MobilKom's Successful Transformation

　　　　　　　　　——ZTE helped MobilKom to customize the world’s first CDMA450 L band quality network 

Lubos Borik, CEO of Mobilkom, said in 2007,

“By using advanced technologies, the All-IP CDMA2000 network, supplied by ZTE, greatly decreases the network construction costs, and allows us to deliver high-quality and low-cost services to users.”

Established in 1993, MobilKom in Czech was originally focused on clustering communication service on private networks, with customers primarily as group users. After over 10 years' development, it has grown with a stable customer group, but the single service was a bottleneck for its growth. After acquiring MobilKom, Penta introduced CDMA technologies and services to transform its networks. Through reconstruction of old networks for more than one year, MobilKom gradually transformed from a single trunking network operator to an integrated service supplier by branding its service as Ufon that can serve users across Czech with complete services, combining CDMA2000 1X voice and data service, EV-DO Rev.A high-speed data and Push to Talk (PTT) trunking service.

With the successful transformation, MobilKom jumped to become No.4 mobile carrier right after T-Mobile, Telefonica O2 and Vodafone in Czech telecom market. MobilKom’s success sets a business model for conventional trunking carriers to transform to CDMA integrated carriers, which not only retains the interests and loyalty of the original customer base, but also attracts more personal users.

Breaking Through the Bottleneck for Transformation

Czech’s economy develops rapidly and the penetration of mobile voice service reaches 100%, but the broadband penetration is very low and far smaller than the penetration in Western European countries due to so many issues confronting the deployment of cable broadband network in Czech. Therefore, there is a great space for wireless broadband market in Czech. With the outstanding technical features, CDMA can help greatly slash CAPEX and OPEX, which attracts emerging operators. With the commercialization of CDMA450 L band, more and more terminal manufacturers join the industry chain, which provides a broader prospect for the future development of CDMA450 L band. MobilKom also considers adopting this technology to improve its competitiveness and change its single-service status, and thus develop the user base and make more profit. To select a supplier which can provide multiple services, reduce costs and help build an elite CDMA network is what MobilKom is concerned about most.

Customizing Networks to Accelerate Transformation

MobilKom’s trunking network frequency is 410M (frequency range: 410-415 MHz/420-425 MHz). As there is no precedence for operators building CDMA network at such frequency, there will be risks in technology and operation. Under the joint efforts of MobilKom, Qualcomm and ZTE, the 410 MHz frequency is finally adopted by 3GPP2 as a standard for CDMA450 L band, thus laying a foundation for the industrialization of CDMA410 network.

In October 2005, MobilKom selected ZTE as its partner. In less than six months, they jointly built the first customized CDMA450 L band network in the world, which is also the first CDMA EV-DO Rev.A network in Europe. MobilKom uses the full set of advanced All-IP solution provided by ZTE, which features flat network, flexible networking, saving transmission, compliance with the number portability of European standards, and offers smooth evolution to MMD/IMS.

ZTE’s All-IP compact base station has small size and light weight with high integration, high capacity and low power consumption. It supports wall-mounted installation and can smoothly evolve to EV-DO Rev.B/LTE. This solution greatly reduces CAPEX and OPEX and increases MobilKom’s competitiveness and network profitability.

Advanced Technologies to Promote Competitiveness

On May 14, 2007, MobilKom held a press conference to officially announce that the system was put into commercial use. By Q1 of 2009, the total number of online subscribers exceeded 100,000, of which more than 200,000 are EV-DO Rev.A high-speed data subscribers. MobilKom will also take advantage of its experience in trunking operation and customer base to attract about 30,000 PTT subscribers in the next few years, with a market share of 20%. MobilKom, with the help of ZTE, grabs the opportunity to develop wireless broadband market and deploys networks quickly. Many new technologies and services enable MobilKom to win market shares in the mobile communication field and improve its network competitiveness. It is now on the way to future development.