Beyond 4G

Saturday, 31 October 2009 Source: 3G4G Wireless I keep on hearing about OTT apps everywhere I go nowadays. I know roughly what they mean but I couldnt find a proper definition anywhere. Here is my attampt to write a bit about what OTT means. Traditionally lots of services like Voice and Television for example is delivered in a conventional way where Voice was transferred via a PSTN or a Mobile network and similarly TV was delivered via Cable, Satellite, DVB-T kind of technology. With Internet becoming common and Broadband access available to everyone, easily and cheaply, new applications are available to deliver Voice and TV kinds of services. The most popular voice app is for example Skype and Youtube is an example of TV (even though its more like Video On Demand) These apps cause two main problems. The first problem is that the companies using this traditional medium starts losing customers and their cost per person goes up forcing their profits down. At the same time the am...

Published on Monday, October 26 2009 2:59 pm by saeba The ultra-light, power-saving X-Slim Series X340 and X600 models are the first Taiwan-based brand to receive WiMAX Forum Certification. On October 26, MSI will participate in Broadband Taiwan. At the international WiMAX product & application area, portability & the latest generation of mobile communications technology will unite to display MSI's "insist on the best" and strengths in new product development. MSI has devoted significant R&D capabilities to becoming not only a member of the international WiMAX Forum, but also the first in the world to release a mini notebook capable of supporting WiMAX, the Wind U120. In addition, the integration of the popular Intel CULV platform and release of the ultra-thin, power-saving X-Slim X340 and X600 WiMAX notebook models, give consumers the opportunity to Read full article...

Source: Telecoms.com Taiwanese Mobile WiMAX operator VMax Telecom teamed up with Korean equipment manufacturer Samsung on Monday to demonstrate what they claim is the industry’s first Mobile WiMAX roaming service. At the Broadband Taiwan conference, Samsung and VMax demonstrated a Mobile Internet Device called Mondi registered on the Clearwire network in the US, roaming on VMax’s network, as well as interoperability between VMax’s service in northern Taiwan and Tatung’s WiMAX network in southern Taiwan. VMax plans to provide commercial Mobile WiMAX service this year in Taipei City, Taiwan and will then expand the service to six additional major regions – including Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Keelung, Yilan and Lienchiang. Read full article...

Source: Telecoms.com The rise of the smartphone since Apple launched its genre-defining iPhone has been credited with many things. High on the list is the long-awaited arrival of meaningful progress in the sphere of location enabled services. And it wasn’t the conception of a particular service that gave LES this fillip, rather it was the more ready availability of GPS functionality in high end handsets, and the growing popularity of those handsets themselves. Overall handset shipments were down 6.1 per cent year on year for the second quarter of 2009 but smartphone sales increased by 27 per cent to reach almost 41 million, according to research firm Gartner. The analyst predicts that, globally, 26 per cent of mobile devices will be GPS-enabled in 2009, with the figure leaping to 76 per cent for North American sales. In Europe the number is more moderate, at 30 per cent, while Asia Pacific is a long way off the pace at 13 per cent. Read full article...

by telecoms.com editorial An extensive measurement campaign was carried out between June and August 2009 to assess the effect of mobile broadband optimisation on Internet access through notebook/netbook computers. Measurements were performed in and around London on all UK mobile networks offering mobile broadband products and conducted so that the results were comparable, regardless of the surrounding environment and traffic in the measured cell. Measurement results for operators that optimise showed smaller webpage size compared with those that did not. It was concluded that file size is the dominant parameter affecting webpage download duration and that efficient optimisation dramatically improves user experience with no perceived loss of quality. With optimisation, webpage size was reduced by up to 52% compared with non-optimised fixed broadband, savings that can significantly impact radio capacity Click here to read this whitepaper: bm-white-paper-v6fin

Source: Telecoms.com As communication service providers voice revenues decline, data has become the driver of revenue growth. However future revenues from data are threatened, by the explosion of non-revenue generating traffic, from over-the-top applications and Web 2.0 services. Efficient ‘bit’ delivery will not be enough. Operators need the means to innovate, to use their key assets, to add more value to their services. Combining Policy Management with real-time charging can change how service providers package and sell data access, bringing subscriber and network data together to: Create innovative data plans to differentiate offerings Control subscriber usage of network resources and services Enable subscribers to personalize services to build loyalty Policy Management is an emerging area with great promise in meeting operators’ requirements for dynamic, intelligent, and granular control of subscribers, services and networks. Attend this Webinar to understand how policy co...

