Nokia's 450MHz support could boost GaAs industry
Nokia, the Finnish company that sells over 30% of the world's cell phone handsets, is backing plans to develop the 450 MHz frequency band for cellular use.
The technology is regarded as one option open to service providers and handset manufacturers as they bid to increase the mobile phone subscriber base throughout the world towards the 3 billion mark.
In a statement, the company said, "Nokia believes that a GSM450 frequency is a viable solution in providing affordable handsets and mobile voice-centered services to new growth areas."
Soren Petersen, the company's senior VP of mobile phones, added, "Nokia believes that reducing the total cost of ownership for both affordable handsets and mobile voice services are the key when it comes to reaching the next billion customers in new growth markets."
Whether GaAs will feature as a key technology for power amplifiers (PAs) in such low-cost products remains to be seen. Silicon CMOS and SiGe solutions are often regarded as a lower-cost option, and could be more suited to the lower frequency compared with the conventional cellular bands that operate at 850 MHz and above.
Asif Anwar from Strategy Analytics believes that the key requirements of the phones will likely remain to be long talk and standby times, which could maintain the preference for GaAs-based PAs.
In fact, he says, these attributes could be viewed as being even more important in emerging markets, where electricity supplies may be less reliable.
Long talk and standby times are a function of the PA's efficiency and linearity "“ both of which are areas where GaAs holds an advantage.
