WiMAX Forum: 10M WiMAX Subscribers Worldwide
By Sue Marek
XJ Wang, marketing director for the WiMAX Forum, said there are now 540 WiMAX network deployments in 146 countries around the world--and more than 150 deployments in the Americas alone--an update intended to show the technology's progress to attendees of the WiMAX Forum Americas 2009 conference here.
Although many of the WiMAX networks are greenfield, such as the Clearwire WiMAX network in the U.S., Wang said 95 WiMAX operators also have cellular networks. "There are GSM operators such as Digicel that operate a WiMAX network too," Wang noted. "WiMAX contributes to the bottom line."
On the subscriber front, Wang said there are now about 10 million WiMAX subscribers worldwide, indicating that the technology is moving from niche to mass market. In addition, he said that there are 165 WiMAX Forum certified products available.
Many of those WiMAX products likely are running on chips from Beceem. The WiMAX chipmaker said it is on track to sell 3 million WiMAX chips in 2009. The company also today launched "4G Turbo" technology, which it said improves the uplink performance of its WiMAX chips. [FierceWireless]
Andrew Unveils Strategies for The Next Generation Network
CommunicAsia 2009, Singapore, June 15, 2009—Despite ongoing global economic struggles, wireless technologies, networks and business opportunities continue to evolve at a good pace.
As wireless operators and global OEMs look toward HSPA+ and next generation network technologies such as LTE and WiMAX, they are faced with three critical challenges today that can be helped solved by Andrew Solutions, the CommScope, Inc. division that is a global leader in wireless communication systems and products.
Andrew Fuels OpEx Savings with Network Growth
Especially today, reducing operating costs is critical to an operator’s business health. Andrew offers a suite of network optimization solutions that work together to help limit site maintenance and manpower needs while managing and optimizing the network. For example, the remote cell site control and monitoring solution, OneBase InSite™, remotely audits network performance, sends alerts, and provides operators unprecedented control over remote electrical tilt antennas, amplifiers, thermostats, batteries and power levels. And Andrew’s SmartBeam® antenna systems continuously re-balance traffic across all sectors, reducing energy consumption.
“Andrew knows its customers face intense cost pressures and is devising innovative technologies to help manage such concerns,” said Ben Cardwell, vice president of Sales and Marketing, Asia Pacific, Andrew. “Andrew’s solutions are not just for enabling wireless communications but for making them better and more profitable.”
Going Green Benefits Environment and Bottom LineLike most companies and global citizens today, wireless operators are looking at ways to “go green” and decrease their environmental impact. One major place to start is energy consumption and backup power. Andrew recognized this early on, which led to the development of its EcoPower™ hydrogen fuel cell cabinet solution that eliminates the need for lead acid batteries and diesel generators. Andrew’s integrated cabinets for wireless networks include high-efficiency cooling technologies, which drastically reduces energy consumption. And the company’s high efficiency power amplifiers almost double the efficiency levels of previously designed models, meaning more energy gets used by the network instead of being lost as heat.
“Energy saving historically has not been top priority during network design, but the drive toward lowering operating costs is changing that mindset,” said Anil Trehan, chief technology officer, Carrier Solutions, Andrew. “Fortunately for operators, energy efficiency products and design techniques generally lead to operating cost savings in addition to decreasing environmental impact.”
Andrew Leads into the Next Generation Networks
Andrew has already been awarded multiple LTE and WiMAX product development projects by operators and OEMs around the world to help in answering the question of how to deploy these technologies. Andrew’s skills move beyond products into conceptualizing and implementing overall network designs.
The company’s engineers and skilled field technicians helped wireless operators overlay third generation networks on previous standards, which they will continue to do for LTE. Managing the challenges of intermodulation distortion, signal interference, and coverage and capacity constraints requires a holistic approach that accounts for the entire access network site. With a comprehensive product portfolio, years of field experience, close customer relationships, expert engineers and designers, and a stable, global presence, fixing such problems is exactly what Andrew does.
