LTE

Nokia Siemens tests LTE-Advanced technology

Phil Goldstein — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:37:39 -0500

Nokia Siemens Networks says it demonstrated Relaying technology proposed for the LTE-Advanced standard. The infrastructure vendor says that the Relaying technology allows cell phone users to get a signal on the edge of a coverage area--where they are furthest from the mobile broadband base station.

The demonstration, which took place in the company's research facility in Germany, also provided some proof that Relaying technology can be integrated into a normal base station platform and does not require additional backhaul.

For more:
- see this release

Related Articles:
Motorola says it tested LTE in 700 MHz spectrum
AT&T reiterates: LTE a long way off

Mobile satellite is making a comeback

Lynnette Luna — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 23:53:37 -0500

Remember that series of financial disasters in the late 1990s for mobile satellite services (MSS) companies such as Iridium, Globalstar and ICO? Ten years later, and the industry appears to be headed for a resurrection, enabled by relaxed regulations, business plans, new satellites capable of offering broadband applications and a remedy to those clunky handsets that played a large role in the industry's downfall.

Several MSS companies are working to make MSS a consumer product in the next two years, and most are looking to the mobile broadband industry as a significant part of their businesses as the FCC now allows operators to utilize terrestrial partners.

And the crux of their plans is an announcement that flew somewhat under the radar in September. Qualcomm made a deal with ICO and Mobile Satellite Ventures (MSV) to put satellite and cellular phone technology into baseband chips embedded in multi-mode phones. This will both allow a wider consumer market to access satellite connectivity and enable handset makers to develop EVDO, WCDMA and LTE phones that are satellite-capable.

"That means that satellite-enabled chipsets are going to be available at no incremental cost," said Chris Gates, vice president of strategy with MSV. "The power of this can't be overstated. It means that satellite services can move cost effectively into the mass market with no impact on device form factor."

ICO has deployed a GEO satellite designed to deliver a satellite-hybrid terrestrial network using mobile TV technology DVB-SH. The company has begun market trials in Las Vegas and Raleigh-Durham with Clearwire to focus on increasing the value and cost effectiveness of delivering advanced interactive mobile video services.

"The amount of capacity that these networks lose by offering video over terrestrial networks is immense," said ICO CEO Tim Bryan. "Even if you have LTE or WiMAX it doesn't matter. There is a lot of capacity that is lost. It would be much more efficient to offer mobile video on a nationwide basis by offloading it to satellite and use the other capacity for data and other services."

MSS could also provide an avenue for terrestrial wireless broadband providers to expand their coverage. Globalstar recently won approval from the FCC to incorporate WiMAX in the ancillary terrestrial component (ATC) level with the help of terrestrial partner Open Range Communication. The two will offer WiMAX to more than 500 rural communities--with the help of a $267 million loan from the Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Utilities Program. Globalstar said it will be looking for other partners too.

Mobile Satellite Ventures (MSV), which already offers satellite telephony service to niche markets, plans to launch two new high-powered satellites capable of high-speed data with service available in 2010, but hasn't announced any terrestrial partners yet. According to Chris Gates, vice president of strategy with MSV, the satellite provider offers a significant advantage for terrestrial operators wanting to extend coverage and offload data traffic because it has access to a large swathe of spectrum via an agreement with Inmarsat, which gives it the ability to access up to 46 megahertz of spectrum, 40 megahertz for ATC services and 6 megahertz for MSS only services.

"That's an extraordinary amount of spectrum, about the size of the 700 MHz auction," Gates said. "We think there will be huge demand for additional spectrum as data becomes more and more important, and we're available in the near term."

In addition, MSV is targeting a host of markets: government, enterprise, telematics and mass consumer.

But it seems like the biggest hurdle to getting the message across that satellite operators make good partners for terrestrial network operators is the stigma associated with the failed business plans of the past. Bryan said that stigma is the reason ICO has been busy building its satellite capabilities and demonstrating what its services can do.

2009 should be an interesting year for the satellite industry. We could see some new and interesting partnerships--perhaps even one that creates a new nationwide 4G wireless network in the U.S. --Lynnette

Qualcomm drops UMB, focuses on LTE

Phil Goldstein — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 10:18:08 -0500

Qualcomm announced that it was stopping its development of Ultra-Mobile Broadband 4G technology, and instead would put its focus on Long-Term Evolution (LTE) technology, as the demand for mobile phones slips.

