The Future of 4G Wireless..
Emma Waddington – Specialist Communications Recruitment Consultant comments on the 4G Market.
With 3G Networks now being very well established and mobile operators preferring them as an alternative to Wi-Fi, we are looking at the exciting offerings of 4G, the next Gen Wireless Broadband – giving us the capabilities of 100Mbps and above.
WiMax (developed by Intel) and LTE – the ‘Long Term Evolution’ of 3G both offer high performance. WiMax was the first to appear. LTE seems to have been given “the nod” by the mobile industry. LTE is a fourth-generation phone technology. It’s fast, it has Mimo [a multiple channel antenna technology] and OFDM [the modulation scheme]. It seems to be more popular than WiMax but there are still places where WiMax is appropriate.
With LTE, there are advantages of delivering through indoor base stations known as “femtocells”. One advantage is cheaper rollout costs – but perhaps less of the large outdoor Base Stations would then be being bought by the operators.
VoIP – Key application on 4g wireless networks Study shows that voice over IP (VoIP) will be a key application in the 4G broadband data world on 4g wireless networks for mobile operators.
Wireless networks based on 4G wireless technology will increasingly exploit VoIP protocols to handle the boom in mobile data, although carriers will continue to realize most of their revenue from voice traffic, according to a study from Maravedis, a global research firm. The study forecasts that Long Term Evolution (LTE) and WiMax technologies might contain all-IP backbones that would save carriers money.
Recent progress has led to optimism that specs for the Long-Term Evolution next-generation broadband-wireless technology could be completed early in 2009. LTE continues to gain global support from leading wireless operators such as Vodafone, Verizon Wireless, TeliaSonera and NTT DoCoMo.
European regulators have started meeting on how best to divvy up 4G spectrums that will become available after broadcasters switch from analog to digital TV signals. The bandwidth in question is in the 790 MHz to 862 MHz spectrum and is considered prime real estate for deployments based on what telecom companies term “Long-Term Evolution” technology.
The 3rd Generation Partnership Project, or 3GPP group that oversees specifications for LTE 4G wireless standard and protocols remains hopeful of completing specs for the evolved packet core, EPC, by March even after extending the deadline for completing them.
Source: 3gwirelessjobs.com
Your thoughts on Market trends and future developments would be of great interest to me. Please feel free to contact me to discuss this on 01932 245500 / 07833 232879 or emma.waddington@jenrickcpi.co.uk.
We often have requirements for WiMax Consultants and professionals within Networks. Please see our list of current IT for further information: http://www.jenrickcpi.co.uk/it-jobs-uk
January 27th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
3G to 4G transition
[Pradeep Samudra] - Please note that mere upgrade of speed does not warrent an automatic deployment of the so-called 4G technologies. A solid business case must be established such that moneyed entities are willing to put their money on line.
WiMAX vs LTE
[Pradeep Samudra] This is religious war. Both sides claim valid points. Only time will decide [politically correct statement].
VoIP
[Pradeep Samudra] Please note that voice cannot be a killer app for any new technology. Something else must be that killer app for the technology to be considered seriously. 3G has great voice service. 4G must leapfrog that and show value. Voice cannot be that value.
LTE
[Pradeep Samudra] UMTS operators do not need to deploy LTE urgently because of HSPA; CDMA operators (if they choose LTE) do. WiMAX folks need their stuff as well.
We have learnt that new technology by itself is not a enabler. A viable business model, while a must, might help.
January 29th, 2009 at 9:40 am
Hi Emma,
As I can see the big Vendors supported LTE and WiMax is going down. Ericsson and Huawei are the best and they have the bigest marketshare in 3G also they continue to struggle now in 4G. But still a lot of things in 4G for example in Ericsson is top secret but WiMax definetly lost against LTE.
Thats my opinion…