Mobile Internet Solutions » 4G

Clearwire 4G users and data use booming

lesliemanzara — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:45:14 +0000

Stephen Lawson, ComputerWorld, 1/24/2012

Clearwire said WiMax data use by subscribers of Sprint and other partners grew at twice the rate of customer growth

Clearwire exceeded 10 million subscribers in the fourth quarter but still needs to raise more money to build its planned LTE network, a task that could be funded in part by an upcoming $300 million stock offering.

The U.S. WiMax operator, which powers Sprint Nextel’s 4G services, released selected preliminary fourth-quarter results on Tuesday before posting final results in the coming weeks. Wholesale and retail customers reached 10.4 million, most of those from wholesale partners, primarily Sprint.

While Clearwire estimated it had a net gain of 900,000 wholesale customers in the quarter, an 11 percent gain from the third quarter, it said aggregate WiMax network use by wholesale subscribers grew at twice that rate. Heavier data use on smartphones led the trend, with customers using 30 percent more data compared with the previous quarter. In the full year 2011, total data use by wholesale and retail customers grew 165 percent.

Sprint is the only major national carrier still offering unlimited monthly data use on smartphones, without throttling. But like other operators, Sprint continues to look for more capacity to meet continuing rapid growth in demand. It will continue to sell WiMax devices with two-year contracts at least until the end of this year and expects to use Clearwire’s WiMax network at least for the next few years. But both Sprint and Clearwire also plan to build LTE (Long-Term Evolution) networks to further expand their capacity and be able to tap into a large expected market for LTE phones, tablets and other devices.

During the fourth quarter, Clearwire and Sprint announced a long-awaited plan for coordination on LTE, in which Sprint invested more in its partner and said it had deals to buy capacity on Clearwire’s LTE network. Sprint also hopes to use LightSquared’s planned LTE network as part of a complex 15-year plan to host that network on its Network Vision infrastructure, but that partnership is on hold pending regulatory approval for LightSquared’s network. Sprint plans to offer LTE in the first half of this year.

For the fourth quarter, Clearwire estimated it achieved positive adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) for the first time, though including those factors, it expects to post net losses “for the foreseeable future.”

The company estimated it had $1.11 billion in cash and cash equivalents at the end of 2011, up from $711 million at the end of the third quarter. During the quarter, it raised $716 million through the sale of new shares. But the company said it still needs to raise more capital to build its LTE network, which it would operate alongside the WiMax system.

Clearwire also said Tuesday it is planning an offering of first-priority senior secured notes, to be offered by subsidiary Clearwire Communications, to raise $300 million. It did not give a date for the offering. That money could be invested in the future LTE network, company spokesman Mike DiGioia said.

No related posts.

Sprint drops WiMAX phones for LTE, ‘all’ to get NFC

lesliemanzara — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 14:23:13 +0000

Electronista, 1/14/2012

Sprint to move phones wholesale to 4G and NFC

Sprint in commentary during CES confrimed that it was dropping WiMAX on smartphones. The initial LTE smartphones were ultimately representing a full-scale switch to the technology for 4G phones, PCMag was told. The carrier was being more aggressive than it had suggested before and, when promising LTE in mid-year, had meant between January and June, Owens explained.

Simultaneously, consumer product marketing VP Trevor Van Norman mentioned to Light Reading that the company planned for NFC (near-field communication) to be a standard feature in every smartphone. While there would be some edge case free or low-end phones tat wouldn’t have it, every other smartphone would get it from now onwards.

The planned switch may have given clues as to future iPhone releases. Sprint has committed to a multi-year deal with Apple to carry the iPhone and would have to either make a special exception for a 3G phone or else knows to expect LTE, NFC, or both. Both technologies have usually been left to Android, where Google takes a piece of Google Offers discounts.

Sprint regularly adopts basic technology first. It picked 4G well before other carriers were ready to deploy. Google helped it become the first to ship with a full NFC payment system in place through Google Wallet on the Nexus S 4G and now the Galaxy Nexus.

