An information note produced for fibre GarDen, the Garsdale & Dentdale community broadband initiative.
4G for Garsdale, Dentdale & other Rural Areas
The aim of this short article is to discuss the benefits of 4G mobile broadband, and how to maximise the
opportunity for Garsdale and Dentdale to get this service despite missing out on 3G coverage.
What is 4G?
Mobile data transfer has gone through several generations, with the third generation, 3G, being the first to
offer broadband speeds for mobile telephones and personal computers via wireless dongles. The next
generation mobile data transfer is a faster fourth generation, 4G, service.
4G Definition?
Defining 4G should be straightforward, but there are several interpretations of what 4G is, or should be, and
not all of them meet the official 4G standard. Lesser 4G offerings have been described as 3.9G, since they
are some way beyond 3G, but not quite ‘full 4G’. One such technology, which has gained widespread
adoption in some parts of the world, is Long Term Evolution (LTE) which first saw services launched around
2009, and is also sometimes known as 4G LTE. The latest LTE Advanced version however satisfies the
main requirements of 4G (as tabulated below), and in some cases exceeds them, but is technically an
alternative to official 4G systems, whilst also being called 4G by most people.
4G versus LTE & 3G
A difficulty with 3G, LTE and 4G has been headline speeds which are theoretical and raise expectations to
often unachievable levels. The level of performance actually achieved is often quite variable and regularly
just a fraction of the headline rate.
Parameter
Download
speed
Upload
speeds
Theoretical Peak
Service offering
Typical throughput
Theoretical Peak
3G
24 to 100 Mb/s
up to 7.2 Mb/s
0.5 to 3 Mb/s
50 Mb/s
LTE
288 Mb/s
up to 30 Mb/s
3 to 6 Mb/s
75 Mb/s
4G
1000 Mb/s
up to 100 Mb/s
3 to 12 Mb/s
500 Mb/s
Typical throughput
0.75 Mb/s
1.5 Mb/s
10 Mb/s
The actual rates achieved will be highly dependent on a wide variety of circumstances:
 number of users sharing the available spectrum bandwidth – contention;
 spectrum bandwidth available to the mobile broadband service mast;
 backhaul bandwidth available to the mobile broadband service mast;
 equipment & protocols employed by service provider;
 distance of the user from the mobile mast;
 weather conditions;
 obstacles – such as house walls.
Because the available bandwidth is shared amongst all users, the best download and upload speeds will be
achieved in off-peak times when there are fewer simultaneous users.
In rural areas it may be expected that the number of simultaneous users may be lower than in urban areas,
and this may result in a better experience, but this is to some extent balanced by a desire to use lower
frequencies in rural areas in order to achieve larger cell sizes. A typical urban cell might have a range of
around 1 km for a reasonable service, whilst a rural cell using lower frequencies can achieve around 5 km for
a similar service level. Similarly, it should be remembered that the lower frequencies that allow better cell
range also limit the achievable spectrum and therefore peak bit rate.
Beyond 4G
Whilst it’s unlikely 4G networks will be rolled-out in the UK much before 2014, it is worth looking beyond 4G
to see what is likely to supersede them. The obvious answer is 5G, and although work on an official 5G has
not yet started, there are some predictions that 5G will be discussed with a likely launch around 2020.
Already the LTE performance has been pushed beyond the ‘real 4G’ performance of LTE Advanced to an
LTE ‘release 10’ performance reported by Ericsson to provide a peak download of up to 3 Gb/s with uploads
of up to 1.5 Gb/s.
Bandwidth Issues for 4G
A clear issue for 4G masts is bandwidth, with most network planners suggesting that most mast installations
will require a 300 Mb/s backhaul bandwidth supply to produce a reasonable user experience. Clearly where
this is the case this represents a bandwidth less than the theoretical peak 1 Gb/s download speed for 4G.
 2012, Lucid Optical Services Ltd
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An information note produced for fibre GarDen, the Garsdale & Dentdale community broadband initiative.