“Andrew has supported every wireless technology since AMPS and will continue to do so with LTE, WiMAX and beyond,” said Cardwell. “More importantly, our team of experts knows how to design, rollout, optimize, and manage a network that satisfies customer demands and operator needs. We solve problems for our customers.” Insa/PR
Nokia Dismisses WiMAX, Compares it to Betamax
By Phil Goldstein
Nokia again dismissed WiMAX as a 4G technology standard, and seemed to solidify its support for Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology while comparing WiMAX's future to that of Betamax, the video format that met its demise when VHS triumphed in the 1970s and 1980s."I don't see that WiMAX is taking hold anywhere in a big way," said Anssi Vanjoki, Nokia's head of sales and manufacturing, at a Nokia launch event in San Francisco on Wednesday. "I don't think the future is very promising [for WiMAX]. This is a classic example of industry standards clashing, and somebody comes out as the winner and somebody has to lose. Betamax was there for a long time, but VHS dominated the market. I see exactly the same thing happening here."
Nokia has wavered in its support for WiMAX in the past, but this is by far the strongest condemnation the world's largest handset maker has made of the technology. Nokia still holds a seat on the board of the WiMAX Forum, yet James Harper, Nokia's senior manager of technology marketing, called WiMAX a "niche play" while speaking at a Portable Computer and Communications Association meeting held in Grapevine, Texas, in early March. Harper said WiMAX's lack of backwards compatibility and a clear roadmap were major drawbacks.
However, just days after that, Nokia denied that it was completely abandoning WiMAX as a 4G technology. The company said that its decision to end production of the N810 WiMAX tablet "does not apply to other WiMAX business development efforts that Nokia is involved in." [FierceWireless]
Samsung Releases WiMAX MID, Instinct Successor
By Phil Goldstein
Samsung announced the release of the Mondi, its WiMAX-enabled Mobile Internet Device (MID) as well as the successor to the Samsung Instinct at the International CTIA Wireless 2009 conference in Las Vegas.
The company made the announcement at a press conference Tuesday night ahead of the start of the show. With the release of the Mondi, Samsung has thrust itself into the head of the pack of WiMAX device makers in the United States. Details of the Mondi first began leaking late last week.
The Mondi will be compatible with Clearwire's mobile WiMAX service and also has WiFi connectivity; there is no 3G voice component. The device has a 4.3-inch touchscreen and runs on Windows Mobile 6.1. It has a full Qwerty keyboard, optical mouse, built-in GPS, the Opera 9.5 browser, push email support, a 3-megapixel camera and camcorder and supports instant messaging and MMS. Samsung said the device would launch sometime in the second quarter, and that Clearwire would be naming the price for the device.
The handset maker also released the successor to the Instinct, the Instinct s30, which Sprint Nextel will launch. There are a few updated features for the CDMA EV-DO device, including a slimmer design, built-in instant messaging and external memory up to 16GB. Samsung and Sprint are also touting the new Instinct as more "open" than its predecessor, and are providing access to core Java APIs including messaging, multimedia and Bluetooth, which Sprint said will allow developers to make more sophisticated applications for the device. The phone will be available April 19 for $129.99 with a 2-year contract, $70 instant savings and $100 mail-in rebate.
Additionally, Samsung said it was working with Yahoo, Google and AccuWeather.com to launch a new set of what it is calling "rich connected mobile applications." The new widgets will be available on certain Samsung touchscreen devices. [FierceWireless]
2008 Year in Review: The new Clearwire
The news: The rumors began intensifying in February that Intel would be investing $2 billion in the combination between Sprint's WiMAX business, Xohm, and Clearwire. The move would give WiMAX some much-needed support as a mobile broadband standard, but some looked at the possibility with skepticism.
Ultimately, the deal to create the "new" Clearwire was a lot more complex and substantial than was initially thought. The final deal included $3.2 billion in investments from Intel, Google, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks and Trilogy Equity Partners.
On Nov. 4, the FCC gave regulatory approval for the deal. On Nov. 20, Clearwire shareholders gave their assent, and on Dec. 1, Clearwire CEO Ben Wolff said that the Xohm brand name would be set aside in favor of "Clear."