On Windows Phone, Owens said the HTC Arrive had sold poorly enough to reduce reasons to “jump back into the fire.” A return might come in August or September, although with who wasnt mentioned.

Sprint drops Nexus One in favor of Evo 4G Electronista Staff, Electronista, 5/10/2010 Sprint rebuffs Google’s own phone for...
Sprint’s first WiMax smartphone called Supersonic, runs Android, say reports Matt Hamblen, Computerworld, 2/3/2010 Sprint has promised a WiMax phone...
Verizon 4G LTE ‘blows away’ Sprint’s WiMAX in 1,000 speed tests Zach Epstein, BGR, 4/1/2011 Sprint is no longer the “4G...

AT&T Mulls Price Increase as Spectrum Crunch Looms

lesliemanzara — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 22:18:16 +0000

Forbes, 1/9/2012

AT&T switched on 4G access in 11 areas over the holidays, but speedy service is likely to strain spectrum and raise prices for users.

AT&T Business Solutions chief John Stankey announced AT&T 4G now reaches New York, San Francisco, San Jose, Austin, Los Angeles, Oakland, Orlando, Phoenix, Raleigh and San Diego, as the company marches to complete total coverage by the end of 2013.

However, Stankey also echoed the industry’s concerns about spectrum pressures caused by increasing wireless demands, and warned if the situation remains unchanged, pricing will rise.

Like other carriers, AT&T is scrambling for options as the spectrum crunch looms, but the company’s one big attempt to shore up its airwave allocation by purchasing T-Mobile was scuttled by federal regulators, citing antitrust concerns late last year.

The Federal Communications Commission did, however, approve the smaller, $1.9 billion deal for the Dallas, Texas-based company to buy spectrum from Qualcomm.

AT&T will gain much-needed spectrum from its Qualcomm purchase, but the carrier is expected to seek out other deals, including a rumored scaled-back joint venture with T-Mobile or an acquisition of another company like Dish Network.

Dish has broadband spectrum to spare since it acquired two satellite networks last year, and the satellite television provider is expected to explore its options in 2012. A deal with Dish, which isn’t direct-carrier competition, will likely invite less regulatory scrutiny, a reason other carriers are likely eyeing the company.

Stankey pointed out customers’ video streaming represents 30 percent of mobile data traffic, an amount he characterized as “unsustainable” because of costs.

Stankey, speaking at the Citi Global Entertainment, Media & Telecommunications Conference, questioned how much longer consumer demand can exceed capacity without affecting pricing, hinting the carrier will have to raise prices to manage the spectrum shortfall.

Still, the 4G expansion will help AT&T catch up with number-one carrier Verizon, whose high-speed network covers 200 million people and continues to expand.

Verizon’s network is growing ahead of schedule, giving it a distinct competitive edge, but recent 4G outages in December raise speculation the carrier is building out too quickly, creating a possible opportunity for rival carriers like AT&T to gain ground this year.

CTIA To FCC: Without More Wireless Spectrum, ‘Demand May Outpace Supply’ Tricia Duryee, MocoNews, 9/29/2009 With the FCC cracking down on...
Wireless carriers beg FCC for spectrum, blame smartphones Nate Anderson, Ars Techinca,9/26/2009 Mobile carriers in the US have...
The FCC Struggles to Meet Smartphone Wireless Spectrum Needs Jason Mick, Daily Tech, 1/13/2011 Spectrum demands are rapidly rising,...

For blazing fast wireless internet, Broadcom announces its first 5G WiFi chips

lesliemanzara — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 18:00:53 +0000

Dean Takahashi, GamesBeat, 1/5/2012

Broadcomis announcing today its first WiFi chips that will allow wireless to surf the web at a speed of 1.3 gigabits per second. That is several times faster than existing network speeds, and these so-called 5G WiFi chips will be used in products coming out as early as the second quarter.

Broadcom and a number of other chip and wireless product companies are supporting the new technology, which will be on display at the Consumer Electronic Show next week in Las Vegas. This kind of faster networking is needed because consumers are watching videos and playing streamed games on a variety of devices and screens in the home these days. It could also be great for activities such as multiplayer gaming.

