Verizon

Qualcomm drops UMB development effort

Lynnette Luna — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 01:14:34 -0500

Not surprisingly, Qualcomm said it was dropping development efforts around Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) technology, the proposed 4G path for CDMA networks, in favor of Long-Term Evolution (LTE) technology. The move comes after the world's largest CDMA operators such as Verizon Wireless and Canada's CDMA operator have announced plans to move to LTE. CEO Paul Jacobs said in January that he was still hopeful UMB had a chance, despite the fact that Verizon announced its intention to support LTE. Since then, a host of other operators have followed Verizon's lead.

Based on an announcement earlier this year, Qualcomm expects to begin sampling multi-mode chips that include LTE during the second quarter of 2009.

For more:
- take a look at Cellular-News

Related articles:
Verizon says it backs LTE, what's in store for UMB?
Qualcomm CEO: UMB not dead yet

4G Timeline

Jim Barthold — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:03:45 -0400

With mobile WiMAX pushing from behind and revenue opportunities looming ahead, 4G likely will become a reality faster than originally conceived and perhaps even before it's needed. "The current mobile technology has some way to go over the next couple years to really boost download speeds to match WiMAX or come close to matching it," said Stuart Little, director of corporate marketing for Harris Stratex, adding that 3.5G and HSPA may be able to handle the job and that LTE will only feel pressure if "WiMAX really picks up." WiMAX is a wild card. Sprint Nextel is one of the largest operators to commit to mobile WiMAX--either with XOHM or the new Clearwire. "I don't see many mobile operators elsewhere in the world looking at WiMAX as their 4G technology. All the mobile operators are sinking loads of money into their 3G systems and LTE is another change-out of the whole access infrastructure. That's a big step."

Pre-LTE trials are under way this year and DoCoMo in Japan is moving ahead with pre-LTE rollouts now. The question is when carriers will feel pressured to evolve. "It must be remembered that HSPA+ with 2x2 MIMO will provide theoretical data capabilities of 42 Mbps on the downlink and 11.4 Mbps on the uplink with typical possible user speeds of each 10 Mbps downlink and 5 Mbps uplink," said Chris Pearson, president/senior operating officer of 3G Americas. "Thus, with a growing base of 3.3 billion GSM subscribers and great technology capabilities...there is no urgency to move to LTE." It still should happen sooner than many have predicted and "will be deployed in 2010 but should be considered as an eloquent evolution over time," Pearson said. Jarich had a similar timeline, suggesting that DoCoMo "wants to move early, maybe two years from now. For Verizon it may be 2010-2011. And for European operators, 2013 may make more sense. Two years from now we'll have some stuff up and running, especially with DoCoMo."

A lot of it will be based on the impact of mobile WiMAX. "WiMAX will have a reasonable footprint by the end of 2009 with LTE 18 to 24 months behind it," said Jim Orr, principal network architect at Fujitsu. "The U.S. driver is dominated by the dearth of an upgrade path for EVDO. Verizon does not want to spend any more money than absolutely necessary on a platform that has no upgrade path and will push the technology as fast as possible."

SPOTLIGHT ON...Verizon's open development initiative

Peggy Albright — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 22:03:25 -0400

Open networks were a hot topic at the CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment conference in San Francisco earlier this month. At the center of the open access debate is Verizon Wireless' Vice President of Open Development Anthony Lewis, who is charged with developing Verizon's open device and application initiative. Lewis talked to FierceWireless editor in chief Sue Marek at the show about Verizon's progress on this front and why this carrier's approach is different from its competitors. Article.

ABI: LTE market will support 32M subs by 2013

Lynnette Luna — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:55:04 -0400

ABI Research is forecasting more than 32 million Long Term Evolution (LTE) subscribers by 2013, despite the fact that LTE networks won't be commercial before 2010. But as major operators China Mobile, Vodafone and Verizon Wireless have announced their intentions to deploy LTE, ramp up of the technology could move swiftly. ABI predicts that Asia-Pacific countries will account for the largest regional share of the LTE market, with about 12 million LTE subscribers in 2013. Article

Verizon Business enhances WiFi offering

Lynnette Luna — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 18:11:03 -0400

Verizon Business introduced a new WiFi interface designed to make it easier for customers to connect to its more than 70,000 Verizon-provided hot spots around the world. Verizon Wi-Fi Connect, part of Verizon's Enterprise Mobility services suite, offers integrated billing and management capabilities, including WiFi usage monitoring. An icon appears whenever a connection to a Verizon WiFi hot spot is sensed. Then the user simply clicks to gain access to the Internet and from there to a corporate network. Verizon also announced that it extended its Enterprise Mobility services to Latin America. Article