Why it was significant: The deal, with backing from major industry players, was a shot in the arm for the mobile WiMAX industry. With Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology emerging as the 4G standard of choice by Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility, and with more aggressive rollouts than had been expected planned for LTE, WiMAX needed all the help it could get to get off the ground. With the launch of Xohm in Baltimore in September, and an official celebration of it in October, WiMAX was off-and-running. The successful completion of the merger, and hopeful prospects about its national deployment over the next few years certainly indicated to the wireless community, especially those backing LTE, that yes, WiMAX is here, and it's here to stay. [FierceWireless]
WiMAX: The Big Battalions win
By Paul Rasmussen
As the WiMAX world is finding out, market size and momentum tend to win over time, even when there is a perceived technological advantage. A new report forecasts that by 2013 WiMAX will have 103 million subscribers--unfortunately HSPA will have more than one billion users in the same timescale. In an accurate summing up of the situation facing WiMAX, Mike Roberts, author of the Informa report on WiMAX, describes the situation as "the best of times and the worst of times" for the broadband technology.
The last year has seen WiMAX pass a number of key milestones including product certification, the launch of WiMAX services by major operators and the introduction of WiMAX notebooks and other devices. WiMAX is also playing a key role in major emerging markets such as India where it will account for 24 percent of total broadband subscribers by 2013. However, during the same period, HSDPA has become a runaway success with operators in major markets worldwide deploying the broadband technology.
There is some good news for WiMAX in the longer term. Although major operators including China Mobile have fully committed to LTE, the earliest the fourth generation technology can begin deployment is 2010 and that is likely to slip by at least two years. Given that WiMAX will be the leading OFDMA technology by 2013 it should be able to give the nascent LTE a run for its money in some regions. [FierceBroadbandWireless]
Laptops Ready For WiMAX Era
By Jim Barthold
Sprint Nextel hopes to turn Baltimore into the Starbucks of WiMAX by making the port city between Washington and Philadelphia one big hotspot. While Starbucks drew hordes of laptop users to its coffee shops with the promise of WiFi connectivity, Sprint aims to lure a new breed of laptop users to Baltimore with WiMAX connectivity accessible through eight new laptops built by four manufacturers--Lenovo, Asus, Acer and Toshiba.
Of course, as David Critchley, worldwide segment manager-ThinkPads at Lenovo conceded, "It's one city on one carrier (and) we're not trying to make it more than it is, but it is the launch of a new technology and we think it is a pretty good technology."
It better be. While prices are dropping, laptops still aren't cheap and it's unlikely that customers will be happy about getting a feature that's like a wireless bridge to nowhere. Critchley is confident that will change. "We know that there are college campuses experimenting with it and we know that there are individuals or businesses that may be concentrated in one city that would like that over using their cable or phone company. If those customers come calling, we will be ready for them," he said. [FierceWireless]
Sprint Announces Host of Location Technology Partners for WiMAX Network
By Lynnette Luna
Sprint's Xohm service has signed on a slew of partners that Sprint says will enable the operator to offer location-centric WiMAX service.
"The Xohm mobile broadband experience will be largely location-centric," said Rick Robinson, vice president of Xohm Services. "We're creating a new dimension to online presence, making points of interest near your current location easy to identify and access. This ‘geobrowsing' effect provides location context and will give Xohm members a richer personal broadband experience when they're mobile."
Sprint, which is launching commercially in Baltimore next month, said customers with WiMAX-enabled devices such as laptops and other portable devices will have location-based services easily available. For instance, users will have the ability to search for businesses, weather, traffic and have the results plotted on a map. The location-enabled mobile experience will span a range of devices such as laptops, mobile Internet devices, media players, cameras and car navigation.
Sprint's location partners include:
uLocate: The primary partner in building Xohm's location enabled mobile experience that is providing its Where platform and friend-finding application Buddy Beacon to connect Xohm customers with their favorite people, places and things. Through Where, Xohm users will have access to local information including restaurant reviews, news, events and weather.
Yelp: A Web site for local business reviews, provides relevant user reviews and ratings for anything local, from restaurants to doctors and more. The reviews can be searched and sorted by category or shown in a map view, with access to Yelp.com for details on any of the three million local reviews.
Eventful: Will provide users with listings of local events displayed in a map view. Customers can select sub-categories of interest, search for events and click through to Eventful.com to get more event information and purchase tickets.