The name 5G WiFi is a clever bit of marketing, but accurate enough, said Michael Hurlston, senior vice president of the mobile and wireless group at Broadcom, a chip giant based in Irvine, Calif. The technology uses the 802.11ac engineering protocol, or the fifth generation of WiFi standards.

In that sense, Broadcom can position WiFi as faster than 4G, which the cellular phone companies are rolling out as the fastest mobile phone data networks. Hurlston said that WiFi has always been faster than cellular data networks, so the naming of 5G WiFi versus 4G cellular is apt. But it may lead to consumer confusion down the road as 5G mobile networks debut at some point in the future.

“We made sure WiFi was part of the name so that consumers recognize what it is when we say 5G,” Hurlston said.

Still, since WiFi is faster than mobile networking such as 4G LTE, WiFi is expected to be part a big part of gadgetry in the future. More than 3 billion wireless-enabled WiFi devices are expected to be in use by 2015, according to Mark Hung, research director at Gartner Research. This generation of wireless could thus be the most influential wireless technology in the years to come, he said.

802.11ac is the next generation of WiFi that operates in the same 5 gigahertz band of the radio spectrum as its predecessors, 802.11a and n. (802.11b operated in the 2.4 gigahertz band, but 802.11ac is compatible with all past versions of WiFi).

The technology is faster because it uses a wider channel for delivering data, at 80 megahertz instead of 40. It uses 256-QAM, a modulation scheme that is four times more efficient than the prior 64-QAM scheme. And it taps multiple antennae using the MIMO spatial stream technology, using twice as many streams as were available before.

With the faster technology, users can sling video from a central hub to a screen in a distant bedroom. They can synch a lot of music or video files wirelessly, and surf the internet without killing the battery life of the device they’re using.

Broadcom’s first family of chips designed for 802.11ac will be three times faster and six times more power efficient than previous 802.11n chips. The power efficiency stems from the faster speeds, as you can power down a wireless access point more quickly if the data moves more quickly through it. Video is expected to reach 90 percent of global consumer traffic, according to Cisco’s Visual Networking Index Forecast.

The chips include the BCM4360, BCM4352, BCM43526 and BCM43516. The fastest chip, the BCM 4360, supports three simultaneous streams. But the other chips will support just one or two streams and will be more appropriate for smartphones and tablets.

WiFi Hero – Controls WiFi Based On Location & Status Ronen Halevy, Berry Review, 11/24/2009 Twinkler Software let us know...
Clearwire Announces Wireless Broadband Expansion Peter Svensson, Mobile Tech Today, 3/24/2010 Clearwire is racing ahead...
Verizon Wireless Announces 4G Venture Forum Mobile Tech News, 10/6/2009 Verizon Wireless, the nation’s leading wireless...

4G wireless vs. 5G wireless

lesliemanzara — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 18:22:27 +0000

Mikael Ricknäs, ComputerWorld, 11/4/2011

Using more spectrum and advanced antennas, vendors and operators plan to increase 4G mobile speeds. But the key to increasing speeds as researchers look at future networks, which will someday be dubbed 5G by marketers, is to shorten the distance between users and base stations, and allowing them to automatically be reconfigured.

Historically, a new mobile generation has included two basic components, a mobile standard and spectrum allocation, according to Hkan Djuphamma , vice president of architecture and portfolio at Ericsson.

Because LTE is at the limit of what is physically possible it now makes less sense to develop another standard from the ground up, Djuphammar says. Also, the allocation of spectrum has become increasingly fragmented, because the airwaves are so crowded.

That said, networks will still continue to evolve going forward, according to Djuphammar. But, at the moment, the industry isn’t working towards a big 5G launch.

The development of so-called het nets, or heterogeneous networks, which use a mixture of traditional large base stations and smaller cells, placed in areas where there are a lot of users, will be key to how mobile networks evolve, according to Djuphammar.

