Broadband Pilot Wittstock/Dosse in Full Operation

Use of the digital dividend technical testing phase completed successfully

Wittstock, Dosse – March 12, 2009 – Now that a total of 100 test customers have been connected, the broadband pilot Wittstock/Dosse is entering the critical phase. The test participants – consumers, small businesses or public administrations – can load websites in a matter of seconds, use streaming offers or send images, text or work documents using a specially adapted wireless modem and the accompanying software. Thus for the first time in Europe, end users have been connected to the broadband Internet via radio spectrum.

The project is being carried out by Medienanstalt Berlin-Brandenburg (mabb) in cooperation with the Federal Network Agency; the mobile communications company T-Mobile has been selected as operator. 
The aim of the pilot project is to investigate the technical and economic conditions for using radio spectrum within the applicable legal framework. Tasks include the determination of achievable ranges, the examination of bandwidth within the radio cell under local propagation conditions and the analysis of two-way interferences between DVB-T and radio spectrum for broadband Internet, as well as solutions for rectifying or reducing possible faults. The project should also investigate the resulting requirements for future frequency planning and performance of the relevant tasks by the federal states on the one hand and the Federal Network Agency on the other.

Supplying Germany with broadband Internet is a challenge for the entire telecommunications industry. In addition to the technological prerequisites, the general conditions for this must also be right. The digital dividend pilot project in Wittstock clearly shows how broadband Internet access can be provided in rural regions by using terrestrial spectrum. The decision to allocate part of the digital dividend spectrum for this purpose means that the necessary resources will be available. 
Investments in modern broadband, especially in federal states such as Brandenburg with an economic structure characterized by SMEs, can make an important contribution to overcoming the “digital divide” and ensuring that Germany remains competitive in the future.

The project so far has shown that the use of radio spectrum can help to bring high-speed Internet to disadvantaged rural areas.

“According to the findings so far, the use of spectrum for broadband Internet access in rural areas has not caused any radio broadcasting problems which could not be resolved either by specific frequency planning or by the users themselves”, says Dr. Hans Hege, Director of Medienanstalt Berlin-Brandenburg.
 
The predictions on the technical feasibility of the pilot project have so far come true: “At present bandwidths of max. 2.8 Mbit/s for downloads and 1.5 Mbit/s for uploads are being implemented. This is in the upper range of what we as network operators expected”, says Günther Ottendorfer, Director of Network Technology at T-Mobile Deutschland GmbH.

After the encouraging findings of the project so far, mabb is working together with the state government to provide radio spectrum for broadband Internet access as soon as possible in other regions of Brandenburg and for an extended group of subscribers.

By focusing on the rural area around Wittstock/Dosse in northern Brandenburg, an area was selected for this pilot project where only narrowband Internet is generally available at low data rates.  
“Broadband expansion using copper or optical fiber is not cost-effective in sparsely populated areas. Cost-effectiveness could be achieved through modern radio technology, but only in long-range frequency bands. The frequency range used in Brandenburg is absolutely ideal for this”, says Günther Ottendorfer from T-Mobile.

The base station for the pilot project was affixed to the radio mast near the Wittstock highway interchange. Compared to the frequencies used for Internet access so far, radio spectrum has the advantage of ensuring a wider range due to its physical properties and thus also of guaranteeing better reception in buildings. 

For the pilot project in Wittstock/Dosse, a commercial 3G TD-CDMA system was adapted for use in the 750MHz frequency range. The system was provided by the British company IPWireless. The cell site in Wittstock is connected to the Deutsche Telekom network via a 34Mbit/s line. Latency times of 55 ms to 80 ms are currently being achieved, which enable even complex websites to be loaded very quickly. At present innovative XPol antennas are being used which allow for even higher uplink rates. In the first three months of technical testing, the system was optimized so that customers living up to 20 kilometers from the base station can take part in the pilot project.

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