LTE, which has been chosen by CDMA operator Verizon Wireless and many GSM operators as the 4G standard going forward, seems to have effectively killed the need for UMB. UMB was supposed to have been a technology that would have served as a handoff for CDMA 2000 technologies. But because the 3GPP2 standards added this functionality to LTE, it made UMB redundant.

Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs made the announcement at an analyst meeting, and did not specific any large job cuts that will come as a result of the move. Despite weakening demand, Jacobs said he still expected 25 percent growth in Qualcomm's CDMA technology in 2009.

For more:
- see this article

Related Articles:
AT&T reiterates: LTE a long way off
Mobile WiMAX versus LTE: Can they co-exist?

Sandbridge processor promises multiple smartphone functions on single chip

Jim Barthold — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 08:21:11 -0500

A new software-based, reprogrammable cell phone baseband processor from Sandbridge will let phone makers pack more technologies and functions into devices using only a single chip.

The Sandbridge technology, called SB3500, is part of an industry move towards more full-featured reprogrammable phone silicon to meet the needs of multiple "open" networks and applications running on smartphones. It is especially targeted at emerging 4G LTE plans from providers like Verizon Wireless and AT&T which need to get out the door quickly and inexpensively and yet still feature multiple functions and applications.

On top of the added phone functionality, the new chip will help reduce phone costs by about 15 percent by placing multiple functions within a single piece of silicon, a Sandbridge executive said. Because the chip is programmable, cell phone makers will be able to test and potentially add new phone functionality before shipping devices rather than building single-purpose chips.

For more:
- see this article

Related stories:
The 4G vision: Wireless embedded in every device
Multi-Mode WiMAX/LTE Chips to Hit Markets in 2009, Says ABI Research

Motorola says it tested LTE in 700 MHz spectrum

Phil Goldstein — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:17:28 -0500

Motorola announced that it had conducted the first over-the-air data sessions for Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology in the 700 MHz spectrum in an outdoor field test that included mobile video streaming and other data-heavy applications.

The company said it had conducted the tests in Illinois using its LTE Radio Access Test Network and LTE eNode-B platform with a prototype LTE device.

"This field test shows the progress we've made in preparing to deliver a commercial LTE solution for testing and early limited deployments in 2009," said Darren McQueen, vice president of wireless broadband access technologies in Motorola's Home and Networks Mobility division.

McQueen added that the company was testing 700 MHz and 2.6 GHz devices, which he expects will launch commercially in 2009.

For more:
- see this release

Related Articles:
T-Mobile claims it tested LTE
China Mobile wants to test LTE ASAP
Mobile industry pushes LTE

Does Verizon Wireless need an iconic device?

Lynnette Luna — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 11:31:36 -0400

Analysts are probably breathing a sigh of relief after Verizon posted a solid performance in its wireless business. But it was inevitable: The iPhone 3G did have an impact on the company's churn rate, albeit a small one.

Churn increased from 1.27 percent in 3Q 2007 to 1.33 percent in 3Q 2008. On a conference call with analysts, COO Denny Strigl acknowledged that the iPhone 3 caused "some" churn for the operator in the quarter, but he said he wasn't concerned about the full year churn numbers.

The churn rate was bound to increase given the fact that AT&T reported last week that 40 percent of iPhone 3G activations during the third quarter were new to AT&T. Just wait until we see third-quarter results from the rest of the industry's operators.

For so long, Verizon Wireless has successfully sold customers on its quality and coverage message and continues to garner the industry's lowest churn rate because of it (AT&T's churn rate came in at 1.7 percent even with the iPhone). But it is clear that a big reason a customer opts for one operator over another is because of the device--especially that iconic device. Will T-Mobile's G1 Android device be the next one?

Strigl noted that Verizon Wireless has a broad-based portfolio of devices and said "the company isn't wedded to any one iconic device." Is that by choice? Verizon's score of an iconic device would be a home-run proposition for the operator but we probably won't see one in the CDMA world unless the operator puts a lot of its own resources toward it.