The basic idea is the same as with today’s femtocells, which are most often placed in homes to offload the rest of the network, while also improving coverage and providing better capacity for subscribers connected to it. But in a het net, the smaller base stations would be more integrated with the rest of the network.

It’s about building network structures that would allow devices with 2G, 3G, 4G and in most cases Wi-Fi, as well, to jump between different forms of access depending on the load in the different parts of the network and the application currently used, and can dynamically manage device access in an intelligent way, according to Djuphammar. Doing all that is a pretty challenging task, he says.

The same spectrum bands will also be used for different mobile standards. Depending on what kind of devices are connected to a base station it will be able to change the amount of spectrum used to maximize performance in real-time.

“Today we have a static allocation of spectrum, but in the future it will be completely dynamic. For example, if there are no phones in a cell that need to use GSM the entire spectrum can be used for 4G. But when a GSM phone comes back into the cell, the base station again reconfigures its spectrum allocation,” Djuphammar says.

At the KTH Royal Institute of Technology they have started to examine what networks could look like by 2020, which is when 5G would arrive if the telecom industry continued to launch a new network generation every 10 years.

The aim is a thousand fold capacity increase, according to Jens Zander, a professor in Radio Communications at the university and head of its center for wireless systems Wireless@KTH, who is also a big proponent of denser mobile networks where the distance between base stations is much shorter.

“Beyond LTE, I think the most important thing is finding good and cheap solutions over short distances, and have base stations that are as easy to install as Wi-Fi, but have much higher capacity and have better coordination with the rest of network,” Zander says.

Tech argument: wired vs. wireless edge

An import part of simplifying the installation process is the concept of self-organizing networks, which allow operators or end-users to connect a base station to the network and it would automatically be installed.

“A big part of the cost for current networks is that they have to be carefully planned,” Zander says.

Short-term improvements will include the use of more spectrum and multiple antennas. Continuous spectrum is a limited resource, so vendors came up with carrier aggregation. The technology allows operators to bunch together spectrum in different bands and use them as one data link.

A quick guide to 4G phones

Another way to increase capacity, which is already used today, is MIMO antenna technology, which uses multiple antennas in the base station and on the device to increase speeds.

The big challenge with MIMO is to fit all the needed antennas on the user device; and more antennas mean more capacity.

It is very difficult to fit more than two antennas in a mobile phone, according to Zander. For MIMO to work, the antennas need to see a slightly different version of the radio signal, which the distance between the antennas allow them to do.

How long the distance needs to be depends on the frequency used to send the data.

The growing size of many high-end smartphones, thanks to the fact that vendors are including bigger screens, will help. Also, because of their larger size, it will be easier to include many antennas on tablets and laptop.

Today, MIMO is only used to increase download speeds, but it will likely be added to upload traffic, as well.

So going forward the development of mobile networks will be more evolutionary that revolutionary.

“Maybe something will come along that the industry feels is such a big change or addition to 4G that it could be labeled 5G,” Djuphammar says.

Wireless turns inside out Joanie Wexler , Network World , 11/17/2009 Cellular comes inside;...
Will 4G Fix Wireless Voice Quality? Tony Bradley, PC World, 5/14/2010 Will WiMax and LTE address...
4G Wireless Gets Serious With LTE Reinhardt Krause, Yahoo! News, 1/20/2010 Look for LTE, a leading-edge...

AT&T Wi-Fi usage skyrockets

lesliemanzara — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 22:54:01 +0000

Marguerite Reardon, CNETnews, 10/24/2011

AT&T is relying more and more on its Wi-Fi networks to help off-load data traffic, which should ultimately lead to better network performance for its wireless customers.

This week the carrier said it has seen Wi-Fi usage on these networks triple in the last year. In the third quarter, AT&T said its customers made 301.9 million AT&T Wi-Fi connections or about 37 connections every second. The company added that on average, its users make about 100 million connections to its Wi-Fi networks every month. In fact, Wi-Fi connections in a single month now exceed the total connections made in all of 2009 and are five times the total connections made in 2008. And AT&T has said that the data carried on its Wi-Fi networks has more than doubled versus the third-quarter of 2010.

