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Feature

DECTweb aims to bring you occasional timely feature articles from well known names in the cordless telecommunications industry.   If you feel you would be a suitable contributor and would like to offer an article for consideration please e-mail us with your biographical details and an outline for the proposed feature. 

The current feature is a summary of the key news from the Annual DECT World Congress, DECT '99, and is contributed by the Chaiman of the event, Walter Tuttlebee, of Roke Manor Research.  Walter is editor of "Cordless Telecommunications Worldwide" and has been involved in DECT, and the wider personal communications industry, since the late 1980's.

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REPORT ON THE
DECT '99
BARCELONA CONFERENCE
by Walter Tuttlebee
(Chairman of the Conference)

Conference Format
Some 40 papers were presented in 9 sessions:
        DECT Review / Globalisation of DECT / DECT WLL in South Africa
        Evolving Standards
        Success Stories from around the World
        DECT WLL
        DECT WLL Future Applications
        DECT for Business & Residential Mobility
        DECT - a Data Solution
        Home Automation   
        Future Developments

Two panel session debates held:
        DECT terminals
        Future DECT product & market developments

As in previous years, a feature of the first day was a presentation on DECT developments over the past year by the Chairman of the DECT Forum.  The slideshow from this talk is available online, courtesy of the DECt Forum -  DECT Forum Presentation at Barcelona

Key Issues
Markets - In 1998 DECT markets grew by 107% this past year (13.5m products shipped), higher % growth than even 1997. Growth forecasts for ’99 were conservative, at 53%. Breakdown of the different market statistics were provided by the DECT Forum speakers and others.

Standards - ETSI standardisation is moving fast and announcement was made of the formation of a DECT Multi Media Consortium, DECT MMC, to encourage the development of such products. Detailed reports were given on the new Multi Media Application Profile, MMAP, and the DECT Packet Radio Service, DPRS, and new higher level/rate modulation scheme which is backward compatible.

Data and Multimedia - Several DECT data / multimedia products were on show in the exhibition area. These included wireless PC links for printers, fax, ISDN from Siemens and from Dosch & Amand. A wireless Webpad type product was shown based on National Semics chips.

Dual Mode - The BT Onephone paper that was expected was not presented. It was rumoured however that two other GSM/DECT dual mode service trials may be happening in 1999, involving Deutsche Telekom and Swisscom.

Wireless local loop - Some 32% of all WLL lines deployed during 1998 were reaported to have been DECT. The keynote speaker from South African related a very successful rollout, with significant increases in numbers of DECT lines anticipated over the coming year.

Steps to implement 3.5 GHz DECT WLL were reported by one speaker.

CTM - All mention of the Italian FIDO CTM service was conspicuous by its absence. Regulatory constraints rather than technical performance seem to have been the sticking point with FIDO.

There was lots of useful detail presented by Siemens about WDCT – Worldwide Digital Cordless Telephone, based on DECT in the ISM band – which was launched in the US market last autumn. A presentation from Siemens Semiconductors indicated that other manufacturers will be launching WDCT products in the next few months.

IMT-2000 – DECT has been accepted as one of the IMT-2000 RTTs (radio technologies). The new modulation schemes being standardised by ETSI will allow it to deliver 2Mb/s data in very low cost product implementations, given the maturity of DECT technology.

IC’s – the perspective of the IC manufacturers indicated the significant progress in chips for DECT in recent years – with talk of 5th and 6th generation terminals and of the fact that Bluetooth and SWAP would leverage these gains, as has WDCT.

Bluetooth & SWAP (HomeRF) - Bluetooth was a hot discussion this year, with a 3 or 4 papers describing and comparing it with DECT, Bluetooth and SWAP. Views expressed in the discussion were that Bluetooth was cellular-centric, SWAP was PC-centric, and that the PC industry could decide to go with DECT in Europe, as it is already here and proven and can do all that SWAP will do. Debate over whether fundamental reasons exist that mean Bluetooth can really deliver lower cost implementations than DECT was inconclusive, with reasoned arguments being put from both camps.

PHS - PHS was hardly mentioned, unlike previous years, perhaps reflecting its difficulties in its home market. The speaker from Hong Kong noted that only 2 PHS handsets had been type approved in Hong Kong, as compared with 20 DECT ones !

The Chairman's Summary:
Summing up, the chairman compared DECT ’99 with its predecessors as follows:

1996 – The first annual DECT congress – DECT was establishing itself well in the market for residential cordless phones, with healthy growth and competition.

1997 – The residential market had been secured and the emphasis seemed to be on business / corporate applications and also the technical feasibility of DECT for wireless local loop

1998 – The focus had shifted onto wireless local loop as the new frontier - DECT had proven it could address this technically and was now doing so commercially, with success in securing orders

1999 – WLL appeared to have delivered on its promise, with a third of all new lines deployed in the previous year being DECT. The new frontier for this year appears to be multimedia and data products, and of course DECT in North America, in the form of WDCT.

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