CDMA is beginning to fall off the radar screen as Verizon and other major CDMA operators such as Bell Mobility, Telus and KDDI plan a jump to LTE and operators around the world flip to HSDPA. While EV-DO is going to be around for some time, HSDPA offers a wider customer base around the world. It makes more sense for Apple to develop devices for LTE and WiMAX rather than EV-DO. Kyocera is going to build an Android device for CDMA operators, but its highly doubtful other major handset vendors will.

My guess is that we'll see Verizon pursue some iconic devices in the LTE world, and it will certainly have the clout to do it. Until then, the operator will probably hold its own against AT&T--it just won't pull significantly ahead like it has been accustomed to in the past. Then again, analysts worry that the iPhone will be a one-trick pony for AT&T, and it won't have anything else up its sleeve once the fizz runs out. --Lynnette

AT&T reiterates: LTE a long way off

Phil Goldstein — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:40:13 -0400

AT&T reiterated its position Wednesday at the 4G Executive Summit in Chicago that its HSPA and HSPA-plus 3G network technology still had a lot of life left in it, and that Long-term Evolution (LTE) technology would not be rolled out for at least another three years--and probably not on a large commercial scale for another five years.

Hank Kafka, AT&T's VP of architecture, said it was unlikely that LTE would be seen on a wide basis for some time to come, and that AT&T has "a lot of runway left" with HSPA and HSPA-plus data speeds. LTE technology is theoretically capable of data speeds of up to 170 Mbps.

Kafka also offered a cutting critique of Sprint's Xohm mobile WiMAX technology, which launched this week, called it a "niche technology," and said it was not a true 4G standard.

For more:
- see this article

Related articles:
3G Americas: HSPA today, LTE tomorrow
Mobile industry pushes LTE

NTT DoCoMo moves ahead with 'Super 3G' leaving questions about LTE

Jim Barthold — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 10:03:56 -0400

NTT DoCoMo's decision to push ahead with a "Super 3G" network suggests that LTE is on target for market introduction as early as 2010. DoCoMo has named long-time vendor partner Fujitsu to supply Evolved Packet Core (EPC) equipment for the network and previously selected NEC for basestations and terminals.

While potentially confusing terminology and technology, Super 3G, in DoCoMo's parlance, equates to pre-LTE. In an interview with FierceWireless, Peter Jarich, research director for Current Analysis said that DoCoMo has said they were going to do some (LTE) soft launches maybe next year. "DoCoMo wants to move early."

Whether it's called Super 3G or pre-LTE, DoCoMo is moving apace, almost serving as a huge beta testbed for interested providers around the world as the LTE standard evolves. Jarich added that Verizon Wireless will likely have LTE in 2010-2011. But for European operators 2013 may make more sense.

For more:
- see this article

Related Articles:
Nokia Siemens in joint LTE development with DoCoMo. Article
LTE networks still years away. Article

T-Mobile claims it tested LTE

Phil Goldstein — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 10:29:24 -0400

Just when you thought Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology was a dream of the future, T-Mobile comes along and yanks it into the present.

T-Mobile claimed that it has become the first carrier to successfully test LTE technology in a real-world environment in a test it conducted in Germany in conjunction with Nortel. The two companies were able to transmit data from one moving car to another on opposite sides of the Rhine River, without loss of quality or data, even across different cells.

For more:
- see this article

Related Articles:
China Mobile wants to test LTE ASAP
Mobile industry pushes LTE

LTE networks still years away

Phil Goldstein — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 16:10:24 -0400

The adoption of 4G wireless and Long Term Evolution (LTE) network technology is a long way off and will probably not be adopted on a large scale by network operators until around 2015, according to the host and panel participants at Andrew Seybold's Wireless University, a co-located conference held in conjunction with the CTIA Wireless IT & Entertainment conference in San Francisco.

Andrew Seybold, along with panelists Vicki Livingston, the head of communications for 3G Americas, and Joe Lawrence, the VP of marketing for the CDMA Development Group, said that LTE will not be a common data standard for years to come and that 3G technology still has a lot of life left.

If LTE technology does come online, Seybold said, it will be at hotspots where there is an incredibly high demand for data, pointing out repeatedly that for carriers voice services still pay the bills and data does not.