AT&T offers free Wi-Fi connectivity to its smartphone and wireless broadband customers in more than 29,000 Wi-Fi hot spots throughout the country. These networks are in places like hotels and airports, as well as restaurants and coffee shops, like Starbucks. AT&T has also been deploying Wi-Fi in outside public areas in what it calls Wi-Fi ‘hot zones” in several cities, such as Palo Alto, Calif., San Francisco, New York, and Chicago.

The idea with the “hot zones” is to set up Wi-Fi networks in areas where there is a highly concentrated group of users. So in Chicago, there is a hot zone around Wrigley Field. In New York City, AT&T has made Wi-Fi available in several parks and it also offers a Wi-Fi hot zone in Times Square. And the carrier is also deploying hot zones in big sports stadiums, such as Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

AT&T is using these carrier-managed Wi-Fi networks as a way to off-load data traffic from its 3G wireless network. AT&T, more than any other wireless carrier in the U.S., has been struggling to keep with demand for data on its network. After the company introduced the Apple iPhone in 2007, it saw traffic on its network explode. While AT&T has been upgrading its 3G network to faster and more efficient technologies, like HSPA+ and 4G LTE, the company is looking at more ways to increase capacity and meet demand. In fact, it said that the main reason it wants to buy T-Mobile USA is to get more capacity and spectrum to deal with its network congestion.

While Wi-Fi is not the only solution to the problem, it is part of the solution. And it’s particularly useful in helping AT&T manage traffic better in densely populated areas, where it has a highly concentrated level of users.

There’s no question that Wi-Fi benefits AT&T, but it’s also good for consumers. And the reason is simple. Because subscribers are not charged for the use of the Wi-Fi network, the data usage is not counted against their monthly data limits. And now that AT&T has eliminated its unlimited data plan, subscribers can use Wi-Fi when it’s available to cut down on the amount of data they’re using as part of their plan.

Other wireless carriers have dabbled in Wi-Fi. T-Mobile has experimented with offers that allow people to switch between Wi-Fi and licensed spectrum networks in the same session. But AT&T seems to be the largest carrier that has been embracing the technology as an offload strategy. Neither Sprint Nextel or rival Verizon Wireless are incorporating Wi-Fi into their networks in quite the same way that AT&T has done it.

“Consumers and businesses understand the numerous benefits in using and offering Wi-Fi in more places,” Angie Wiskocil, senior vice president of AT&T Wi-Fi Services, said in a statement. “By investing in our network and expanding our Wi-Fi footprint, we will continue to be the leader in Wi-Fi services.”

AT&T touts WiFi usage: 25.4M connections in Q3 Sue Marek, FierceWireless, 10/23/2009 AT&T sees WiFi usage rapidly increasing...
AT&T’s Latest Hotspot Usage Statistics Glenn Fleishman, WiFi Net News, 10/23/2009 AT&T may be crying...
AT&T: Tighter control of cell data usage ahead Peter Svensson, MSNBC, 12/9/2009 Company: 3 percent of smartphone users...

Smartphone Apps to Dominate Mobile VoIP by 2016

lesliemanzara — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 14:26:27 +0000

Juniper Research, 10/19/2011

mVoIP clients downloaded to the smartphone will account for four fifths of 640 million mobile VoIP users by the end of 2016, while alliances between carriers and mVoIP specialists will remain relatively few in number. Improved technology, more intuitive interfaces and increased user awareness all account for the increasing dominance of the app model for mVoIP, finds Juniper Research. In addition VoIP specialists are broadening their horizons as they explore the potential of alliances with social media, gaming and software companies.

The Changing Role of Voice

As social media becomes ever more mainstream, Juniper Research anticipates the role of voice within the broader communications market changing and becoming available as an extension of other applications, such as gaming and social networking. Specialist companies, e.g. Vivox, are pioneering such services in the gaming industry, and Skype’s acquisition by Microsoft and several Facebook alliances with VoIP providers will accelerate this trend.

