VII International Business Forum “Wireless Russia Forum: 4G, 5G & Beyond – Evolution of Mobile and Fixed Wireless Networks in Russia and CIS” (former LTE Russia & CIS 2014 – Evolution of Mobile Networks) in Moscow was attended more than 300 leading experts of the market. On 20 and 21 May, the participants of the COMNEWS conference discussed the experience and prospects of technologies and business of the latest and future generations of wireless communications.
The platinum sponsors of Wireless Russia Forum 2015 were the company Huawei and the corporation ZTE, the strategic partner was the Federal State Unitary Enterprise “Russian Broadcasting and Alert Networks” (RSVO), the delegate bag sponsor was the global Telenor Group, the lunch sponsor was the company Cambridge Broadband Networks (CBNL). The session “Telematics in mobile communication networks: from M2M to IoT” was sponsored by the Research Institute of systems of maintenance of complex security (RISMCS), the session “Quality of service in mobile and fixed communication networks. New challenges and new opportunities” was sponsored by the firm DMTel. The forum was held with the participation of the company JDSU. The general exhibitor of Wireless Russia Forum 2015 was the company 2test.
The leading Russian wireless technology forum was endorsed by the Federal Communications Agency (Rossvyaz), the LTE Union, the Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), the Association of Strategic Outsourcing ASTRA, the Association of Personnel Consultants, the Moscow Centre of International Business Assistance (MCIBA), the non-profit organization “The National Association of House Communications and Information Networks” (NADIKS), the GLONASS/GNSS-Forum Association, and the International Telecommunications Academy (ITA).
The forum started with s plenary session devoted to the practice of development of broadband wireless networks in Russia and globally. The first report about the legal regulation providing development of communication networks was made by Dmitry Tur, Deputy Head of RF and Communication Networks Regulation Department at the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of Russia. He emphasized that the regulator actually facilitated the overall development of broadband wireless networks to bridge the “digital divide” in the whole country by implementing the principle of technology neutrality, raising the efficiency of using the radio frequency spectrum, facilitating the sharing of base stations among operators, opening radio frequency bands for auctions for the first time in 2015, updating the legal framework for using the latest Wi-Fi standards – IEEE 802.11ac and IEEE 802.11ad, etc.
The representative of the Russian authorities was followed by Bjorn Amundsen, VP and Director of coverage at Telenor Norway, with his presentation “LTE Advanced – roll-out & strategy”. According to him, Telenor will launch the VoLTE services into commercial operation by Christmas 2015. The issues of mobile broadband access which will be discussed at the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) this year were mentioned by Vadim Poskakukhin, Head of Laboratory at the Radio Research and Development Institute (NIIR). He stated that the main idea for 5G networks would be the range above 6 GHz. The prospects of 5G communication standards appearing in Russia were presented by Valery Tikhvinskiy, Deputy General Director of Innovative Technologies at IComInvest. RuYue Li, Chief Engineer of Advanced Wireless Research at ZTE Corporation, told the participants how 5G standards were coming from pre-5G technologies.
The first session of the forum was devoted to the effective strategies and business models of 4G network operators. Executive Director of LTE Union Gulnara Khasyanova informed the audience of Wireless Russia Forum 2015 about the global practice and the Russian experience in developing LTE. According to her, 393 LTE networks were launched in 138 countries, but we have not seen the peak of LTE network construction yet: new networks do not appear anymore; however, the operators actively move the networks of older standards to LTE. The 1800 MHz range is the one mostly used in building global LTE networks, as to the Director of the Russian LTE Union.
Leonid Savkov, Marketing Director of the biggest Russian LTE operator MegaFon, reported on the strategy and business model of LTE/LTE-Advanced network operators, their ways to attract subscribers to 4G networks. Chen Yifang, VP of the biggest supplier of modern communications equipment to Russia – the Huawei company, gave information about the development of LTE technologies and services in Russia and in the world.
Tigran Pogosyan, who recently took the position of a Senior Vice President in Russia at ZTE Communication Technologies, Ltd., noted that innovations were the main driving force of LTE. He was certain that the business of Chinese telecom equipment manufacturers has huge opportunities in Russia, and he especially emphasized the urgency of developing transport LTE networks.
The session finished with the report “GSA – Mobile Broadband global update” made by Alan Hadden, Vice President of the largest Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA)
The second session of Wireless Russia Forum 2015 dealt with innovations in wireless broadband for optimizing operator’s business performance. Leading Expert of the Development of Network Department at VimpelCom Eduard Ilatovskiy presented his report “Evolution of Small Cell. Marketing declarations and real networks”. Country Manager Russia and CIS of Cambridge Broadband Networks Ltd. Larissa Tsytsura made a presentation “Innovations of CBNL for optimization and efficiency of business broadband of operators of fixed and mobile communication in new conditions”. System Solutions Sales Director of JDSU Dmitry Kazantsev reported on the new mobile network deployment testing technologies, including interference search through RFoCPRI. The technology for advertising geotargeting in wireless networks was described by CTO of AlterGeo Alexander Dorzhiev.
