VoLGA Accelerating LTE

There are a lot of significant issues surrounding an LTE rollout.  Acquiring spectrum, developing a network map, deploying gear, testing/validation, selecting devices, building a subscriber offer… the list goes on.

When it comes to accelerating an LTE rollout, VoLGA overcomes three fundamental requirements that can not be overlooked:

1- VoLGA supports SMS over LTE for data-only deployments.

The lack of native SMS over LTE support is a show-stopper for LTE dongle service.  Mobile operators rely on SMS for back office customer care, provisioning and management of HSPA-dongle services.  Some operators have suggested there are upwards of 50 different systems used in today’s HSPA services.  Clearly those systems need to be available to an LTE-based dongle/datacard/netbook service at launch.

Upgrade your MSCs with a new interface for CS Fallback simply to deliver SMS over LTE?  That’s costly, painful and very time consuming to support a service some operators will have available in early 2011. 

Install an IMS infrastructure to support SMS over LTE… probably not. 

VoLGA is the only alternative that can deliver SMS over LTE at a price point and timeframe that is viable. 

2- VoLGA resolves the voice dilemma

While operators can initially roll LTE for data-only applications, massive nation-wide deployments come when there are mainstream LTE handsets.  LTE will stay an ‘island’ technology if it’s only deployed for dongles and datacards.

The LTE ecosystem, infrastructure and device vendors, all benefit if LTE becomes the mainstream radio access network (RAN).  Operators benefit too.  LTE is significantly more efficient that previous technologies, and delivers dramatically lower cost per bit.  Thus operator and vendor actions are aligned:  drive LTE to become the RAN of choice.

But handset vendors won’t build phones until they understand the voice implications.  Waiting for IMS, while a long term strategy, will only serve to delay handsets and thus leave LTE in a data-only state. 

An immediate solution is needed to support voice from the existing network infrastructure.  Between VoLGA and CS Fallback, the choice is crystal clear.  CS Fallback just falls short.  It delivers a sub-par user experience, it requires costly and painful MSC upgrades, and it doesn’t support LTE femtocells at all. 

Plus, if you invested in VoLGAto support SMS over LTE for dongles, the same infrastructure supports voice. 

If the industry wants mainstream LTE services, voice is required, and VoLGA delivers.

3- VoLGA:  The path to IMS

For many operators, the long term goal is IMS.  Yet there is a need to make a near term decision between VoLGA and CS Fallback to support voice today.  Which choice is best aligned with IMS in the long run?

You guessed it:  VoLGA.  

An operator eying IMS down the road wants to do two things:  First, they want to get started with IMS for new revenue generating data services, like the RCS (Rich Communications Suite).  Operators can begin the road to IMS by deploying the data-only components of an IMS infrastructure and deliver combinational voice/data services. 

With VoLGA, RCS is supported today over LTE.  With CS Fallback, the network needs to drop the LTE connection for any voice session, and with it, the ability to deliver RCS over LTE.  Not exactly a step towards IMS with LTE.

Second, operators moving to IMS want to minimize investments in the existing MSC voice network.  Long term, the vision is that this network will be capped and new capacity will be added with IMS telephony.  VoLGA is implemented as a controller external to the voice network.  No need to make any changes to the MSCs.  CS Fallback, on the other hand, actually requires MSC upgrades with support for new interfaces.  A costly upgrade which includes new functionality is not exactly ‘capping’ the MCS. 

Clearly VoLGA is a far better path to IMS than CS Fallback. 

There are a lot of elements which go into an LTE deployment, but it’s clear that VoLGA is one technology which accelerates mass-market LTE voice *and* data services. 

Comments

[VoLGA_Opposer]

What exactly is the evolution path from VoLGA to IMS? As far as I see, these two technologies have nothing in common.

[Steve]

I appreciate the honesty in your name: "VoLGA_Opposer" :-)

As for your comment, I pointed out in the post above that for operators moving towards IMS, they can start VoLGA with IMS for data-centric services (ie RCS) today over LTE.

This lets operators being the migration to IMS over LTE. But rather than beginning with IMS for voice, start with IMS for data.

I think everyone agrees that IMS for telephony is a ways out. So operators going to LTE will likely need to select a technology like CSFB or VoLGA.

Which investment moves the operator towards IMS? VoLGA hands down. CSFB can't support IMS/RCS over LTE. And CSFB requires an investment in MSCs at a time when operators don't want to invest in MSCs (ie they are moving to IMS).

VoLGA is a better path to IMS than CSFB.

I suppose that its natural to have some opposition to VoLGA. But if you oppose VoLGA, what do you recommend for an operator moving to LTE today?

CSFB? It's a train wreck. Spend millions adding a new interface to your MSCs just so you make voice calls over a 3G network (not even the brand new LTE network)? Increase the post-dial delay for in and outbound calls while the handset jumps to a different RAN? And forget about LTE femtocells, what's the point if the handset is only going to fall back to 2G or 3G?

IMS is the future for many operators, it's just going to take some time getting there.

The question is, while we're waiting, what's the best course of investment.