Topix: Will provide local news based on current location as a summary, with an option to read full stories and others at its site.
Navteq: Will offer Xohm customers Navteq traffic real-time local traffic and commuter updates with links to the Traffic.com Web site for additional detailed construction, incident and drive time information.
AccuWeather: Will provide three-day forecasts based on users' current locations. An easy link to AccuWeather.com mobile Web site gives more forecast details, radar/satellite images, and more.
Google: Will contribute local search capability along with additional features and functionality from Google Maps.
Openwave Systems: Will provide the location platform that enables Xohm partners to use location to offer applications.
Autodesk: Will provide a standards-based interface and geospatial services, such as addresses, ZIP code and city/state information, to enhance location within the Xohm network. [FierceBroadbandWireless]
Microsofts Tests WiFi in Vehicles
By Doug Mohney
Microsoft is testing WiFi usage in vehicles, an effort that is shedding new light on public wireless networks and how VoIP calls might get transmitted - or not.
Testing is being conducted around Seattle, and the biggest advantage to tapping into a community WiFi network is lower cost of access. Plus, every mobile device has built-in WiFi these days .
However, WiFi has a big problem with hand-offs between base stations; not so good for an in-progress VoIP call over a cheaper WiFi network. (You may queue your WiMAX commercial here in a limited number of second-tier U.S. markets). There's also the assumption that there's a nice big WiFi network available for use; the muni WiFi market has had its ups and downs of late.
Researchers at the University of Massachusetts, the University of Washington and Microsoft have worked up a solution to talk to multiple access points at once. The "Vi-Fi" (Vehicle WiFi) system would treat one access point as an "anchor" primary reception point and use other base stations in the system as auxiliary paths.
Some tricky math allows the system to figure out the chance a packet received by an auxiliary base station wasn't received by the anchor; if true, the aux base station relays the packet to the anchor as a backup. [FierceBroadbandWireless]
CDMA Is Not Dead Yet
Although the overall dynamics of CDMA markets are overshadowed by the hype around UMTS/HSPA and the migration to LTE, CDMA operators continue to upgrade their networks to provide capacity for higher numbers of bandwidth-intensive data services, as well as escalating traffic load.
“Worldwide EVDO Rev A subscriber numbers ramped up more than eightfold between Q2 2007 and Q2 2008,” says ABI Research analyst Khor Hwai Lin. “The US and South Korean markets shows the highest growth rate for EVDO Rev A. The increased support for LTE from incumbent CDMA operators does not imply the imminent death of EVDO Rev A and B, because LTE is addressing different market needs compared to 3G.”
EVDO Rev A subscribers are forecast to exceed 54 million by 2013 while Rev B subscribers will also increase, to 25 million.
More than 31 million subscribers worldwide are already using HSDPA while 3.2 million subscribers were on HSUPA networks by Q2 2008. Upgrades to HSUPA continue to take place aggressively around Western Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. Hence, HSUPA subscribers are estimated to reach around 139 million in number by 2013.
“HSPA+ will contest with LTE and mobile WiMAX in the mobile broadband space,” adds Asia-Pacific vice president Jake Saunders. The 100Mbps download data rate difference between LTE (20MHz) and HSPA+ may not attract mid-tier operators to migrate, as LTE is based on OFDM technology that requires new components, while a move to HSPA+ is perceived to be more gradual transition.”
Due to the large number of GSM 900 subscribers worldwide and the high possibility of refarming the spectrum for UMTS, ABI Research estimates that the majority of these subscribers worldwide (about 1.2 billion by 2013) will be on a 900MHz-only band.
In second place would be dual-band users on 900MHz and 1800MHz (one billion by 2013). 2100MHz subscriber numbers are forecast to ramp up steadily with a CAGR of 23.5% between 2007 and 2013. [ABI Research]
Intel Releases Centrino 2 Minus WiMAX
By Lynnette Luna
Intel's long-awaited Centrino 2 platform was finally unveiled yesterday after a three-week delay. The delay reportedly had to do with a problem with FCC certification for the Draft 2.0 802.11n WiFi standard used in the platform. The platform is also supposed to include WiMAX but that capability is not included in the initial versions of the of the platform.