The session continued with a round table “Short-range radio electronic equipment: realities and prospects”. Its participants discussed the issues of law-enforcement practice of use of short-range radio electronic equipment in Russia; the regulator's plans to license the part of not licensed frequency range; the barriers for use of the equipment supporting the latest standards in the field of short-range radio electronic equipment on the example of IEEE 802.11ac, etc. The round table was attended by Dmitry Laryushin, Director of Technical Policy in Russia and CIS at Intel; Igor Gurianov, Deputy Head of Scientific and Technical Center of E-signal at the Radio Research and Development Institute (NIIR); Eduard Ilatovskiy, Leading Expert of the Development of Network Department at VimpelCom; Aleksey Sechkin, Carrier Product and Strategy Consultant at Verizon, and others.
The first day of Wireless Russia Forum 2015 resumed with a session “Quality of service in mobile and fixed communication networks. New challenges and new opportunities”. The report “Three histories about quality of the mobile Internet” was made by CEO of VIGO Anton Prokopenko. Alexander Beresnev, Business Development Director of DMTel, presented a report “VoLTE: new challenge and approach in LTE networks quality monitoring”. Sergey Kunegin, Head of Quality Management Department at the Moscow City Telephone Network (MGTS), spoke on the topic “Modern techniques of measurement of quality of services in networks of a fixed telephony”. Georgy Glavatskikh, Deputy Development Director of ER-Telecom, told the participants how Wi-Fi could help solve mobile network coverage problems.
The second day of Wireless Russia Forum 2015 started with a session “On the way towards 5G: stages of formation of next-generation mobile communication networks”. It was opened by Chairman of 3GPP TSG RAN WG3 Philippe Reininger. He was followed by Werner Mohr, Chair of the Board at 5G Infrastructure Association, with a report “5G Visions and Requirements”. The analysis of global initiatives in developing 5G (EU, USA, Korea, Japan, etc) was made by Editor-in-Chief of ComNews Leonid Konik. Vitaly Shub, Adviser to the President of TransTeleCom (TTK) presented his report “Capacity vs Coverage – 5G dilemma”. RuYue Li, Chief Engineer of Advanced Wireless Research at ZTE Corporation elaborated on the 5G concept of IMT-2020(5G) Promotion Group.
The session finished with a discussion “Prospects of the creation of 5G in Russia: what do subscribers expect from next-generation mobile communication networks?”.
The second day of Wireless Russia Forum 2015 continued with a workshop “Small cells and IBS: complementary approaches for increasing the network capacity”. The speakers of the workshop included Du Yeqing, Director of Global Wireless Solution Sales Department at Huawei, with the report “Small Cell, Big Business (Huawei Small Cell Vision)”; Konstantin Marin, Senior Consultant of Detecon, with the report “Small Cells: challenges and opportunities for operator”; Marwan Bin Shakar, Vice President of Mobile Access Network & Operations at the Emirates Integrated Telecommunication Company (Du), with the report “Du Rides Data Growth Trend”; and Khaled Saif, Senior Director of In Building Solutions, at the Emirates Integrated Telecommunication Company (Du), with the report “IBS Experience Sharing from Global Operators”.
The seminar resumed with a round table “How Small Cell Are Changing Traditional Telecom Ecosystem?”. In addition to the seminar’s speakers, the floor was given to Alexey Podryabinnikov, Commercial Director of Russian Towers, and Vitaliy Solonin, Head of Wireless Technologies Department at J'son & Partners Consulting.
The forum ended with a session devoted to telematics services in mobile communication networks, moderated by Mikhail Medrish, Director of the Fund for development of the Internet. The final session was marked by a report “Wireless technologies for development of M2M and IoT” made by Vadim Poskakukhin, Head of Laboratory at Radio Research and Development Institute (NIIR). Igor Kalayda, CEO of the Research Institute of Complex Security Systems (RISMCS) spoke on the topic “Integration of mobile communication networks and short-range radio technologies – NFC, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi”. Sergey Irevli, Business Market Products Development and Management Department Director of Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), presented a report “Development of M2M by telecom operator MTS”.
In their speeches and backstage conversations, the participants of the conference repeatedly highlighted that Wireless Russia Forum was unique and important for the market, had a relevant programme, as well as top-level speakers; they also noted that the sessions, round tables and discussions were well-prepared and well-orchestrated.
