Will LTE signal the end of GSM?

At the end of last year NTT DoCoMo launched their LTE network. They had announced back in May, at the LTE World Summit that they have a roadmap in place to migrate remaining customers on thier 2G network to 3G and LTE and plan to switch off the 2G network within 2 years. So we're looking at a switch off date of May 2012. This isn't as aggressive and ambitious as it seems, as DoCoMo has an unusually high proportion of its subscrbers already on 3G. Coupled with the fact that DoCoMo uses the rather niche PDC technology for its 2G network, you can understand why they want to part ways with it.

So why aren't other mobile operators in mature markets as keen as NTT DoCoMo is on this strategy?

There are three seasons.

1. No operator will switch off their GSM network until there is complete ubiquity of at least 3G.
2. GSM provides an excellent voice service and in markets such as UK.
3. The difference in QoS between EGDE and 3G is considerable, EDGE is still good enough for basic web browsing etc.

Operators seem to be resigned to the fact that for now they will have to operator 3 different networks (4 if they operate a series of WiFi hotspots!). In this situation optimising traffic-flows across different networks and having the right policies in place for managing capacity effectively is essential.

If DoCoMo is successful then operators may think again, but for now is seems that GSM still has a long life ahead.

参考：http://lteconference.blogspot.com/2011/01/will-lte-signal-end-of-gsm.html