The study reviews the data throughput requirements of the PPDR community and then considers the ability of 700MHz and 2GHz LTE networks to deliver the requisite performance in urban and rural areas. The study concludes that the use of 2GHz spectrum, especially in dense urban areas, is able to deliver and exceed the stated PPDR data throughput requirements. Although initial roll-out costs of the 2GHz network are slightly higher than for a comparable 700MHz, the cost-per-bit-delivered is significantly lower for the 2GHz network. Adding the expected cost of spectrum, the difference becomes even more significant.
Richard Womersley, Director of Spectrum Consulting at LS telcom said, “It seems unlikely that 700MHz spectrum will become available in Europe much before 2020, if at all. And the opportunity costs associated with gifting it to the PPDR community are very large. On the other hand, 2GHz spectrum is available today and our work has shown that its use can provide a cost-effective, high-performance network for PPDR users in urban areas. Add to this the availability of satellite services in other areas and you have a winning combination.”
The study considered the design, dimensioning, coverage and economics of both solutions and used London as a worst-case area for assessing the likely performance and costs. LS telcom’s planning engineers also considered practical factors, such as antenna performance and building penetration for the two frequencies bands.
Please visit https://www.lstelcom.com/en/products-services/strategic-consulting/overview/ and select the PDF download on the right side of the page to view the report.