Future versions of Centrino 2 will include built-in WiMAX capability, presumably by the time Sprint makes its commercial WiMAX debut in Baltimore in September. Centrino 2.0 is the fifth generation of Centrino technology. The platform is 40 percent smaller so that it can fit in mini-notebooks.
Intel invested $1 billion in the new Clearwire WiMAX business, which includes Sprint, cable companies and Google earlier this. Intel is hoping WiMAX incorporated in the new platform will do the same thing incorporating WiFi did, spur adoption. However, Clearwire's rollout will be on a market-by-market basis with 2010 or even 2011 delivering a reasonable footprint in the majority of the top 200 markets, which makes the 802.11n piece a critical part of the Centrino 2. [FierceWireless]
Sprint's Xohm Taps Mformation for Remote Device Management
By Lynnette Luna
Sprint's WiMAX division announced a deal with device management software company Mformation Technologies to deliver device management capabilities for new Xohm-branded WiMAX-enabled mobile devices. Sprint plans to use Mformation's software to remotely manage the WiMAX devices on its network. The operator is commercially launching WiMAX in Baltimore in September.
Device management will be critical for Sprint, and likewise Clearwire, which is merging with Sprint later this year, to enable a number of devices to come onto the WiMAX network, regardless of whether they were purchased via Sprint or an external retailer that has no affiliation with the operator. Sprint's goal is to allow a plethora of devices--ranging from Internet tablets to telematics consoles--to operate on the network in an open access manner.
Still, device management software is not fully optimized for WiMAX-only devices, noted Matt Bancroft, chief marketing officer with Mformation. Since most of the devices running on Sprint's network will be dual-mode CDMA/WiMAX devices, Mformation is conducting the remote device management capabilities via the CDMA connection, which has been fully established.
"WiMAX is more challenging because of the way the technology is architected," said Bancroft. "It's an all-IP technology, which means that the architecture doesn't support SMS technology that is commonly used today to initiate a device-management session. There are well-defined standards in cellular that makes it straightforward to understand what device a users is using. With WiMAX, users will be connecting in a multiple mac address environment. So there are a bunch of new challenges that have to be overcome."
Bancroft added that the wave of devices that come to market next year will require additional device management capabilities that aren't available today, but that device management capabilities will catch up.
In June, Mformation and Bridgewater Systems announced their intention to integrate Bridgewater's service control and subscriber data management solution with Mformation's service manager to enable WiMAX operators to automatically detect, provision and manage WiMAX devices over the air using industry-standard IP and OMA DM protocols. [FierceWireless]
WiMAX Will be Coming to Centrino 2
By Lynnette Luna
Intel plans to ship its highly anticipated Centrino 2 mobile laptop platform this week, but one key feature that will be missing is the dual-mode WiFi (802.11n)/WiMAX module. That feature, said an Intel spokeswoman, won't ship until sometime later this year--likely in time for commercial WiMAX launches from Clearwire and Sprint.
The platform that will be introduced today will include what Intel calls enhanced WiFi capabilities, and it's assumed that means the Draft 2.0 802.11n standard.
Centrino 2.0 is the fifth generation of Centrino technology. PC makers such as Fujitsu, HP, Lenovo and Toshiba are reportedly planning to launch new notebooks concurrently with the release of Centrino 2.
Intel, as you remember, invested $1 billion in the new Clearwire WiMAX business, which includes Sprint, cable companies and Google. Intel is hoping WiMAX incorporated in the new platform will do the same thing incorporating WiFi did, spur adoption. However, Clearwire's rollout will be on a market-by-market basis with 2010 or even 2011 delivering a reasonable footprint in the majority of the top 200 markets. [FierceBroadbandWireless]
Clearwire is The World's Largest Wireless Broadband Operator
By Lynnette Luna
According to Maravedis, Clearwire is the world's largest Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) provider in the world. The firm recently counted all of the global WiMAX and proprietary BWA subscribers and found that Clearwire's 443,000 subscribers account for nearly one quarter of all individual broadband wireless connections in the first quarter.
