As phones become more complex so do their testing and certification regimens, claims a new study by Accenture, predicting that device testing, already an increasing burden in 3G, will become an even bigger problem in 4G as the functionality and features of those mobile broadband devices multiply.
Furthermore as embedded consumer electronics and data centric devices like netbooks emerge, the number of devices an operator is expected to support will grow far beyond handsets, and each of those new devices will require its own testing program: "Operators have to test for a number of operating systems, a number of applications, and a number of user interfaces," said Miguel Myhrer of Accenture. "The number of test cases they have to implement is growing exponentially." Article