The Ultra Mobile Device (UMD) market - that is, the shipments of UMPCs (Ultra Mobile PCs), netbooks, MIDs (Mobile Internet Devices) and mobile consumer electronics devices combined - is expected to achieve a 385 million unit size in 2014. The diversity of form factors and device types we see today will likely continue as vendors look to meet each audience's unique preferences, says ABI Research. "Consumers and business buyers are only recently accustomed to the netbook feature set," says senior analyst Jeff Orr. "Regardless of vendor, the majority of today's netbooks ship with Intel processors and Windows XP into developed markets." As uptake continues, developing markets will become the larger opportunity leveraging both ARM-based processors and Linux operating systems. The premium netbook category will also be established, offering larger screens and greater choices in connectivity solutions. Given little distinction today in feature-set and a relative...

Source : Cellular News Huawei says that it has successfully completed the world's first test for LTE self-organizing network (SON) with T-Mobile in Innsbruck, Austria. Through the solution's ability to configure, optimize and recover automatically, Huawei said that the LTE SON will offer operators operational cost savings associated with network planning, network deployment and network optimization. Using T-Mobile's existing eNodeBs, the test aims at verifying Automatic Neighbour Relation (ANR) functionality in Huawei's SON solution. The test result shows a high successful handover rate and demonstrates that the SON solution is able to automatically establish and optimize neighbour relations, and satisfies the requirements of future LTE commercial networks. As network topology changes, the LTE SON solution will ensure a high level of network connectivity and optimization of network-wide performance. Read full article...

Although mobile network operators and technology suppliers are firmly committed to LTE as the cornerstone for 4G networks, major disagreements about the importance of including voice service as part of early LTE deployments could lead to the kind of industry fragmentation that adversely affected 3G rollouts, according to the latest report from Unstrung Insider. "Nearly everyone in the mobile phone industry agrees that LTE is the way forward for data, but that consensus does not extend to voice over LTE as yet," notes John Blau, research analyst with Unstrung Insider and author of the report. "Some mobile operators view LTE initially as a data-only play and do not see a powerful case for rushing into voice, while other operators are worried that LTE without voice could be off to a difficult start." Read full article...

Source: ZD net Motorola is back in a big way. Motorola’s Droid made a big splash two weeks ago when it debuted in a Verizon teaser ad during prime-time across the country and slammed America’s favorite smartphone, the Apple iPhone. Now that it’s finally been fully revealed, it’s clear that the Droid has become the yardstick by which all Android smartphones are to be measured. The Droid is Motorola’s second smartphone using Google’s free mobile platform, joining the Cliq on T-Mobile. While that phone focused on social communication integration by adding an innovative layer of software and services called Motoblur, it was at times sluggish, much like the T-Mobile G1 and myTouch 3G handsets that also run on Android. Up until now, Android hasn’t had enough horsepower — by hardware or software — to give the well-thought out iPhone serious competition. That’s no longer the case, as the Droid is bulging with premium features both outside and in. Read full article...

Saudi Arabia's Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) has raised SAR 900 million (US$240 million) from SABB bank as a medium term financing to support the capital expenditure of its subsidiary Bayanat Al-Oula. In a statement released on Wednesday, Mobily said the 66-month financing has been arranged on clean and unsecured basis on Bayanat's Balance sheet. Read full article...

Source: Cellular News Malaysia's telecoms regulator has fined three of the country's four WiMAX license holders for missing their network rollout targets. The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) is reported to have issued the fines last week, reported The Star newspaper. All three operators are appealing their fines. The players fined are YTL e-Solutions (RM1.9mil), AsiaSpace (RM1.7mil) and REDtone International (RM200,000) for failure to meet the 25% population coverage by the end of March. Read Full Article...

Source: Cellular News Nokia Siemens Networks says that it is conducting end-to-end LTE interoperability testing with four, leading but unnamed, device vendors across several frequency bands required in different regions, including AWS, 700 MHz and 2100 MHz. The tests cover several steps in end-to-end network configuration based on commercial LTE hardware, including the Flexi Multiradio Base Station and the Evolved Packet Core, and standard compliant software. The tests show the interoperability of the Nokia Siemens Networks LTE radio and Flexi NS and Flexi NG evolved packet core network elements with real LTE terminals, and end to end compliancy with the LTE standard (3GPP March 09 baseline specifications). Read Full Article...

