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4G battle: military vs. mobile operators
Published: 02 June, 2010, 23:07
Edited: 27 October, 2010, 22:45
TAGS: Military, Russia, SciTech, Internet, Information Technology, Prime Time Russia
The commercial introduction of 4G-mobile technology in Russia may be postponed indefinitely as the country’s mobile operators are competing for the necessary frequencies with the Ministry of Defense.
4G stands for the “forth generation” of digital technologies that allows high definition media on wireless gadgets and to download it much quicker and in much better quality.
“There is a dispute about what 4G really means. Some say that 4G is WiMax technology, others say it is LTE which allows watching video from the Internet on you mobile phone because the speed is very fast. LTE is not currently available in Russia,” Hacker magazine editor-in-chief Nikita Kislitsyn told RT.
What seriously postpones the development of 4G is that in order to use 4G technologies in Russia, special permission must be bought from the military. It means that if a company wants to become a provider of this service, it has to pay a lot of money. Currently, only one Russian company – Yota – does this.
“Russia is a very specific country. Formally, space is a public property. In fact, it belongs to the military,” Kommersant newspaper journalist Anna Balashova told RT. “So to obtain any new frequencies, mobile network operators need to get permission, and this leads to another problem: in many regions military bases are poorly equipped, and as a result they have to use broad frequencies. It’s getting difficult to find free frequencies to use without threatening air traffic or navigation systems.”
Another reason why the Russian Defense Ministry is so protective over 4G is that it want to use it in times of war as the previous generation system GPS – global positioning system – is completely controlled by the US. After the 9/11 terror attack and when the US military entered Iraq, the GPS system was shut down, so people who were stuck in the middle of the ocean did not know how to navigate. Therefore, any alternative to GPS is an urgent need.
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"Therefore, any alternative to GPS is an urgent need." That doesn't make sense - what is wrong with Glonass? Then there will be Galileo as well in a few years... The issue of military or government agencies wanting to keep all the bandwidth to themselves is quite short-sighted but seems to be common everywhere. The German authorities blocked the use of the 5GHz range needed for 802.11n WLAN for some years.
Clear, that over protecting something can get on the way of the buisness developments. I think that Russian satalite technology is the one of the best in the World and it could lead Russia into becoming the World biggest satalite technology developer and distributer (specially to the new up-coming countries plus selling the technical parts for the repair and installations). Navigations, coomunications, ect. I also believe that installation of the "camera systems" could lead to reduction of the crime but at the same time giving new working positions (plus courses for the camera security trining) to the Russian security servises (police, boader patrol, ect). As for the New Russian Silicon valley - it is clear that for the Middle East and Asia it is a great location to travel to for some "silicon upgrades"! Maria Kuznetsova
Two or three points: 1. In the United States there has been such a war for airwaves for 4g phones and wireless internet. The number of tv channels have been reduced, and more cuts were proposed. This plan met with stiff resistance from tv stations and other radio frequency users, like public safety and traditional business radio. The telephone and internet providers did not like "a common " access standard ( there are about 6 wireless phone and internet providers in the USA). A compromise was reached with TV stations. My plan was used in this compromise. 2..What do you mean by 4g? Most areas do not even have 3g yet! 3. The American Federal Communications Commission also wants to auction off frequencies so it won't have to regulate them. Licencing radio services is a labourious task. CB, GMRS and FRS licencing and rules are up for a review. 4. Yes, the military has been taking back some frequencies it had during WW2 and slightly after. This has caused some real problems, yet done in the name of Homeland Security.