According to the report, some 1.988 million broadband wireless subscribers are in the world, with more than half using proprietary wireless broadband technology. Of the 602,000 customers on WiMAX gear, 509,000 have fixed 802.16d WiMAX service, while only 193,000 are using a real mobile WiMAX (IEEE 802.16e) network, and of those, the vast majority, 145,000, are on Korea Telecom's WiBro network, which obtained certification under the WiMAX Forum this year.
Clearwire is working to upgrade its proprietary gear to mobile WiMAX and plans to merge with Sprint's WiMAX assets later this year. [FierceBroadbandWireless]
2012: WiMAX Services Revenues in Asia Pacific to Surge to US$5.5 Billion
WiMAX is expected to gather strong momentum in the Asia Pacific region with WiMAX services revenues estimated to grow from US$58 million in 2007 to US$5.46 billion by 2012, according to the latest report by Springboard Research, a leading innovator in the IT market research industry. This translates to a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 148% for the period.
The report, titled “Laying the Foundation: WiMAX in Asia/Pacific 2008”, further estimated the number of WiMAX subscribers to grow from 230,000 in 2007 to 33.9 million by 2012. Mobile WiMAX services are estimated to garner a significant majority of revenues and subscribers compared to fixed WiMAX services during the forecast period.
The report goes on to predict that India and Japan will be the largest markets for WiMAX in the region by 2012, with an estimated 35.7%, and 16.9% share, respectively, of the total regional market, followed by Pakistan and China. Springboard added that its forecasts have accounted for some key assumptions including those related to country-specific licensing environments in the region, execution of investment plans outlined by vendors and market availability of WiMAX equipment as per projections.
“The next couple of years will be critical for WiMAX growth in Asia Pacific, and during that time, we are expecting services to be available for end users in over 10 countries,” said Bryan Wang, Research Director - Connectivity Research at Springboard Research. “The majority of WiMAX subscribers will be from Korea, Pakistan, India, and Australia. At the same time, billions of dollars of investment is going to be spent on WiMAX infrastructures over the next five years, which also creates a big potential market for telecom equipment manufacturers,” Mr. Wang added.
Key Markets and PlayersSpringboard’s report forecast 15.8 million WiMAX subscribers in India by 2012, representing 46.7% of total subscribers in the Asia Pacific region, and 35.7% total regional revenues from the country. India’s market leadership will be fostered by support from the government, ambitious investment plans by players like BSNL and Tata Communications, and the replacement of poor legacy fixed-line broadband infrastructure.
“We see tremendous potential for WiMAX deployment in many emerging markets in the region, which have struggled to extend fixed line/broadband infrastructure beyond a few big cities and into the rural and poorer areas,” Mr. Wang added.
Springboard asserts that Australia will register WiMAX infrastructure investments worth an estimated US$500 million by 2012 on the back of aggressive plans by key players, Unwired and OPEL Ventures (a government-funded entity). The total market for WiMAX services in Australia is estimated to be US$123.6 million by 2012.
In Japan, Mobile WiMAX services are expected to monopolize the market as UQ Communications is slated to become the largest WiMAX operator, with the total market slated to grow to US$924.5 million by 2012.
While Korea is predicted to more slowly adopt WiMAX despite having the world’s largest current subscriber base, China is expected to issue WiMAX licenses by 2009.
Read more - MobileBroadband News
Korea: Mobile WiMAX Needs VoIP
By Doug Mohney
For all the hype around the WiBro standard in Korea, it hasn't seen the adoption numbers carriers were hoping for. VoIP is needed to get to the next level, says VNUnet.com.
Korea is portrayed as the world's first and largest test market for mobile WiMAX when the WiBro service rolled out in 2006. The service is expected to have 250,000 users by the end of this year, up from 100,000 at the end of 2007. Analyst Ku Kang of the ROA Group attributes the lack of rapid market penetration to provide a killer app.
Kang says VoIP could be that killer app--if it can get through legal and other issues. Voice support is a must if WiBro is to compete with HSDPA and LTE. ROA group predicts the WiBro market can reach up to 2.5 million uses by 2011.