“Eventually voice may become one of several options in an environment where multiple methods of communicating are possible on the same platform,” says Juniper Research’s Anthony Cox. The report notes, however, that circuit-switched technology will continue to be important for the foreseeable future, particularly in less developed markets.

Further findings include:

·The number of mobile video calling users will exceed 130 million by 2016, spurred by the launch of mobile video calling by major players and technology improvements.

·Mobile VoIP and mobile video calling services will develop significantly faster in developed markets, due to a correlation between 3G and 4G roll outs and the take up of mobile VoIP and mobile video calling.

·There is, as yet, no clear role for advertising within the mobile VoIP and mobile video calling business model, though this is beginning to come for VoIP on the desktop.

The mVoIP whitepaper is available to download from the Juniper website together with further details of the full report.

Juniper Research provides research and analytical services to the global hi-tech communications sector, providing consultancy, analyst reports and industry commentary.

More…

iCall uses VoIP to make calls on the iPhone Mobile Tech News, 1/28/2010 Apple Computer, Inc. has updated the...
Mobile VoIP Comes to BlackBerry Devices Om Malik, GigaOM, 8/22/2010 If there was one app I’ve...
Apple Still Not Allowing VoIP Calls Over 3G Om Malik, GigaOM, 11/8/2009 Earlier today in response to my...

Sprint converts its network to LTE, plans ‘aggressive rollout’ to be completed by 2013

lesliemanzara — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 14:32:57 +0000

Joseph Volpe, Engadget, 10/7/2011

We knew more or less that an announcement of this sort was coming. Back in July, Dan Hesse had teased us face-to-face with the promise of a “great story this fall around 4G,” and now the time to tell that tale has arrived. At its strategy event today, Sprint finally went public with plans to “simplify its network” by converting its 1900MHz holdings and LightSquared’s 1600MHz spectrum (“pending FCC approval”) to LTE, an industry favorite. Helping the operator make that transition is the swath of 800MHz spectrum it reclaimed from the, now defunct, iDEN push-to-talk network — which had been a drain on the company’s resources. This spectrum, acquired from Nextel, will be phased out by mid-2013 and rolled into LTE. The company plans for a rapid deployment of this new 4G network, with the first LTE markets and handsets to hit in mid-2012, and the full rollout mostly completed by 2013. Current subscribers signed up for WiMAX plans won’t have to worry as their devices will continue to be supported throughout 2012.

Beginning tomorrow, Sprint’s consolidating its 4G LTE (including LightSquared), 3G and Direct Connect networks into one single architecture. All the major technical milestones, such as test calls and field integration, have cleared their hurdles and work on over 22,000 cell sites are currently in process. Samsung, Alcatel Lucent and Ericsson have partnered with Sprint to install multimode 3G and 4G base stations to handle the network’s future traffic, essential for deploying the multitude of frequencies required by hosted devices. Prospective iPhone 4S users on the network will be able to take advantage of better signal strength and improved voice service as Sprint intends to also offload the latter onto 800MHz.

Expect a steep “reduction in roaming costs” and deeper signal penetration throughout the operator’s expanding national footprint over the course of the next two years. Naturally, LTE speeds on this new network will be significantly improved over the currently in-use WiMAX, and a planned implementation of WiFi offloading should help to cut congestion by 20 percent. By the end of next year, Sprint aims to have a combined WiMAX/LTE population coverage of 176 million — with 123 million covered by LTE and 76 million overlapping both. When the network build-out is nearly complete in 2013, the company should have over 250 million blanketed in LTE, far outstripping the stagnant 120 million served by WiMAX.

Sprint Announces Aggressive 4G Marketing Push WiMax.com, 2/25/2010 Following quickly on the heels of Clearwire’s 2009...
Sprint Plans WiMAX Phone Sean Ludwig, PC Magazine, 2/19/2010 Sprint on Thursday said it...
First 4G Android-Based Smartphone May Arrive in 2010 From Sprint Mark Sullivan, PC World, 9/17/2009 4G World Conference, Chicago —...

