Even though the Indian eco-system is lagging to take forward the Telecom reforms, the rest of the world has moved away from 3G and LTE towards LTE-Advanced. The network competition has now shifted to high-speed LTE from LTE. There are two types of high-speed LTE, which are LTE-A and Broadband LTE.
So what exactly is the Difference between LTE-A and Broadband LTE when it comes to the Network part of the discussion. Basically, LTE speed increases in line with the width of the LTE spectrum bandwidth.
- LTE-A is the technology that aggregates two spectrums which are not physically attached, to provide faster service.
- In case of Broadband LTE, it is possible only when an operator has physically-broad spectrum bandwidth in continuous frequency range. For example in the 1800MHz band.
Theoretically, both LTE-A and Broadband LTE should provide twice the current LTE speed, but we view the technological risk as lower for Broadband LTE Versus LTE-A.
For Example, In South Korea, Korea Telecom [KT] was the laggard in the LTE competition, so the competitive landscape has improved for KT as it takes a lead in the Broadband LTE competition by acquiring 15MHz in the 1800MHz band adjacent to its existing spectrum allocation.
The Market Leader South Korea Telecom [SKT] operates its main LTE-A network in 800MHz has acquired an additional 20MHz band in the 1800MHz band to scale to twice the speed of basic LTE.
And What will Happen in India ?
The Agenda Driven DoT and the Scamsters in the Ministry of Telecom will ensure that 1800MHz Spectrum Auction goes through but with fragmentation in each of the operators’ hand so that they’ll have to bow down before the Government again to get continuous blocks by means of Spectrum Trading.