Source : 3G4G wireless The unremitting growth in data traffic will bring about a 3G network capacity crisis for some mobile network operators as early as 2010. This dire scenario, according to a new study from Unwired Insight, will only be avoided by the early deployment of LTE, and the acceptance that additional LTE spectrum will be required to satisfy this demand. With 3G traffic volumes set to increase by a factor of 20 by 2015--driven by many technology factors and also dramatic reductions in mobile data pricing--Alastair Brydon, co-author of the new study, points to the example of mobile broadband pricing that has fallen as low as US$2 per gigabyte, "which is nearly half a million times smaller than the price per gigabyte of an SMS message." Brydon believes that early LTE will be necessary for the following reasons: As 2G users continue to migrate to 3G services, the available capacity per 3G user will decline rapidly in networks utilising HSPA, to less than 100...

Global newswire DENVER, Oct. 29, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The CDMA Development Group (CDG) today announced that it has been accepted as a Market Representation Partner (MRP) by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Under this strategic marketing partnership, the CDG agrees to facilitate the interworking of CDMA2000(R) and LTE technologies on behalf of the CDMA community to support future LTE deployments. Likewise, the CDG's status as an MRP strengthens 3GPP's LTE advocacy amongst existing CDMA operators as they seek to expand their market leadership by complementing their 3G CDMA offerings with OFDM-based technologies. At a signing ceremony today, Perry LaForge, executive director of the CDG, said, "The CDG is pleased to accept this role as an MRP for 3GPP. CDMA2000 operators will be among the first to augment their 3G CDMA networks with LTE, and representing the interests of 3GPP to the CDMA community will help ensure that the technology succeeds commercially...

In support of the Indian Government's Bharat Nirman rural development agenda, BSNL, HCL and Intel have announced a series of wide-reaching initiatives to spur economic and educational opportunities in India by expanding access to wireless broadband Internet and affordable computers. Intel and BSNL will jointly propagate wireless broadband Internet in what is intended to ultimately become a nationwide mobile WiMAX network. BSNL also will work with Intel and HCL to make available in India's rural regions WiMAX-capable nettop computers designed by the two companies and made in India by HCL using the Intel Atom processor. A memorandum of understanding to start a WiMAX acceleration program was detailed today during a regional visit by Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini. Lauding the initiatives, Shri Sachin Pilot, Honorable Minister of State for Communication and IT said, "The Internet is the force that will propel India into the next decade. We commend BSNL, HCL an...

Sohu IT reports that China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has submitted China's TD-LTE-Advanced technical specification to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), thereby ensuring that the technical specification will be considered as an international standard candidate for 4G communications. TD-LTE-Advanced (LTE-Advanced TDD spec) is the next-generation successor to the Chinese-developed TD-SCDMA platform. The ITU has thus far received six 4G standard candidate drafts in all, covering LTE-Advanced and 802.16m technologies, as well as the two TDD and FDD wireless access systems. TD-LTE-Advanced was submitted at the ITU meeting as IMT-Advanced candidate technology, which is supported by major telecom operators and network device manufacturers including France Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, AT&T, NTT, KT, China Mobile, Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei and ZTE. The selected technologies are expected to be accorded the official designation of IMT-Adva...

Source: 3G4G wireless Africans are buying mobile phones at a world record rate, with take-up soaring by 550% in five years, research shows. "The mobile phone revolution continues," says a UN report charting the phenomenon that has transformed commerce, healthcare and social lives across the planet. Mobile subscriptions in Africa rose from 54m to almost 350m between 2003 and 2008, the quickest growth in the world. The global total reached 4bn at the end of last year and, although growth was down on the previous year, it remained close to 20%. On average there are now 60 mobile subscriptions for every 100 people in the world. In developing countries, the figure stands at 48 – more than eight times the level of penetration in 2000. In Africa, average penetration stands at more than a third of the population, and in north Africa it is almost two-thirds. Gabon, the Seychelles and South Africa now boast almost 100% penetration. Only five African countries – Burundi, Djibout...