Lawrence emphasized that market forces and demand would determine whether LTE is implemented on a large scale, and Livingston said there was no need to rush to LTE.

Though LTE may provide 30 percent to 40 percent greater network efficiency in a 10 MHz spectrum over HSPA and EV-DO technology, Lawrence questioned whether or not that was sufficiently efficient to justify a multi-billion dollar investment in an entirely new network when 3G technology is just hitting its stride.

Seybold said that just like projections for the next generation of 3G technologies -- 1X Advanced and EVDO-Advanced--LTE download speeds of 71-143 Mbps are entirely theoretical lab tests and will be considerably slower if, and when, they are applied to the real world.

Seybold also said although handset and chip-makers are pushing LTE, there remains a great deal of uncertainty over where and when LTE will be adopted. "If you say there are four things that can happen," he said, "what will happen is the fifth thing."

Click here to see the Andrew Seybold Wireless University photos...

Radioframe gets $26M in funding for femtocells

Sue Marek — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:52:20 -0400

RadioFrame Networks closed on a $28 million round of Series F financing, bringing it total funding to more than $100 million since 2001.

The vendor, which is backed by such diverse companies as Ericsson Venture, Ignition Partners, VantagePoint Venture Partners and newcomer Plainfield Asset Management, makes picocell and femtocell solutions for operators worldwide. The company has a marketing deal with Nokia Siemens Networks.

In an interview with FierceWireless, RadioFrame CEO Jeff Brown said the company believes the home market is a huge opportunity for femtocells and that's why the company decided to make its own silicon for the femtocell. "We decided we needed a solution for the home and we needed to be able to make it for $100," Brown said. The only way the company could do this was to design low-cost chipsets. Key to RadioFrame's femtocell strategy is having both 2G and 3G GSM solutions. The next-generation silicon will have both LTE and WiMAX.

Brown envisions the femtocell will soon be as commonplace as the handset and thinks they will have a similar distribution channel.

For more:
- See this press release

Related articles:
New chip will target LTE/WiMAX femtocells sector
Nokia Siemens looks to slash femtocell prices

Andrew Seybold: The Rush to 4G

Andrew M. Seybold — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:42:11 -0400

Over the next year, we will be hearing more about the network operators' move to 4G all over the world. I see the shift to 4G as inevitable, but does it need to happen as soon as LTE, for example, is finalized and the first equipment is built? We are hearing wonderful things about LTE, but the data rates and capacity increases being bandied about are theoretical and based on using 20 MHz of spectrum.

One reason the WiMAX community can claim data speed and capacity gains over today's EV-DO Rev A and UMTS/HSPA is due to the amount of bandwidth it uses. EV-DO Rev A occupies only 1.25 MHz of spectrum per carrier and UMTS/HSPA occupies 5 MHz per carrier. The WiMAX community is basing its claims on bandwidths of 8 MHz or more. If you normalize these three technologies in 10 MHz of spectrum, you find they offer about the same data rates and capacity.

Not many network operators have 20 MHz of contiguous spectrum to use for LTE, but LTE can run in any amount of spectrum from 1.25 MHz up to 20 MHz so it will fit almost anywhere. The caveat is that when LTE is used in less than 20 MHz of spectrum, data speeds and capacity are lower than the published specifications and, in most cases, are about the same as the next revisions of UMTS/HSPA+ and EV-DO Rev B (second release). Thus, I wonder why there is a rush to LTE instead of continuing with the enhancements to HSPA and EV-DO. If you put LTE in the A and B Blocks of the just-auctioned 700-MHZ spectrum, you are using 6 MHz by 6 MHz, which is a long way from 20 MHz of spectrum. When you look at what else can be done with this spectrum, you find that you can deploy four or five carriers of EV-DO or one carrier of UMTS/HSPA or LTE (depending on guard bands).

If you look at the data speeds and capacity of all three of these technologies in 10 MHz of spectrum, you will find that LTE has only a slight advantage (10 percent or less). Verizon, with its C Block holdings of 11 MHz by 11 MHz of spectrum, fairs better with LTE but not as much as is being claimed by LTE promoters. As with any new technology, it will take time to get the bugs out and it will be more expensive to deploy.

