The wide adoption of is driving a change in mobile usage, from voice calls and texts to content creation and consumption, at least in the consumer world. But for businesses, being able to use a smartphone to upload videos to Facebook isn't enough for IT decision-makers to go build a mobile strategy based on privatized (Long Term Evolution), the leading standard.
In order to woo enterprises, LTE must exhibit more than just enhanced browsing and social networking. Businesses want one of three things from 4G:
- To satisfy customer demand for in high-traffic public venues, like stadiums, airports and convention centers.
- To improve operational efficiency, by replacing wired desks with mobile phones/workstations or by mobilizing critical enterprise , like patient or monitoring tools.
- To create a new revenue stream by generating revenue from every guest/visitor/employee served by a local enterprise LTE network -- this obviously requires new core network functions that can "count" data usage of users in specific locations and relate these back to the enterprise as a rebate of sorts.
OUTLOOK:
If LTE is to actually meet these goals, it needs to be able to and deliver reliability backed up by Service Level Agreements (SLAs). Without indoor coverage and SLAs, LTE can never meet the needs of critical applications, like those used by hospitals.
Finally, the enterprise needs LTE to work for them, not just for the carriers. This means privatized LTE networks that exist much like a restricted LAN, where data stays on-site and doesn't make the trip back to the carrier's hub, reducing the risk of and driving costs down.
So what does this mean for LTE?
The past few years have shown that the bulk of cellular data usage is coming not from outdoors, but indoors. This trend will continue with LTE, especially as the enterprise begins to look at the service as a parallel network to existing connectivity solutions.
LTE does, however, need help to penetrate indoors for the enterprise. To reach equivalent WLAN performance from indoor LTE, enterprises need to take one of two approaches (possibly subsidized by carriers looking to push LTE adoption):
- A femtocell or picocell array that would provide additional coverage indoors. While cost-effective, these technologies cannot provide a guaranteed SLA and don't offer consistent coverage throughout larger facilities.
IN DEPTH:
- A (DAS) provides more "blanket" coverage indoors but is not exactly inexpensive. This is changing, however, as more DAS providers examine new ways to leverage existing technologies to extend LTE coverage, which will drive down the cost.
are common enough in IT, covering everything from email to voice services. Cellular services, however, are treated much differently. Because of the consumer-centric nature of wireless services, SLAs have not been seen as important.
With LTE capable of acting as a mission-critical network, these agreements must be comparable to those from other service providers. Running an enterprise IT backbone on a network sans SLA is essentially a pink-slip-in-waiting for any IT executive, so for widespread adoption in the business, SLAs must become commonplace.
That's not to say that the SLA needs to be free. Businesses are willing to pay for benefits above and beyond the consumer world. For example, a three-second download speed enhancement might seem trivial to consumers. But for the enterprise, this efficiency spread across a network could represent significant productivity gains, hence their willingness to pay more for it.
The final step for LTE in the business world is to function as a truly "private" network. This means communications within a given area is not transmitted back to a central hub, but rather lives within the enterprises' confines. The reasoning for this is threefold:
- A private, in-building LTE network can function as a strong backup to fixed networks, and this capability is already being explored at both the enterprise and consumer level.
- Demand is growing for more mobile, enterprise-class applications, from real-time security surveillance applications to high-bandwidth productivity applications, such as WebEx, Skype and IPBX apps, as well as enterprise-specific LTE devices, like 's .
- The ability to bypass LTE "bottlenecks" by remaining on the in-building network means that no matter how congested the macro-level network becomes, the enterprise LTE grid remains accessible.
In the WiMax world, private network examples already exist through providers like Alvarion, but WiMax lacks the application and user pool to really drive adoption forward. For LTE, "killer" enterprise applications are coming, and soon.
So, how can a private LTE network be realized?
From a technology perspective, part of the solution lies in (M2M) communications. M2M language allows networked devices to communicate with one another, as well as with users (M2U) and from user-to-user (U2U), without having to send data back into the carrier core.
This offers enterprise shops better control over data traffic, gives them more options in wireless and, perhaps most important, allows the business to improve efficiency and justify the ROI of LTE, particularly when it comes to high-performance enterprise applications. Additionally, LTE must enable traffic routing to and from the enterprise's IP network without traversing the mobile operator's core network.
The industry is developing new standards, such as Selected IP Traffic Offload (SIPTO) and Local IP Access (LIPA), to allow Internet traffic to flow from the enterprise's local LTE network directly to the Internet, bypassing the operator's core network. Future releases of LTE will also include various offload mechanisms like those mentioned above, that will enable private networks.
Beyond M2M and offload mechanisms, the final component is carrier buy-in -- the carriers of the world need to see revenue from providing private LTE networks as value-adds. For example, a Charlotte-based Fortune 500 company wants a private LTE network. In an ideal future, the enterprise would negotiate with a single carrier for a certain volume of subscribers over a specific period of time. The carrier would then provide the technology and bandwidth for the private LTE network on an exclusive basis, much like the business-class broadband model.
What does the future hold for LTE in the business world? For LTE to go beyond a last-resort business tool, it needs equal coverage both indoors and outdoors, a strong SLA and the ability to support private LTE networks. Despite the possibilities, the roadblocks outlined can kill the business potential before it even gains steam. The good news, however, is that carriers are already exploring these challenges in preparation for an enterprise push.
Be prepared: In the next five years, the business question will evolve from, "Should we adopt LTE?" to, "What do we want LTE to do for us?"
Corning MobileAccess is a leading provider of wireless coverage solutions for all indoor environments.
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