Source : NEC Press NEC Corporation announced today its selection as a supplier for Telefonica's LTE pilot trial. NEC was one of the six providers chosen for Telefonica's test projects which will be conducted in six different countries where the telecom operates. The project, coordinated globally and underpinned by the advantages afforded from Telefonica's geographic scale, forms part of the process for selecting technology partners in LTE networks, the rollout of which Telefonica aims to be prepared for, in line with its status as an international leader in innovation. NEC will participate in the trial which includes laboratory tests and the installation of e-node Bs in the field. NEC's wireless base stations are built in compliance with 3GPP (*1) mobile communications standards. In addition to featuring the world's top level amplifier efficiency, the systems can also be efficiently constructed and operated in an environmentally friendly way through the adopti...

Japan will make up more than half of Asia-Pacific's forecast 14.4 million Long Term Evolution (LTE) subscribers by the end of 2015, according to Informa Telecoms & Media. NTT DoCoMo and smaller Japanese data-centric cellco, eMobile, will be among the first to launch LTE services in the region, with DoCoMo planning commercial availability in December 2010 using the 2100MHz spectrum band. As there is not enough spectrum at 2100MHz to support a full LTE deployment, however, DoCoMo will use its newly allocated spectrum at 1.5GHz for LTE come 2012. According to Nicole McCormick, senior analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media, "DoCoMo is taking a very rapid approach and is rolling out LTE as quickly as possible, bypassing HSPA+ completely. On the other hand, eMobile, has already launched 21Mbps services and view HSPA+ as an important stepping stone to LTE." Read full article...

Source: LTE Watch According to news sources in South Korea, LG Telecom (LGT) quietly revealed their intention to migrate to LTE for 4G service in South Korea. LG-Nortel and Samsung will provide the multi-mode base stations which are part of the company's green network upgrade. SKT and KTF (now part of KT), the other two mobile operators in the country, have already announced their LTE migration path for 4G previously. Unlike SKT and KTF who will migrate from HSPA to LTE, LGT will go from EV-DO to LTE, similar to the case of Verizon Wireless. It was probably a matter of time for LGT to announce the LTE migration plan since it was only running EV-DO network, and this officially puts LGT on the LTE camp. Now, my speculation is that other major EV-DO operators (noticeably, Sprint) who haven't announced such plans will follow the same path down the road since WiMAX does not seem to be a viable migration path for the FDD part of the network Read full article....

SEOUL, Oct 23, 2009 (Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX) -- SSNJY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Samsung Electronics Co., the world's No. 1 mobile phone maker, said Friday it has clinched a deal to supply equipment for fourth-generation wireless technology. The company said it agreed to supply the long term evolution (LTE) equipment to TeliaSonera, the largest telecom firm in Northern Europe, which plans to provide commercial service with the next-generation wireless technology for the first time in the world. Read full article....

Source: WiTech Presentation...

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Source: Digitimes Asustek is likely to expand its WiMAX product lineup to include netbooks, notebooks and e-book readers with built-in WiMAX modules, according to industry sources. Asustek is expected to roll out a 9-inch e-book reader by the end of 2009 and begin to provide e-reader device to telecom carriers in early 2010, the sources added Read full article...

Source: Digitimes Taiwan-based WiMAX operator Vmax Telecom plans to team up with Taipei-based taxi fleet operator M-Taxi to promote its forthcoming WiMAX services and to ramp up ARPU (average revenue per user), according to company chairman CK Liu. Under the cooperation, each taxi of the fleet will be installed with an integrated WiMAX/GPS mobile Internet device (MID), which will allow customers to access Internet, IPTV and mobile data services while riding, Liu indicated. Read full article....

Source : Cellular news download report here The report says that 3G traffic volumes are set to increase by a factor of 20 by 2015, driven by many factors, including the increased adoption of traffic-intensive services such as mobile broadband and mobile TV services, the increased proportion of smartphones and dramatic reductions in mobile data pricing. Dr Alastair Brydon, co-author of the new report says, "Pricing of mobile data has changed dramatically since the days that SMS was the dominant service. Mobile broadband pricing has fallen as low as USD2 per gigabyte, which is nearly half a million times smaller than the price per gigabyte of an SMS message." As 2G users continue to migrate to 3G services, the available capacity per 3G user will decline rapidly in networks utilising HSPA, to less than 100MB per user per month in some cases. LTE will be essential to counter this decline. Read full article...

Source : Cellular news TeliaSonera says that it has secured delivery of Samsung supplied data modems for its LTE launch in Sweden and Norway in 2010. TeliaSonera's goal is to be the first operator in the world to launch LTE on a commercial basis. Read full article...

