Our users’ experience in the seamless network

The seamless network is the merger of GSM and WCDMA networks that enables an operator to offer quality service, for voice, data and multimedia, in the most cost-effective and resource-efficient way.

The seamless network solution is comprised of multimode handsets that work on both GSM and WCDMA frequencies and a network that combines the GSM and WCDMA resources. Services are provided over GSM or WCDMA radio access, depending on radio resource availability and service demand.

How will users experience this seamless network? I think users should not take much notice of the network. Just as users today should not notice when a GSM handover from the 1800 MHz to the 900 MHz band occurs, users of a seamless network should not notice whether services are delivered on GSM or WCDMA.

Imagine that a user who boards a train in a large city and heads for the countryside. The user has a multimode GSM/WCDMA handset and has a subscription with an operator having a GSM network with nationwide EDGE coverage. The operator also has a WCDMA network with coverage in all major cities. As the user initially is in an area with WCDMA coverage, he starts his call there. The call begins as a voice call. During the call, the user decides to use a digital camera to show a friend a previously recorded video. This is done by adding a streaming video session while maintaining the voice call. As the train moves out of the WCDMA coverage area, the network moves the call to the GSM network, renegotiates the data transfer with the handset application, and uses EDGE functionality in the GSM network to continue to send both voice and video. The user now experiences the same voice quality as before but lower quality for the streaming video.