The Operators Harmonization Group began work more than a year ago as a loosely tied group of four operators trying to end the world’s heated battle over third-generation technology standards. Today this ad hoc group, which now numbers 40 operators from around the world, can take the majority of credit for that feat and has gained incredible clout with the International Telecommunication Union in the process.
But questions remain over the future of this ungoverned band of operators. Some, including Vodafone AirTouch plc and BellSouth Cellular Corp., would like to see the group become more formal and represent 3G operators as they work to deploy these unknown next-generation systems. Others believe the group already has served its purpose.
Carriers plan to meet this week in San Francisco to evaluate the idea of making the group a more official organization.
“It’s interesting because every time the OHG has a meeting, we figure it’s the last meeting, but there always seems to be a need for another one,” said Mel Frerking, co-director of technology strategy and standards for BellSouth Cellular. “We can look back with pride because we didn’t get wrapped around legality and formality. We were able to work on the issues before us.”
Carriers say the OHG members helped foster a global standards environment with this ability to come together and make concessions despite their fierce loyalty to each of their particular second-generation standards, whether Code Division Multiple Access, Global System for Mobile communications or Time Division Multiple Access technology.
While the ITU initially had hoped to adopt one 3G standard, it found itself with a plethora of submissions, including 13 different CDMA-based radio interfaces. In light of political agendas from every party representing different standards, the OHG managed to shrink that number to three modes that encompass both wideband-CDMA, technology chosen by the GSM community; and cdma2000, backed by the cdmaOne community. Today the group is helping to ensure the standards can interoperate with each other.
“Due credit has to be given to the ITU,” said Vino Vinodrai, director of industry relations and research with Canada’s Bell Mobility and the appointed mediator of the OHG. “OHG doesn’t exist on paper, and yet every time we wrote something to the ITU secretary general, that was distributed and acted upon. ITU has memberships of administration, but OHG is nothing. Yet a piece of paper carried more weight than any of the others.”
It is this clout that some operators believe should be taken to the next level. The standards-making process for next-generation technology is far from over, and carriers have a long road ahead in deploying functioning 3G systems and competing in the marketplace with them. Though the GSM Association, the CDMA Development Group and the Universal Wireless Communications Consortium are working on 3G standards, no one group will represent all IMT-2000 operators, said Craig Farrill, chief technology officer with Vodafone AirTouch.
“We operate every technology out there and will be deploying 3G systems in the near future,” said Farrill. “We see a need for carriers to get together who are planning to deploy IMT technologies and have a place where IMT technologies can be discussed.”
Authentication schemes, subscriber identity module cards, roaming, dual-mode handsets and interoperability between 2G and 3G networks are significant issues that remain unresolved, said Farrill.
“There are many more harmonization issues,” said Farrill. “The biggest one is we want a common IP core network. At the moment, the effort is fractured.”
But discussions may have a long way to go before operators come to any type of agreement. Operators will have to move away from their technology-centric way of thinking, say the group’s advocates.
“We actively support harmonization and will work closely in cooperation with global carriers,” said Andrea Linsky, spokeswoman for Bell Atlantic Mobile. “However, the mechanics of the OHG are in the early stages, and a number of issues need to be addressed.”
One issue that concerns operators is that such a group could step on the toes of the existing carrier organizations like the CDMA Development Group that already are involved in 3G technology. Others fear operators may try to push their own technology agendas.
“Each of these groups come from a second-generation technology which they carry in as baggage,” said Vinodrai. “Where 3G, because of harmonization, is now technology-neutral. It’s not about technology anymore and (is) more about operator issues like authentication and how you interface with the Internet.”
Both Vodafone AirTouch and BellSouth support such a group if it is crafted carefully and doesn’t replicate efforts in existing carrier groups.
“We don’t want to give the impression of stepping on someone’s toes,” said Steven Blust, co-director of technology strategy and standards with BellSouth. “BellSouth’s view is that if the group can reach a good enough consensus and can demonstrate that it can be a useful organization, then we support it.”
To keep dialogue with the other carrier groups, Farrill advocates making the other carrier groups full members so they would have a director-level representative at all the operator meetings.
“Basically, this group should be global in nature,” said Farrill. “It’s an operator group, and it’s focused on commercialization and accelerating commercialization of IMT technologies around the world. It may be that the group starts rather small with those looking at IMT and thinking of a way to interact with their peers … In some ways, it’s ahead of its time.”