Motorola says that it has won a contract to supply the first WiMAX based smart metering hardware. The contract has been awarded by the Australian energy utility, SP AusNet, covering around 680,000 customers in Victoria. The report says that 3G traffic volumes are set to increase by a factor of 20 by 2015, driven by many factors, including the increased adoption of traffic-intensive services such as mobile broadband and mobile TV services, the increased proportion of smartphones and dramatic reductions in mobile data pricing. Read full article...

Source: Cellular news Malaysian based WiMAX network operator, Packet One has acquired a WiMAX license in Singapore, after buying the edundant Facilities-based Operator (FBO) license from Singapore based Pacnet. The transfer of the license and its radio spectrum right is still waiting for approval from the Singapore telecoms regulator. Read full article....

E ricsson has announced the successful completion of interoperability tests between its live LTE network in Stockholm, Sweden and Samsung supplied LTE modems. Yesterday, Samsung won a contract to supply those LTE modems to TeliaSonera. Read Full Article....

Four shortlisted to supply 7,000 base stations for telco's rural broadband push. India's Gemini Communications Ltd. has emerged the lowest bidder for a Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. contract to provide equipment for broadband services in rural areas, the Business Line newspaper reported Tuesday, citing unnamed people close to the development. State-run Bharat Sanchar has shortlisted four companies for the contract and Gemini quoted INR9.83 billion, the report said. China's ZTE Corp. quoted INR10.65 billion, U.S.-based Harris Stratex Networks Inc. bid INR10.94 billion and Israel's Alvarion Ltd. quoted INR11.01 billion, the report said. Read full article....

Download slides of IEEE response to IMT-A requirement Download slides of 3GPP response to IMT-A requirement Thanks,BP

While traditionally relegated for more fixed type deployments, Mobile WiMAX networks are increasingly being deployed at frequencies of 3.5GHz and higher. Last week, Imagine Communications announced that it was launching a nation-wide Mobile WiMAX network in Ireland utilizing 3.5GHz spectrum. Clearwire also announced that it would deploy 3.5GHz Mobile WiMAX network in Malaga and Seville, Spain next year using equipment from Alvarion and ZTE. Dutch WiMAX operator Worldmax operates a 3.5GHz Mobile WiMAX network in the Netherlands and was one of the first operators in the world to deploy a Mobile WiMAX network in 2008. Why are Mobile WiMAX deployments in these bands significant? With the exception of the US, the 3.5GHz band is one of the most widely allocated bands for broadband wireless access worldwide. With spectrum scarce and the demand for broadband soaring, the ability to provide mobile and portable high-speed broadband using USB dongles and easy to use plug-and-play type devices a...

Press release, October 21; Michael McManus, DIGITIMES [Wednesday 21 October 2009] Japan will make up more than half of Asia Pacific's forecasted 14.4 million Long Term Evolution (LTE) subscribers by the end of 2015, according to Informa Telecoms and Media. NTT DoCoMo and smaller Japanese data-centric cellco, eMobile, will be among the first to launch LTE services in the region, with DoCoMo planning commercial availability in December 2010 using the 2100MHz spectrum band. As there is not enough spectrum at 2100MHz to support a full LTE deployment. However, DoCoMo will use its newly allocated spectrum at 1.5GHz for LTE come 2012. DoCoMo is taking a very rapid approach and is rolling out LTE as quickly as possible, bypassing HSPA+ completely. On the other hand, eMobile, has already launched 21Mbps services and view HSPA+ as an important stepping stone to LTE, stated to Nicole McCormick, sSenior analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media. Read full article...

Interviews with the 3GPP Plenary Chairmen September 2009 Video Link...

Press release, October 21; Meiling Chen, DIGITIMES [Wednesday 21 October 2009] The LTE infrastructure market is expected to top US$5 billion, fueled by E-Utran macrocell (eNodeB) deployments, and the number of LTE service subscribers is expected to exceed 72 million by 2013, according to Infonetics Research. "To date, the gloomy economic environment has not adversely affected service providers' LTE plans and commitments. In fact, the number of commercial LTE launches scheduled for 2010 has risen from 10 in March to 14 currently. As mobile operators initially build their LTE coverage, E-Utran is where the action will be. Later, as the time comes to figure out a way to monetize LTE-based services, the significance of the evolved packet core will rise," noted Stephane Teral, principal analyst for mobile and FMC infrastructure at Infonetics Research. Read full article...