A lot of the rush to move to LTE is because of the "threat" of WiMAX and WiMAX proponents' claims about high-data speeds and lots of capacity. We are about to learn the truth about WiMAX as the Sprint portion of the new Clearwire network is turned on and independent tests are conducted. For an idea of what is in store for us, go to the WiMAX Forum website (http://www.wimaxforum.org/technology/) where you can read the following statement: "Mobile network deployments are expected to provide up to 15 Mbps of capacity within a typical cell radius deployment of up to three kilometers." If you compare both of the 3G standards deployed today, you will see that there is virtually no difference in total data capacity available per cell sector or cell site.

Perhaps the commercial wireless community is rushing headlong into 4G when it should be continuing to deploy the next revisions of 3G and watching LTE. But most network infrastructure companies would not be happy with this since many of the revisions for the 3G networks are software upgrades and not nearly as expensive as the upgrade to LTE.

The race is on. NTT DoCoMo has fully committed to being the first LTE network operator and others are raising their hands. But like any new technology, it will take years to fully build out on a nationwide basis. The best we will see over the next three to four years is LTE deployed where there is a high demand for data services, and I don't believe we will see anything like a nationwide network in the United States until 2014 or 2015.

Network operators are trying to attract more customers to their broadband data networks and are still rolling out coverage in some areas. If I were a network operator, I would stay with 3G and implement the new revisions as they become available. I would let LTE technology and pricing mature before I made up my mind to deploy it, especially in less than the 20 MHz of spectrum on which today's specifications, including data speed and capacity, are being calculated.

Don't get me wrong, I believe in LTE and next-generation technology. But I also believe in making money and that the best way for networks to do that is to let demand drive them to LTE, not competition from WiMAX or wanting to be the first kid on the block with LTE.

Andrew Seybold is an authority on technology and trends shaping the world of wireless mobility. A respected analyst, consultant, commentator, author and active participant in industry trade organizations, his views have influenced strategies and shaped initiatives for telecom, mobile computing and wireless industry leaders worldwide. www.andrewseybold.com

Research firm blasts mobile WiMAX

Sue Marek — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:15:18 -0400

Research firm Frost & Sullivan says that unless spectrum auctions and commercial mobile WiMAX rollouts (compliant to Wave 2 Phase 2 certification) gather momentum before the end of this year, the market for the broadband wireless technology will be insignificant. However, the firm also says that the work carried out on mobile WiMAX has the potential to spur new ventures, which could potentially lead to the merger of mobile WiMAX with 3G LTE. Article

Maravedis tackles the idea of a combined WiMAX/LTE standard

Lynnette Luna — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:45:02 -0400

Maravedis' Robert Syputa takes on the idea of a merger between WiMAX and LTE standards. Could it really happen? Article

Nortel teams with Alvarion on WiMAX; focus moves to LTE

Sue Marek — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:04:13 -0400

When it comes to 4G, Nortel Networks is putting its R&D efforts behind LTE and teaming with Alvarion to come up with an end-to-end mobile WiMAX solution. The shift is notable because in the past Nortel has touted its extensive WiMAX patent portfolio. Now the company says it will focus its R&D on LTE where it believes demand is emerging faster than predicted.

Nortel's LTE focus is timely considering major operators such as Verizon Wireless, Vodafone and AT&T have recently said that they plan to migrate to LTE technology. Verizon has said that it is currently trialing different LTE technologies.

On the mobile WiMAX front, Nortel will work with Alvarion to combine Alvarion's radio access network technology with Nortel's core network elements, backhaul solutions and applications such as VOIP, streaming music and video. The collaboration also will include Nortel's consulting services and its network design and management expertise.

For more:
- see this press release
- see this WSJ article (sub. req.)

Related stories:
Following IPR agreement, Nortel publishes LTE rates
On The Hot Seat: Nortel's Richard Lowe

Motorola will release 700 MHz LTE products in 2009

Sue Marek — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 12:16:04 -0400

Motorola is gearing up for an onslaught of demand for LTE equipment in the 700 MHz band and the 2.6 GHz band. The company says that the first commercial release of products for these new spectrum bands will be available in 2009. Verizon Wireless and AT&T were both big winners in the 700 MHz auction earlier this year and both have said they plan to migrate to LTE technology.

