| What is DECT? |
(Last updated: Aug. 29, 2000)
The (nearly) one line answer (from www.dectweb.com) . . .
DECT is a digital wireless technology which originated in Europe, but is now being adopted increasingly worldwide, for cordless telephones, wireless offices and even wireless telephone lines to the home. The younger brother of GSM -- Global System for Mobile -- it is by contrast a radio access technology, rather than a comprehensive system architecture; DECT has been designed and specified to interwork with many other types of network, such as the PSTN (conventional telephone networks), ISDN (new digital and data phone networks), GSM (mobile phone networks) and more.
Where are we today?
In the mid-1990's, as DECT technology was maturing and costs falling, so it became clear that one of the 'evolutionary applications' originally envisaged for DECT was beginning to become economically feasible -- namely replacing copper wire as a means to provide a basic telephone line to the home. Wireless was becoming cost-comparable with wire. Given the huge latent demand for telephones in the developing world, together with the liberalisation of telecommunications service provision in the developed world, so all the major telecommunications maunfacturers began to develop products for wireless local loop.
A DECT 'profile' for wireless local loop, WLL, or radio local loop, RLL, as it is also known, was developed by ETSI to harmonise approaches to this application -- the RAP, Radio local loop Access Profile -- essentially indicating how to use the existing DECT standards to implement a product for this market. A range of WLL products from the major European vendors are today available, as listed on the wireless local loop page of this site.
Many DECT WLL trials were undertaken in countries all around the world in the mid-1990's. The year of breakthrough seems to have been 1997 -- by the end of 1997 some 2 million wireless telephone lines using DECT technology had been ordered. The economic downturn in the far east in 1998 hit this market, but in 1999 signs of an upturn were evident. Even so, one third of all wireless local loop lines ordered globally during 1998/99 used DECT technology, making DECT the leading technology used for wireless local loop across the world.
Many other 'profiles' were also developed by ETSI, to allow DECT to interwork with ISDN, to interwork with GSM networks, to allow dual mode DECT/GSM phones to be built etc. A range of profiles to allow the efficient transport of data over DECT were also developed and, during 1999 these data standards were consolidated into the DECT Packet Radio service, DPRS, and the DECT Multimedia Access Profile, DMAP (essentially a combination of the DPRS and GAP profiles).
At the start of the 3rd millennium data products are now beginning to arrive on the market, such as DECT data & ISDN modems, ISDN based business systems, Multimedia & Home Networking prducts etc
At the start of 1998 another application of DECT was launched commercially in Italy -- CTM, Cordless Terminal Mobility. Branded "FIDO" in Italy, CTM is a public access service, based on DECT, whereby your cordless handset, as well as operating as a cordless phone at home, can also be used in city centres to access public DECT basestations. If someone calls your home telephone and no-one answers the call is automatically re-routed to the public network and still reaches you, providing you are in range of one one of the basestations -- if not, it goes to your voice mailbox in the network. CTM also allows you make a call in the public areas, as well as supporting an intercom capability between your public cordless phone and your home wired telephone. Unfortunately regulatory changes in Italy have stifled the commercial development of this service. Regarding CTM, the technology has been proven, it remains to be seen whether CTM will be deployed elsewhere and become a commercial success.
In 1999 in the UK dual mode DECT/GSM service was launched -- OnePhone from BT Cellnet. Other countries have also indicated an intention to launch such services.
At the start of 2000, the hot prospects for DECT over the coming year look to be data applications. The advent of Bluetooth has stimulated awareness and is creating a market for short range wireless data applications. However Bluetooth is still an essentially unproven technology. If it fails to deliver, or is delayed, in 2000, whilst DECT data products and modules emerge at competitive prices, DECT data could prove to be a huge market.
The future of DECT?
Where is DECT going from here ? The answer is certainly to larger markets, lower costs and new applications. As we've outlined above, whilst the domestic digital cordless phone market is maturing in Europe, it is only just beginning in other parts of the world. Business PABX systems likewise will proliferate in the years ahead. The breakthrough of DECT into the wireless local loop market has now happened -- the availability of indigeneous DECT technology in countries like India and China, and the presence of local industry fora, will ensure that DECT is not seen simply as a Western solution being forced on developing countries. The advent of the Internet / WWW is beginning to open the door to the vast potential DECT holds for data/multimedia applications, in both developed and developing economies.
As DECT becomes a true commodity technology, so in the future we may find cheap DECT modules incorporated in many of today's building control and security systems, providing intelligent systems that allow automatic control and alerting, augmenting and replacing today's customised telemetry and wired systems and proliferating into similar applications in the home, such as automatic security alerting in the event of unexpected entry, fire or flood, remote telephone control of applicances, return channels for interactive television, and many more. Truly the future lies in one of the well known descriptions of DECT -- "a versatile technology".
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