Mobile Communications Applications
Multimedia in Motion: UMTS on the Isle of Man
The Isle of Man is home to the first field test in Europe of a third-generation mobile communications network. Featuring location-based services, the new network guides users to all the interesting sights, including the next pub or even a nearby ATM.
Richard McGuinness, project manager at Manx Telecom, is crazy about UMTS. "Just imagine you're on vacation, and all it takes is one phone call to show your friends the beautiful view of the beach. Or if you have an alarm system with a video camera installed in your house, you can check up at any time to see that everything's all right back home," he enthuses.
Siemens project manager Rudolf Siegert holding a UMTS design study. "Isle of Man on Air" is a location-based service from Siemens that provides subscribers equipped with an NEC UMTS cell phone and a notebook with directions to the nearest gas station, hotel or pub
The seedbed for third-generation mobile communications is to be found on a small island in the Irish Sea that belongs neither to Great Britain nor to the European Union. The Isle of Man is a British Crown possession but has its own parliament and home rule. With a surface area of some 225 square miles (588 km²), a population of 75,000 inhabitants and a modern telecommunications infrastructure, it's an ideal place to give UMTS a run for the money.
Back in 1999, the Isle of Man government granted a license free of charge to Manx Telecom, a subsidiary of mmO2 (formerly British Telecom Wireless), to establish a UMTS networkthe first in Europe. Now that Siemens and NEC have completed installation of the network, technicians have been busy for several months testing and optimizing it. "We've got a total of 28 UMTS base stations here; that translates into 85 % coverage," says Siemens project manager Rudolf Siegert.
In January 2002, journalists were invited to the headquarters of Manx Telecom to inspect the cell phone of the future. The silver model from NEC has a foldable display somewhat smaller than a credit card, and a keypad that also features four cursor buttons. Calls to Germanyto both fixed and mobile networksfunction without any problem whatsoever. The connection is perfectly stable and noiseless.
But what about the next level of difficultysurfing the Internet? A Manx Telecom employee calls up the Manx "Pronto" portal and then stages a competition between a GSM and a UMTS cell phone. With a data transfer rate of 384 kbit/s, it only takes a couple of seconds for the UMTS model to download Pronto's homepage. But things are not quite as smooth for the GSM phone. At 9.6 kbit/s, it is still occupied with loading the page after a whole minute has passed. At present, it is still necessary to connect the UMTS cell phone to a notebook via a USB interface before surfing the Internet or writing e-mails. That said, however, it's no problem to send e-mails, check out Web sites or download videos.
O.K., but what about the toughest challenge for UMTSa videophone call? Although it takes three attempts before it works, the other person is indeed visible, even if the picture is somewhat blurred and the contrast rather dark. Here again, some additional hardware is requiredthe built-in camera and display of the so-called image viewer terminal. Only then can you get a true picture of the person you're calling and also send an image of yourself.
At present, users on the Isle of Man have a choice between seven different applications, including information on the local cinema program with short previews, or the sports section from Pronto. For those in need of a little diversion, the system also features online games. Another service"Isle of Man on Air"provides users with information tailored to their precise location. To test it, we head out to the car, which is waiting at the entrance. The vehicle features a navigation system and a notebook that is wired up to a UMTS phone. The navigation display shows an enlarged street map on which a red pointthe car itselfmoves slowly forward. Another window can be opened on the right-hand side of the screen. This lists information on golf courses, things to see and gas stations. For people looking for overnight accommodations, a hotel-finder service will locate a room and book it online. Finally, a click on "Find the nearest..." reveals the way to the next pub serving the island's very own whisky, "Manx Spirit,"plus information on the location of the nearest ATM.
Using a UMTS cell phone as a videophone. In test operations on the Isle of Man, the user requires an additional terminalan image viewer with camera and screenbut the caller is clearly recognizable
In January, Manx Telecom distributed 200 UMTS phones to selected test-personsschoolchildren, businesspeople, housewives and government officials. The experts are already looking forward to their feedback. As McGuinness explains, the company not only wants to operate and optimize the network, but also provide genuine services.
On the hardware side, a larger display and a user-friendlier keypad are certainly to be recommended. And if the camera were fully integrated and battery capacity substantially boosted from the current one and a half hours, the new UMTS cell phone would be just about perfect. "We need to do some more work on the phones," admits Siegert. "And we also need chips that have better power economy and can work in both a GSM and UMTS network." According to Rudi Lamprecht, head of Information and Communication Mobile, the first UMTS/GSM cell phones from Siemens should be ready for launch in the fourth quarter of this year.
Evdoxia Tsakiridou