• Identifying the key players in the market around the world. Where does LTE fit amongst all the mobile networks?
• Will deploying LTE improve the operators business case?
• Can LTE generate more revenue than current 3G technologies have?
• What is the forecast rate of subscription migration from GSM to 3G, 3.5G and LTE?
• Examining the potential savings in delivery cost

• Examining how UMTS/HSPA has evolved around the world in various markets
• On what frequencies has it been deployed? What have the spectrum challenges been?
• What is the current and forecast demand for HSPA and can existing networks deliver?
• HSPA devices availability, services and applications
• What were/are the challenges with base station sites and equipment?
• Is the migration to HSPA+ and then to LTE, a natural evolutionary step?

• What kind of end user benefits will we see when introducing LTE? How will users benefit by the interaction between LTE and other systems?
• How will operators benefit by introducing LTE? How can LTE be best integrated with existing networks? What do operators need to think about when introducing LTE in parallel with other networks and how will the interaction work?
• Understanding best ways of spectrum utilization, leveraging the flexible carrier bandwidth in paired and un-paired spectrum in order to gain highest performance and capacity.
• The LTE technology, is it a 3G or 4G technology - or both?
• What makes LTE the best choice for next generation mobile broadband? What is the vision for mobile broadband?

This interactive Q&A session will allow delegates to ask Prof. Mike Walker Group Research & Development Director for Vodafone Group Services Limited, UK, about his vision for LTE and the future direction of Vodafone as one of the most innovative operators in the world. Send your questions to Sabah.Hussain@Informa.com or ask on the day!

• Understanding the timescales for the LTE standards to be set, what has been done so far and what standards have yet to be agreed
• Key changes in LTE Standards vs UMTS
• Understanding the capability-related, deployment related and system performance requirements
• Requirements for EPC/SAE and E-UTRAN architecture and migration
• What are the radio resource management requirements?
• Cost and service related requirements

• Reviewing the current status of Japan’s 3G market
• What is DoCoMo 3G long term evolution?
• Describing the current status of the standardisation process
• Examining the status of the research being carried out
• What has been achieved in the trails and what is being planned for the future

• LSTI is a global initiative focused on accelerating the availability of commercial and interoperable next generation LTE systems.
• How does LSTI interact with other industry groups 3GPP, NGMN and GCF?
• Roadmaps for the Proof of Concept, IODT, IOT and Trials activities
• Latest results from the Proof of Concept group

• Examining the availability of contiguous blocks of spectrum suitable to accommodate channel bandwidths of - between 1.4MHz to 20MHz in bands below 1GHz up to approximately 100MHz bands in higher frequency bands
• Examples of various spectrum bands that are becoming available around the world
• Implications of WRC-07
• Is the uptake of HSPA expected to decline with the emergence of LTE?
• Examining possible migration strategies for LTE into the 2.1GHz band

• What are the potential spectrum bands that could be identified for LTE use?
• When are the identified LTE spectrum bands likely to be auctioned?
• Examples of where spectrum that may be used for LTE has been auctioned already
• Discussing the likelihood of GSM spectrum bands being re-farmed as technology free bands that may be used for LTE
• How to avoid market fragmentation and allow users and industry to benefit from economies of scale while at the same time giving rapid access to new technologies such as LTE?

• Discussing the technical and operational challenges faced by operators in providing a profitable wireless service in rural areas that can compete with fixed line broadband
• What is the effect of having sufficient spectrum in lower frequency bands?
• What is the likelihood of the terrestrial broadcasting bands becoming available for LTE?

• Can 20MHz channels be located in the 2.6GHz band? What is the pressure on this band from competitors such as WiMAX and TDV?
• Examining how spectrum sharing between operators can allow access to wider bandwidths
• Is spectrum sharing the only way to get 20MHz channels?
• What are the challenges and complexities of spectrum sharing?
• Can spectrum sharing only take place in newly auctioned bands or is it also possible to share spectrum in re-farmed bands?

• Comparing the three competing paradigms for providing services: network intelligence vs P2P vs clientserver
• Moving towards a high distribution of functions and services and the cooperation between environments.
• Is there compatibility between the LTE and this approach?
• Is Web 2.0 a useful paradigm for the LTE? Can it be used in a network context?
• Is peer to peer technology and ad hoc networks a threat to the Operators? Can they be used to compete with the client server paradigm in providing distributed sevices?
• A case study: video services adopting the different paradigms

• Comparing the capabilities, efficiencies and complexities of the technologies
• What are the technical equipment challenges for all the technologies?
• Which technology offers the most economical network when taking a long term view?
• Does WiMAX have a head start?
• Examining if migration to LTE is easier due to operators experience with HSPA
• Migrating from 3GPP2 technologies to LTE, what are the challenges and associated costs?

• What is the potential of a fixed-mobile substitution strategy?
• Under which conditions can LTE provide the same experience as fixed broadband?
• Can wireless solutions keep up with fixed line services in urban areas?
• Mobile operators success in competing with fixed broadband
• Is it possible to compete with fixed broadband without deploying LTE everywhere?
• Lessons learnt from various HSDPA deployments (Examples: Portugal have only deployed HSDPA in cities; in Germany some operators have gone nationwide)

• Identifying the challenges for new entrants in the market
  Sites - Experience - Corporate branding
• Is a 3G infrastructure needed to be able to deploy LTE?
• Is it too big a leap from GSM to LTE or is not having a 3G network an advantage for operators?
• The role of EDGE and E-EDGE in a GSM/LTE solution

• Backgound on the status of the wireless market in Brazil: Broadband, 3G, HSPA
• Lessons learnt from HSPA network launch
• Assessing the spectrum situation in Brazil for 3G and LTE
• Analysing the possibilities for LTE in Brazil, from operator perspective
• What are the possibilities for LTE in the rest of South America and for operators what do not have a 3G network?

• The drivers to LTE early adoption & operators options in the medium term
• Technology choice - Performance & business proposition comparison (HSPA+ and LTE)
• LTE deployment strategies, spectrum and use case
• LTE for the emerging markets
• LTE - telecom & media convergence
• How operators can maximize their competitive advantage with early LTE adoption

• Working across the ecosystem operators, vendors, device manufacturers and chipset providers
• What are the key challenges to be a successful LTE vendor?
• Helping operators to be successful and getting the timing right
• Helping to keep costs low and making deployments easy
• Treating operators as partners not just customers

• How can operators re-engineer their existing network to make them interoperable with LTE
• What are the cost implications and timelines to upgrade the legacy networks?
• Achieving compatible standardisation for a seamless network
• Analysing various migration paths to LTE (e.g. GSM> EDGE> LTE)
• What are the Long Term Ramifications of LTE to the Organisational Structure for Operators?

• Increasing capacity and coverage with small cells
• Can LTE deployment in the 700/900MHz bands along with Femtocells provide the coverage needed in rural areas?
• Femtocells or WiFi, which is best?
• How does MIMO impact on Femtocells?
• Examining the challenges of building Femtocells for LTE