Specifically, Motorola said that its LTE solution will support LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD). It also said that its expertise in OFDM (gained from working with WiMAX networks) will help it develop a mature LTE portfolio. In addition, the company said that it is engaged in LTE trials with operators in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.

For more:
- see this press release

Related stories:
Sprint's CTO attacks LTE
Qualcomm reveals LTE chip plan

Seybold: Intel's WiMAX Exit Strategy?

Andrew M. Seybold — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 08:53:54 -0400

Rumors are swirling around the analyst community that Intel is losing its patience, and money, with WiMAX. Some believe that it is looking to pull the plug on its involvement as it has done with other wireless initiatives. Now comes a statement by Sean Maloney, Executive Vice President, General Manager for Sales and Marketing, that LTE and WiMAX should be combined into a common 4G standard. While he is not the first one to suggest this--it was suggested by Arun Sarin, CEO of Vodafone more than a year ago--it is clear to me that this is the beginning of Intel's exit strategy for WiMAX. Once again, an industry that has grown up around Intel is likely to be stepped on as Intel heads for high ground.

Maloney makes a couple of statements that need to be addressed. The first is that WiMAX and LTE are 80 percent the same but WiMAX is a few years ahead of LTE, and the second is that customers will be confused by competing 4G technologies.

Let's look at these statements in reverse order. First, we have had 2G and 3G competing technologies for many years and the industry has not confused anyone. And, I maintain, because we have had these competing technologies, we have lower service pricing, a more competitive landscape that has resulted in faster data speeds on both sides and substantially lower handset prices.

If the entire world had been using one 2G and one 3G standard, I am not sure we would be as far advanced as we are. And the companies that develop chipsets (I thought Intel did that, too) have been really good at turning out chipsets that support all of the various 2G and 3G technologies, on all of the major spectrum allocations around the world. For the most part, these chipsets are selling at very reasonable prices that will continue to decline.

Second, Maloney is forgetting about another 4G technology: UMB. UMB was developed by the 3GPP2 and Qualcomm--it was supposed to be the 4G road for the CDMA community. However, Verizon Wireless has opted for LTE, which means UMB will probably not be a factor. BUT--from what I understand--UMB is further along in its development than either LTE or next-generation WiMAX and until Intel raised its hand I would have said that LTE and UMB would probably come together into a common standard.

Now Intel has announced that it is getting back into the wireless mobile device chipset business after selling off its last effort in chips and not concluding its initial deal with Nokia. At the same time, it is sending up this trial balloon about combining WiMAX and LTE.

When I first talked with Intel about CDMA and GSM/UMTS, its representatives did not want to have to pay intellectual property fees to the "owners" of the technologies and therefore embarked on the WiMAX path. Now WiMAX, it turns out, will not be IP-free and Intel has a huge investment in a technology that is being built only in greenfield (meaning new) networks. WiMAX has not been included in anyone's migration path from 3G UMTS or CDMA.

Sprint is basically saying it will let Clearwire take over the burden of launching the WiMAX network and getting the devices to run on the network. But Sprint is keeping the voice and EV-DO traffic while the WiMAX network is being built out so it can get back to trying to save its core business.

The CEO of Intel seems to think is it easier to add wireless to a computer than to add a computer to a wireless device. Well, perhaps a few years ago that was true. But today we already have a number of very successful devices on the market--RIM's BlackBerry, phones using Microsoft Mobile Windows 6.0, Palm Treos and Nokia high-end phones (which the company calls wireless computers)--all coming from the wireless world with more exciting things on the way. This is just the beginning. Now there will be mobile processors in the market that will provide all the power new mobile devices will need and all the wireless connectivity they can fit in before anything Intel can produce and, I suspect, at lower power than Intel's first new offerings.

So Intel is beginning to make the move I thought it would. How will it exit the WiMAX marketplace gracefully and join the rest of the wireless world as it continues to grow? The answer, of course, is to champion the "merger" of WiMAX and LTE for the "good of the industry" and so we won't confuse the customers (who don't care about the technology anyway).