AT&T’s 4G LTE network set to go live today

lesliemanzara — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 14:36:10 +0000

Dan Seifert, MobileBurn, 9/18/2012

Today is the day that AT&T has said that its 4G LTE network would become operational and available to general consumers in the five test markets previously announced.

Residents in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio should be able to take advantage of AT&T’s flavor of LTE today. AT&T is the third carrier in the U.S. to launch and LTE network, behind MetroPCS and Verizon Wireless. Currently, AT&T does not offer any smartphones that can take advantage of the faster, next-generation network, but it does sell the USBConnect Momentum 4G modem, Elevate 4G mobile hotspot, and HTC Jetstream Android Honeycomb tablet that can connect to it. Plans for the USB modem and mobile hotspot start at $50 per month for 5GB of data usage, with $10 per GB overage fees. The Jetstream plans cost $14.99 for 250MB of data usage, or $25 for 2GB of usage.

AT&T has committed to launching LTE in 15 markets and covering 70 million residents by the end of the year.

Google Phone Unveiled Today Sam Churchill, DailyWireless, 1/5/2010 Google’s Nexus One handset, made by...
T-Mobile USA to double network speeds 1/6/2011 T-Mobile USA plans to start doubling the speed of...
AT&T’s first LTE-capable device won’t roam onto Verizon’s LTE network Mike Dano, FierceWireless, 10/26/2010 AT&T Mobility’s recently announced LTE-capable USB...

Cisco, NEC team up on LTE networks

lesliemanzara — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 21:53:13 +0000

By Stephen Lawson, IDG News Service, 8/30/2011

The deal could help NEC sell more base stations and Cisco more back-end switches

Cisco Systems and NEC will jointly sell LTE networks to carriers under a deal announced on Tuesday.

Cisco will provide its ASR 5000 mobile packet core switch and NEC will supply base stations for the high-speed mobile data networks around the world. They have verified interoperability between the products after extensive testing in the real world, the companies said.

LTE (Long-Term Evolution) represents a big opportunity for makers of both radio access networks and the core infrastructure that sits behind them. Demand for mobile data capacity is expected to grow rapidly over the next several years thanks to broad adoption of mobile devices and services designed for them.

NEC, based in Tokyo, built the LTE network for Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo and has provided base LTE stations for Korean carrier KDDI and participated in trials at SingTel and Telefonica.

The ASR 5000 switch is based on technology that Cisco acquired through its purchase of Starent Networks in 2009. It is equipped to carry out traffic management, service provisioning and other back-end tasks for 3G and 4G mobile networks and allows carriers to migrate smoothly to 4G technology, according to Cisco.

The deal is likely to help NEC more than Cisco, because NEC is a fairly small player in the RAN (radio access network) business outside of Japan, said analyst Daryl Schoolar of Current Analysis. The biggest RAN vendors, such as Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent, and Huawei Technologies, don’t need to make such arrangements with Cisco because they sell mobile packet core equipment themselves, he said.

Cisco competes against those companies and has won deals with many carriers on the strength of its existing back-end switches and its data networking heritage, Schoolar said. Large carriers prefer to use multiple vendors so they aren’t totally reliant on one supplier.

Upgrading from 3G to 4G boosts the capacity of networks and increases the speed of an individual user’s service. Carriers are quickly adopting LTE to keep up with mobile data demand that has networks around the world operating at an average of 65 percent of capacity, according to a recent Credit Suisse survey. The Global Mobile Suppliers Association reported earlier this month that there were 24 commercial LTE networks up and running in 16 countries, and that there would be 71 networks by the end of this year.

Cisco, T-Mobile team up for Wi-Fi Calling for Business system Matt Hamblen, Computer World, 12/15/2010 It’s designed to ensure reliable...
Cisco wants seamless mobility between WiFi and cellular networks Esme Vos, MuniWireless, 1/24/2010 Cisco has been on a roll...
Cisco exiting WiMAX RAN? Jim Duffy, Network World, 3/5/2010 Reports have surfaced that Cisco...