Some of this backhaul bandwidth will be reserved for ordinary mobile telephone call traffic, but additionally a
key feature of 4G has been a desire to ensure a seamless service for data customers as they pass from one
mast cell to another. This is important to the quality of service and more important for 4G as mast cells are
likely to be smaller than with 3G cells. To achieve a seamless transfer will require bandwidth to be reserved
for users who may pass into a neighbouring cell, hence the mobile aspect can tie up bandwidth even when it
is not being used.
Backhaul for 4G Masts
The backhaul requirements for 4G masts are clearly going to be from a couple of hundred megabits per
second to one gigabit per second. The lower bit rate backhaul could be supplied via microwave line of sight
systems, but for higher bit rates fibre backhaul is more scalable, reliable and cost-effective, and hence highly
desirable. It is therefore likely that the availability of a suitable backhaul connection will be a major factor in
the provision of 4G masts in rural areas.
What can we do to get 4G in our community?
It is likely that 4G masts will be built where there is a significant population centre, major roads (it is a mobile
technology after all) and a backhaul connection readily available. On this basis our best chance of achieving
4G coverage is to build a fibre network that can supply backhaul connections for mobile network operators.
Extending Mobile Coverage
To further extend mobile coverage properties with good broadband connections (via land-lines or fibre) can
install femto-cells and pico-cells which allow the mobile to connect through the broadband network and
extend the mobile coverage to in and beyond the home.
Is 4G Mobile Broadband an Alternative to FTTH?
For some users 4G may be sufficient as an alternative to fixed line home broadband such as FTTH, but for
most it will be a complimentary technology and not a viable alternative to the fixed line FTTH. Indeed without
building the fibre FTTH network it is likely that most rural premises would not get a strong and reliable 4G
service.
Similarly for the 4G service to provide a good experience requires a control on the number of simultaneous
users, whereas with FTTH the service will not degrade significantly with user numbers and is readily
scalable. For these reasons FTTH is always likely to provide the higher bandwidth home services with a
better quality of service and a lower bandwidth cost than 4G. FTTH is not however a viable mobile
technology, but can provide backhaul to mast sites or femto cells to provide the local mobile service.
Cost of Mobile Broadband
The cost of 4G services, where available in the world, is currently high, as it is presented as a premium
service. It is likely to reduce to similar rates to current 3G services as the networks are rolled-out. Current UK
3G mobile data costs are around £10 to £30 per month for between 1 GB to 15 GB, with each additional
over-contract usage GB at around £15 to £85. This means that mobile data is reasonably priced for very light
usage, but becomes very expensive for medium to heavy data users, with the potential for huge shock bills in
any odd heavy use months. With the bandwidth of mobile cells restricted by their available radio spectrum, it
is likely that cost will be used to discourage much more than modest use for some time to come.
An EU mobile roaming proposal is suggesting 1 MB of data should cost no more than 20 Euro-cents by July
2014, or €200 per GB. Alternatively some mobile operators are offering day rates at around £3 to £5 per day.
Is 4G Important?
Yes. Although for most people 4G may not provide their main broadband connection, we are increasingly
living in a mobile world where people expect to be able to connect when and where it suits them. Tourists will
expect to be able to find information online when it suits them, they will also expect to be able to look-up and
follow footpaths online with local points of interest and nature highlighted. With 4G mobile video telephony
and streaming video on the move become a realistic possibility.
In rural areas in particular we need entrepreneurs to relocate their businesses and bring jobs into the area.
They’ll do this for the enhanced lifestyle if they can get the same fixed and mobile broadband services.
This information note was written for fibre GarDen by John Colton, FInstP. John is a director of fibre
GarDen, technical director of Lucid Optical Services, a fibre optic technology specialist training company,
and a director of the Fibre-optic Industry Association (FIA).
 2012, Lucid Optical Services Ltd
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