In September 2004, leading mobile operators and equipment vendors published the initial UMA specifications and formally introduced them to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards body. In April 2005, an unprecedented eight months later, the UMA specifications were incorporated into the 3GPP release 6 specifications and were renamed "Generic Access Network" or GAN (TS 43.318).  The specification has become the standard for extending mobile circuit, packet and IMS-based services over broadband IP access networks.

Soon after the adoption of the specifications into 3GPP, a steady stream of vendors began announcing GAN-compatible infrastructure and device solutions. Mobile operators around the world began announcing in mid-2006 their intentions to deploy dual-mode handset services based on GAN.

In 2007, commercial GAN offers became available from Orange, T-Mobile, Telia Sonera, Cincinnati Bell, Rogers Wireless and others.

Throughout 2007, there were regular announcements of new GAN-enabled dual-mode phones to support the commercial service offers. In addition, the 3GPP completed its work to add the Iu (3G) interface to the GAN standard.

The first 3G/UMA handsets and service offers were introduced at the end of 2008. As of this time, mobile operators were able to use Wi-Fi to improve the coverage and performance of 3G services when subscribers are indoors.  

In 2009, vendors announced the first controllers to support Iu interfaces into the mobile core network.

Rise of the Smartphones

Subscribers began experiencing a true mobile Internet with the launch of the iPhone in 2007, and mobile networks experienced the crush of mobile data.  Mobile operators turned once again to GAN as a standard for leveraging broadband IP networks to improve indoor 3G coverage and increase macro network capacity.  With open operating systems and integrated Wi-Fi, smartphones with GAN turned the myriad of Wi-Fi access points in homes and offices across the network into seamless extensions of the mobile radio access network. 

In 2009, vendors began to announce UMA/GAN “applications” designed to be downloaded or pre-loaded onto smartphones.  This technology innovation immediately enabled a wide range of devices with the ability to support UMA/GAN, and started making Wi-Fi smarter.      

The proliferation of smartphones continues in 2010, and more operators are investigating opportunities to incorporate Wi-Fi into their service offerings.

VoLGA

The GAN specification supports the extension and delivery of existing mobile services over broadband IP networks.  Until recently, this discussion was confined to fixed broadband IP networks.  But in 2008, the realities of a mobile broadband IP network, specifically LTE, started to emerge. 

To address the problem of delivering voice services over an all-IP LTE network, a group of industry leaders came together to create the VoLGA Forum.  The Forum, announced in early 2009, seeks to leverage the existing GAN specification as the basis for a specification to deliver voice over LTE, hence the name “Voice over LTE via Generic Access” or VoLGA. 

VoLGA is a simplified version of the GAN specification that extends the full compliment of GSM voice services from basic telephony (caller ID, three way calling, SMS,…) to advanced intelligent network features (E911, toll free, pre-paid,…) while preserving the existing mobile roaming interconnection regime. 

Deutsche Telekom and Kineto Wireless demonstrated VoLGA at Mobile World Congress 2010 event in Barcelona. 

Looking Ahead

GAN has proven to be the ideal standard for mobile service providers to extend circuit, packet and IMS services over the fixed and mobile broadband networks. It continues to evolve to meet the needs of operators worldwide. 

The evolution to IP in the mobile access network, along with the exponential growth in demand for mobile services, means mobile-service providers will continue to turn to standard technologies like GAN to lower costs and improve performance while migrating to IP.