An expert has claimed that both WiMax and long-term evolution (LTE) mobile broadband technology have key roles to play in the future of web services. Steve McCaffrey, vice president of European sales for mobile communications firm Motorola, has claimed each of the platforms have "a strong future", as they will be need to rectify access problems where fibre-optic broadband cannot be provided to certain homes and businesses. Talking to SiliconRepublic.com, he stated that his company alone is contracted to deploy a large number of WiMax base stations in the next few years. He added: "Broadband-based applications of the future will demand significant bandwidth. "Today's digital natives, the Millennials, who live online at all times, at home or on the move with the latest wireless devices, have a big appetite for broadband and applications. They won't tolerate 'adequate' connections." Earlier this month, O2 announced plans to trial LTE mobi...

Source: Cellular News An overwhelming 92 per cent of leading Telecoms Service providers believe that mobile operators need to change the charging models of their services. The majority of service providers believed that charging models should be based on data traffic because of the greater demand for high data volume services for handsets, through the increased use of mobile based internet and email access. The figures came from a survey at a recent Institute of Telecoms Professionals (ITP) Seminar on 'Innovation in Mobile Services', sponsored by Business Analytics provider SAS. A further 80 per cent of the surveyed attendees consider Dedicated Data Service Packages to be the most realistic avenue for boosting mobile operator revenues in the current financial climate. The demand for increased data and information services in mobile handsets has grown - as consumers are looking for faster Internet connectivity, a greater level of technical ability and the latest applicatio...

Source: Cellular News The ITU says that it has received six candidate technology submissions for the global 4G mobile wireless broadband technology known as IMT-Advanced. The selected technologies are expected to be accorded the official designation of IMT-Advanced - to qualify as true 4G technologies - in October 2010. The submissions were made in response to an open invitation in March 2008. The six proposals aligned around the 3GPP LTE Release 10 and beyond (LTE-Advanced) technology and the IEEE 802.16m technology, will be assessed against ITU-R requirements using a defined evaluation process. This rigorous assessment over the next year will be supported by the work of independent external evaluation groups that have been established around the world and will take place under the direction of ITU-R Working Party 5D.

The UK has put into action plans to bring enhanced mobile broadband coverage to as much as 90 per cent of the country and give many households access to fixed line broadband. At the end of last week, the UK government launched a consultation setting out its intention to implement a series of recommendations made by the Independent Spectrum Broker (ISB), Kip Meek, on how to make the best use of the country’s digital spectrum. Meek’s proposals were welcomed by the government’s Digital Britain report, and will make available parts of the spectrum suitable for mobile broadband and 3G to offer more sophisticated services and applications. The plans also address mobile phone ‘not spots’ – coverage dead zones in some rural areas. Read full article...

Source: Cellular news here are now approximately 4 million WiMAX subscribers worldwide, after the industry added 560,000 new customers in Q2 2009, reports Maravedis. The average BWA/WiMAX subscriber growth rate in Q2 2009 was 16.5% over Q1 2009, and there was a 74% year-over-year growth rate since Q2 2008. Read full artilce...

Source : Cellular News South Korean mobile network operator, SK Telecom and Bell Labs, the research arm of Alcatel-Lucent have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that provides a framework for research projects in next-generation telecommunications technology. In the area of wireless telecommunications technology, one potential project involves the two companies working toward defining what the architecture and shape of wireless networks will look like beyond 4G networks that network operators are introducing today. Another potential area focuses on developing methods for enabling increasingly complex networks to manage and configure themselves. Demand for these self-optimizing networks is expected to grow as network operators aim to achieve greater efficiencies. The two companies may also explore technologies that can be applied at the core of operator networks within the next two to three years such as Cloud Computing, a concept that describes the transformation of applica...

­ZTE has opened a LTE testing laboratory at its U.S. headquarters in Richardson, Texas. In the lab, ZTE will demonstrate and test its dual-mode CDMA/LTE platform, which enables carriers to lay the foundation for the delivery of LTE services in the USA. Using the platform, ZTE can demonstrate an FTP downloading rate up to 52 Mbps at 10 MHz bandwidth and conduct CDMA voice service and LTE HD (High Definition) video demonstrations simultaneously. "With our new lab here in the U.S. we are demonstrating our heritage and core understanding of North American carriers and their technology requirements," said Mr. Jiang Xiangyang, executive president of ZTE North America. "We look forward to helping U.S. carriers deepen their understanding of ZTE's innovative, flexible and cost-effective dual-mode CDMA/LTE platform." Read full article...

