the last slot available. Authorizations for the implementation of the 3G system have already been given to four enfranchised carriers: Globe Telecom, whose foreign partner is and has been for some time now Singapore Telecom; Smart Communications Inc., whose foreign partner is NTT DoCoMo of Japan, and is the first to launch the service; Sun Cellular, whose foreign partner is Telia of Sweden, Digitel’s partner since the latter owns 100 percent of Sun Cellular; and Connectivity Unlimited Resources Inc. (CURE), controlled by the Roberto Ongpin group whose foreign partner, if the reports are correct, is Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd.
There is only one slot left to be awarded and the following are fighting over it through a grading system imposed by the NTC and in the hearings where the technical and financial capabilities of the proponents are explored and assessed.
The five applicants are: Bayantel, the Lopez telecom vehicle; AZ Communications, controlled by Tonyboy Cojuangco whose foreign partner is Lucent Technologies, Inc.; Multi-media Telephony Inc. (MTI), and I recall a company called Broadband Philippines Inc. controlled by Joey de Venecia who sold the majority interest to a group of businessmen, leading to the formation of MTI where Joey, I was informed, was retained as chairman; Next Mobile Inc. controlled by the Mel Velarde group whose foreign partner is Northern Telecom (NORTEL) of Canada; and Pacific Wireless Inc., whose foreign partner is reportedly Maxis Inc. of Malaysia which is controlled by the big Malaysian tycoon Ananda Krishnan. Unless the NTC opens up additional frequencies for 3G, the battle among these entities will continue.
As far as I am concerned, I am not crazy over someone calling me and seeing my face on his/her cellphone screen just about any time of the day or night. This is, however, just one little feature. The other characteristics of 3G are indeed impressive.
What indeed is so hot about 3G anyway? Isn’t it quite expensive not only for the carriers to roll out, but also as far as the user is concerned? What are its seductive features?
3G represents a paradigm shift from the voice-centric world of the previous generation of wireless networks to the multi-media-centric world of 3G. With the high 3G bandwidth and the fact that it is packet-based, 3G devices will offer capabilities that are a combination of a phone, a PC, and a TV. Some of these services are: a) always-on connectivity with users paying only when using or sending packets; b) web surfing; c) instant messaging and e-mail with multi-media attachments; d) location-based services; e) personalized services where content can be pushed to users; f) broadband multimedia services like video conferencing and streaming video; g) receiving faxes; h) global roaming capability; i) customized entertainment; j) simultaneous access to multiple services, each service offering some combination of voice, video, data etc.
According to Cabarrios, 3G has potential "killer applications." The high bandwidth of 3G networks will lead to the creation of new services. What therefore are the services which will be big revenue makers for the wireless service providers? As far as 2G networks are concerned, the big winners have been short text messaging in GSM networks ( Europe, Asian countries including the Philippines and the US), and image downloads and forwarding in Japan. Two most likely big revenue-makers are video conferencing and video messaging.
The Common Carriers department of the NTC headed by Cabbarios has the critical responsibility of ensuring that 3G implementation, starting with the choice of carriers in the assessment of their technical and financial capabilities for the deployment of 3G services, the assessment of past performances should they have been implementors of 1G and 2G systems, and the monitoring of their performances, are undertaken well.
I am certain that with engineer Edgardo Cabarrios heading the technical support team for the three capable commissioners that compose the collegial authority that is the NTC, 3G deployment is going to be a positive development for the Philippines.