Korean researchers also are looking at upgrading WiBro to support up to 3.6Gbps to "slow moving" users and delivering up to 100Mbps to users in vehicles moving at speeds of up to 74 mph. [FierceBroadbandWireless]
Tata Communications Close to Granting $500M WiMAX Contract
By Lynnette Luna
Tata Communications is close to choosing its mobile WiMAX equipment suppliers for its $500-million 802.16e-based network in India, according to Unstrung. Tata has already deployed fixed WiMAX (802.16d) from Telsima and has signed up some 10,000 customers since launching service in March. It claims that deployment is the largest WiMAX deployment in the world.
Now the operator is looking to deploy mobile WiMAX in the 3.3 GHz band, spending $500 million during the next two years. Tata did not name the vendors vying for the contract nor the size of the award, but said it would be significant.
Unstrung's sources, however, say seven vendors are competing for Tata's contract and willing to customize their products for Indian market. Alcatel-Lucent, Alvarion, Cisco (through its Navini acquisition), Huawei Technologies, Motorola, Samsung and Telsima. [FierceBroadbandWireless]
Comcast Will Use WiMAX Femtocells
By Sue Marek
At a conference in London, Comcast's senior vice president of wireless and technology Dave Williams revealed that part of the cable company's deal with Clearwire calls for 5 MHz of spectrum across the U.S. to be set aside solely for WiMAX femtocells. Williams said that Comcast would have liked to have more spectrum for femtocells but that this was the best deal it could negotiate.
The femtocell spectrum will be available for any of the new Clearwire partners to use, but Williams said that the cable companies will have the most incentive to use it because it allows them to cost-effectively deliver wireless to the home.
Cable companies Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks were part of the consortium (which includes Google and Intel) that invested $3.2 billion in the new Clearwire. The cable companies plan to wholesale WiMAX services via Clearwire to their customers. [FierceBroadbandWireless]
Prospects Fade for Mobile WiMAX
By Paul Rasmussen
The launch of commercial LTE services by late 2009 is seen as one of the bigger of many nails in the coffin of mobile WiMAX, claims a new study by Frost & Sullivan (F&S), a market research firm.
According to Luke Thomas of F&S, the prospects for the technology are coming under increasing threat unless spectrum auctions and commercial Mobile WiMAX rollouts (compliant to Wave 2 Phase 2 certification) do not take place by 2008. "Recent events have been unfavourable toward the technology. Any operator looking at Mobile WiMAX has to consider the current environment in which 97 per cent of laptops are shipped with Wi-Fi. 3G LTE is expected to be a fully ratified standard by the end of 2008 or beginning of 2009 with deployments slated to occur in late 2009 or early 2010 offering peak data rates of up to 170Mbps."
Thomas believes that 2009 will be the year when operators begin to realize that Mobile WiMAX can no more be considered as a feasible mobile broadband "access" technology. He comments: "In terms of indoor wireless broadband, WiFi fits well in this space and with the emergence of 802.11n, which includes MIMO, throughputs would be far better than what Mobile WiMAX can deliver. With respect to outdoor mobile broadband environments, users would expect Mobile WiMAX to seamlessly hand off to cellular networks in the absence of WiMAX reception. In reality this is not possible as Mobile WiMAX is not backward compatible with existing cellular technologies."
Regardless of this pessimistic viewpoint, Intel has continued to invest and lobby for the greater adoption of Mobile WiMAX, as seen by its recent acquisition of a WiMAX licence in Scandinavia. [FierceBroadbandWireless]
Comcast Will Use WiMAX Femtocells
By Sue Marek
At a conference in London, Comcast's senior vice president of wireless and technology Dave Williams revealed that part of the cable company's deal with Clearwire calls for 5 MHz of spectrum across the U.S. to be set aside solely for WiMAX femtocells. Williams said that Comcast would have liked to have more spectrum for femtocells but that this was the best deal it could negotiate.
The femtocell spectrum will be available for any of the new Clearwire partners to use, but Williams said that the cable companies will have the most incentive to use it because it allows them to cost-effectively deliver wireless to the home.
Cable companies Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks were part of the consortium (which includes Google and Intel) that invested $3.2 billion in the new Clearwire. The cable companies plan to wholesale WiMAX services via Clearwire to their customers. [FierceWireless]
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