Nokia Corp. (NOK - Snapshot Report) yesterday announced its sales and distribution plan for its first netbook called “Booklet 3G”. The U.S. retailer Best Buy Co. Inc. (BBY - Snapshot Report) will sell this netbook (mini laptop) for $299.99 together with AT&T’s (T - Analyst Report) 3G data plan of $60 per month for a two-year contract. Also, a carrier-free unsubsidized option will be available for a price of $599. Booklet 3G will be available from mid-November. The pros and cons of Nokia’s new venture are as under: Read full article...

Interesting Relay article from 3g4g wireless blog.

Source: Rethink Wireless Only a few weeks ago at the 4G World event in Chicago, Cisco was dismissing core networking specialist Starent as an unproven player "we hardly even notice". Apparently the IP giant's attention has sharpened in the meantime, since it has now paid a respectable $2.9bn to acquire the firm, solidifying an already powerful position in the mobile IP core. Starent should bring Cisco a strengthened presence in the US carriers and LTE, having gained a high profile deal for Verizon Wireless' 4G core, and the deal may also have been motivated by the need to outsmart Juniper, itself rumored to be adding Starent to Nokia Siemens in its anti-Cisco alliance. Read full article...

October 15, 2009 — 5:58am ET | By Sean Buckley Claiming to be one of the first operators to make the switch to LTE, Japan's NTT DoCoMo is putting some juice into its IP core network by deploying Alcatel-Lucent's 7450 Ethernet Service Switch (ESS). The mobile operator will leverage the ESS to transform its network to all-IP, enabling it to deliver of course voice, but also high speed data and video services. Along with addressing the need to accommodate latency-sensitive services such as voice and video traffic, the new network deployment will help NTT pave a path to upgrade its network to 10 Gbps and, as demands dictate, to 40 Gbps and ultimately 100 Gbps. Read full article...

Motorola presenting case for LTE Operator's Next Generation Upgrade Strategy – The Case for Investing in LTE Now LTE Video Impact & Opportunity Thanks,BP

Click for Webinar Held on October 15, 2009. The presentation file is here.

Source: Alcatel-Lucent press release Alcatel-Lucent today announced that Bell Labs, its research arm -- in cooperation with Deutsche Telekom Laboratories, the Fraunhofer Heinrich-Hertz Institut, and antenna supplier Kathrein -- has conducted the industry’s first live field tests of Coordinated Multipoint Transmission (CoMP) a new technology that will increase data transmission rates and help ensure consistent service quality and throughput on Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless broadband networks as well as on 3G networks. By coordinating and combining signals from multiple antennas, CoMP, will make it possible for mobile users to enjoy consistent performance and quality when they access and share videos, photos and other high-bandwidth services whether they are close to the center of an LTE cell or at its outer edges. Read full articel...

Despite a mobile market dominated by the GSM family of standards, the Chairman of the WiMAX Forum believes that there is plenty of opportunity for the alternative WiMAX networks, especially in rolling out broadband in the developing world. Watch video...

LTE: The mobile broadband big bang With the demand for mobile data services predicted to go through the roof, Long Term Evolution (LTE) will add a whole new dimension to mobile broadband. Offering benefits such as extreme efficiency and even more personalized experience, it will also help bridge the gap between traffic and revenue growth. Source: Nokia Mobile: The broadband big bang The growth rate of mobile broadband has been truly staggering, with 186 million subscribers worldwide at the end of 2008. Through a range of attractive tariffs, widespread HSPA networks, snazzy new 3G devices and cheap USB modems; mobile broadband has successfully tapped the mass market and is showing no signs of slowing down. . By 2014, the number of mobile broadband subscribers is predicted to grow by 1000%, and Ovum estimates that there will be more than 2 billion mobile broadband users generating annual revenues of USD 137 billion globally. Read Full Aritcle.....

Download full LTE Market Report Paper from here...