Can Intel thrive and survive in wireless when it is using the same technologies as the rest of the world and not promoting something different? Can its chips designed for handheld wireless computing devices compete with what is coming from the wireless industry? Time will tell of course, but Intel will have to horse trade some of its own IP in order to be able to develop LTE products or it will have to pay, just like every other chip maker. That is a fact of life in the industry.

Intel certainly wants to get into the wireless business, but so far it appears as though the master of PC processors has not mastered the wireless landscape and is still flailing around trying to figure out how to make its presence felt.

I don't feel the least bit sorry for Intel, but I do feel very sorry for the WiMAX community that was in place prior to Intel's entry and that grew up around Intel's support of the WiMAX technology. Many of these companies invested a lot of time and money because they believed that following Intel could only ensure their success. I wonder how they are feeling today, after Intel's latest round of comments.

Intel says WiMAX and LTE should be combined

Sue Marek — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 11:01:17 -0400

Vodafone's Arun Sarin was one of the first to say it. Now Intel's Sean Maloney is touting the idea. Should competing standards WiMAX and LTE be unified into one standard?

Maloney, who is the executive vice president, general manager, sales and marketing group at Intel, says that two standards should be harmonized because they are about "80 percent" similar but that WiMAX is a couple years ahead of LTE. He also said that customers will be confused by the competing 4G technologies. Maloney says that Intel is looking into ways to integrate the two technologies and it is technically possible for Intel to create a chip set that could be used for WiMAX and LTE.

Of course, this news comes just a day after Intel announced that it is preparing to re-enter the mobile-phone market. Intel's CEO Paul Otellini told the Financial Times that as mobile devices become more powerful and adoption of computer-like applications rises, Intel is in a position to make inroads into the mobile-phone market.

For more on this story:
- see this BBC article

Alltel joins AT&T, Verizon Wireless with LTE roadmap

Brian Dolan — Fri, 16 May 2008 11:47:35 -0400

During its first quarter conference call with investors, Alltel announced that it was committed to evolving its network to LTE over the next five years. The move makes Alltel the second biggest CDMA carrier in the U.S., after Verizon Wireless, to commit to the LTE standard, even though LTE was originally on the GSM evolution path.

"We do currently plan to move towards LTE in the three-to-five year timeframe vs. WiMAX, but we're still early in that," President and CEO Scott Ford said during the call.

Alltel's COO Jeff Fox, however, noted that the carrier won't be talking seriously about LTE this year. "We are working through our planning phase and will be talking to our board about all that over the next two quarters," Fox said. "Certainly there's no money for 4G evolution anytime in our near-term plans, and so I think from a cash-flow perspective you should not expect to see us talking about 4G anytime at least in 2008."

For more on Alltel's LTE choice:
- read this RCR article

AT&T: HSPA will provide 20 Mbps data speeds

Sue Marek — Wed, 14 May 2008 10:42:15 -0400

During a presentation this morning at Morgan Stanley's 13th Annual Communications Conference in Washington, D.C, AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega said that he believes AT&T has a time-to-market advantage over WiMAX with its HSPA technology. De la Vega said that HSPA Release 7 will give the company 7 Mbps to 20 Mbps data speeds within the next two years and the company will only have to deploy a software upgrade. "When people talk about future technologies like WiMAX, they don't realize it doesn't do any good to just have it in the network. They have to have devices, coverage and the entire ecosystem," he said. "We have the best broadband network with the best throughput today. And it will get better in the short term." Of course, the company does plan to migrate to LTE technology in 2010, bringing data speeds of up to 100 Mbps.

De la Vega also touted the company's exclusive deal with RIM to distribute its new Blackberry Bold device, which he believes that along with the Apple iPhone and other advanced devices will help increase the number of postpaid subscribers using integrated devices on the AT&T network. Currently 16 percent of postpaid subscribers on AT&T have integrated devices but de la Vega said this figure will grow substantially in the year ahead. "We have seen that when you give integrated devices to customers, the ARPU is double what you get with an average phone," he said. "If you make the devices easier to use and more intuitive to the user, you will see the usage go up."

For more:
- see the replay of de la Vega's presentation here.

Related stories:
AT&T to launch 3G BlackBerry Bold. See this Blackberry Bold story
AT&T extends 3G deployments, backs LTE for 4G. See this AT&T LTE story