Category: 4G

May 14, 2008

Comparing WiMax with LTE

By Glenn Fleishman

Solid article in Computerworld about WiMax and cell standard LTE (Long Term Evolution): Given that LTE will be deployed by AT&T and Verizon, and WiMax by Sprint’s joint venture with Clearwire, it’s useful to study how the two standards compare. Fundamentally, LTE is an evolution of GSM, which makes it easier to deploy alongside existing GSM equipment; WiMax is all new, but it has the advantage of being ready to deploy now. The article puts mass-market availability for WiMax in the US as late 2010 (Clearwire’s estimate of 120 to 140m people passed by the end of 2010), while LTE won’t hit large populations until 2011 or 2012 in Verizon and AT&T’s plans. On the speed front, LTE has ostensibly a 100 Mpbs top while WiMax has a 70 Mbps top. In Clearwire’s deployment, noted here, the average speed will be 2 to 4 Mbps with peaks of 10 Mbps. LTE will likely have the same kind of provisioning, to allow peak usage as needed, but nowhere near the top. Also, the 70 Mbps figure for WiMax is for the largest possible profile—the biggest swath of spectrum. Clearwire isn’t deploying that profile.

Posted by Glennf at 2:58 PM | Comments (0)

April 9, 2008

LTE Evolves into Potential Worldwide Leader

By Glenn Fleishman

The Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard is emerging as the likely “winner” for 4G networks: If you asked what fourth-generation (4G) cell networks would look like a year ago, you probably would have bet on three horses: Qualcomm’s UMB (Ultra Mobile Broadband), a continuation of CDMA; LTE, a continuation of GSM; and WiMax, an entirely new standard designed around having much larger and varied swaths of spectrum available. Om Malik reports that between the CTIA cell phone show last week, and the Verizon and AT&T announcements on their plan to use LTE in the 700 MHz band, that LTE seems to have the leading position for dominating 4G networks worldwide. He has a summary of the telcos committed to it, which include outside the U.S. pan-European carrier Vodafone (which is also a minority owner of Verizon) and KDDI in Japan. LTE had an edge because GSM dominates worldwide. Sprint has committed to WiMax (for now), which keeps UMB out of play in the states. T-Mobile is likely to commit to LTE as part of their long-term U.S. strategy, too, since they’re a GSM carrier.

Posted by Glennf at 9:38 AM | Comments (0)

November 29, 2007

Verizon Wireless Opts for LTE for 4G Network

By Glenn Fleishman

The carriers are choosing their partners for network evolution: Sprint Nextel chose WiMax (and we’ll see if that sticks), and now Verizon chooses LTE (Long Term Evolution), a cell data technology that’s being adopted widley in Europe, including by its minority shareholder Vodafone. By choosing LTE, Verizon would allow better international roaming; its current CDMA technology for 2G and 3G connections is used only in parts of Asia by certain carriers and by Sprint. This is a blow to Qualcomm, which hasn’t gotten traction on its 4G flavor.

LTE has a rated speed of 100 Mbps downstream with 20 MHz of spectrum, but U.S. carriers are typically deploying 1.25 to 4 MHz for their 3G offerings. To achieve the best rates, more spectrum or different alignment of spectrum will be required. That’s partly what the 700 MHz and some recent auctions were about.

Posted by Glennf at 7:42 AM | Comments (0)

May 5, 2007

LTE Trials for 100 Mbps Cell Data

By Glenn Fleishman

A band of makers and operators will work on Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless networks: LTE will ultimately supercede HSPA (HSDPA/HSUPA) standards, and will compete with mobile WiMax for newer markets. The new consortium includes major European operators (Orange, T-Mobile International, Vodafone) and major equipment makers (Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Nokia, Nortel, Siemens). The trial will look at topping 100 Mbps.

Posted by Glennf at 1:34 PM | Comments (0)