Grandmaster plan to lead to mobile savings

Introducing Grandmaster Clock servers into the networks of Ireland's mobile phone carriers promises "tangible" improvements in download speeds when 4G networks are launched later this year, according to the device's supplier. Wicklow company Data Edge is supplying to four of the country's mobile operators in a €500,000 deal, and will also help ensure a sizeable reduction in "dropped" calls throughout the country.

Three Ireland and Meteor/eMobile owners Eircom were the only operators to confirm that they are part of the collective deal, which will see 25 of the "specialist timing" devices – originally developed by Californian company Symmetricom – installed in mobile phone base stations.

Data Edge MD Brian McBride says the devices "must be used" to ensure 4G networks can offer the 100MB per second download speeds being trumpeted by 3, O2, Vodafone and Meteor – all of whom launch 4G services this autumn. "If you don't have a fast backbone then very fast download speeds wouldn't be possible," he says.

While McBride admits the €500,000 figure is dwarfed by the €855 million which is being invested in these technologies by the main operators in Ireland it is “absolutely essential to facilitate a seamless roll-out of 4G mobile services”.

The timing technology provides "nanosecond accuracy" across mobile networks, ensuring all mobile base stations are precisely synchronised, in turn minimising a common cause of dropped calls for consumers.

Synchronisation
Prof Cormac Sreenan from UCC's Department of Computer Science believes the technology could be "very beneficial". "The traditional telephone systems require highly precise timing for voice communication. In data networks this tends not to be provided. When you don't have that level of synchronisation, services don't quite reach the level they should."

While consumers can expect to benefit from a reduction in dropped calls, the Grandmaster Clock roll-out will help create a situation where “cost of ownership and cost of operations will be lower” for mobile operators. For instance, Voice Over Long Term Evolution (or LTE, another title for 4G) services may lead to “substantial savings” for operators, according to McBride.