Ericsson says 1GB can be had for 1 Euro Here's an interesting article from Ericsson on the business case of mobile broadband . Taking CAPEX, OPEX for both access and core network into account, the article comes to the conclusion that once an economy of scale is reached in terms of the number of broadband subscribers, the network can deliver 1GB of data for one Euro. While this is the main outcome of the paper, there are a number of other pieces of information in there on which the calculation is based which are quite interesting. Here are some which I noted: 20% of the cells carry 50% of the traffic. I've heard of similar numbers before and I think it's a good thing because the network operator can focus on upgrading a subset of all cells rather than having to work on the whole network simultaneously. 3-5% of the cells carry very heavy load. The article doesn't say where such cells are usually located. It would be interesting if this load is mostly generated in-h...

Source: ISP Review In the space of less than two years Mobile Broadband services, delivered by each of the country’s (UK) five main cellular mobile phone network operators (O2 , T-Mobile, Vodafone, Three (3) and Orange), have gone from being slow and costly business-only services to an affordable product with mass market appeal – fast wireless broadband Internet access wherever you want it. This radical change is due in no small part to the advent of High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) technology, an enhancement to existing 3rd Generation (3G) mobile networks. HSPA can deliver download speeds almost on-par with existing land-line based broadband services and is thus often referred to as a 3.5G or 3G+ technology. Theoretically HSPA can deliver download speeds of up to 14.4Mbps (5.8Mbps upstream), rising to 42Mbps (22Mbps upstream) with HSPA+ technology. However for all its many improvements HSPA is still a deeply imperfect technology. It has problems with latency times (low latency is ...

Source: GSA The LTE/SAE Trial Initiative (LSTI) is a global, collaborative technology trial initiative focused on accelerating the availability of commercial and interoperable next generation LTE mobile broadband systems. The Initiative was formally launched in May 2007 by leading telecommunications companies. Since its inception LSTI has expanded to include 39 members. This presentation provides an update of their important work, including progress on the Proof of Concept Activity for LTE FDD and TD LTE modes and the key results obtained, Interoperability Testing (IOT) and preparations for the Friendly Customer Trials. Published by GSA with the kind permission of LTE/SAE Trial Initiative www.lstiforum.org Download presentation here...

TT Correspondent | New Delhi | 11 Oct 2009 In what could severely mar the roadmap for Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) services which are generally considered to be related to WiMAX services, the Wireless Planning Commission (WPC) has highlighted some key areas of concern for spectrum bands identified for BWA services in the country. On the 2.5 GHz band which was originally marked for BWA use, the WPC has pointed out the band is presently being used extensively by INSAT operators. “The Department of Space (DoS) is also planning new series of INSAT systems to use this band for multimedia broadcast applications to fixed and mobile users,” says WPC. On the 3.5 GHz band, the WPC points out that spectrum in the 3.4-3.6 GHz band is used by satellite based systems. The WPC says that experiments are being conducted to assess the electromagnetic compatibility between WiMAX systems and satellite based services. WiMAX-based services are already running on the 3.3-3.4 GHz band. “D...

Chief Technology Officer John Donovan of AT&T gave a fantastic presentation about the future of data, and how AT&T is planning it’s next few years. This was the most interesting presentation in all the keynotes, as he was able to provide a large number of facts and statistics about the data use in the US. Below are the slides from his presentation. Read full article....

Source : WiMAX Forum Global WiMAX network deployments surpass 500 GENEVA – October 6, 2009 – The WiMAX Forum® and executives from premier suppliers and operators were on hand during ITU Telecom World 2009 to express their commitment to build and trial WiMAX Release 2 based on the IEEE 802.16m standard. Ecosystem participants represented Alvarion, Beceem, Cisco, Clearwire, Huawei, Intel, KT, Samsung, UQC, Yota and ZTE. Also revealed was a milestone of 500 network deployments in more than 145 countries – placing WiMAX as the leading mobile broadband technology. The WiMAX Forum, along with 50 companies, announced the endorsement of IEEE’s submission to ITU-R that proposes an IEEE 802.16m-based candidate for IMT-Advanced. The WiMAX Forum also announced that it will finalize its WiMAX Release 2 specification in parallel with IEEE 802.16m and IMT-Advanced, ensuring that WiMAX Release 2 networks and devices will remain backward compatible with legacy WiMAX Release 1 based on IEEE 802.16...

Source : Unstrung news Think the battle between WiMax and Long Term Evolution (LTE) is over? Think again. The WiMax and LTE camps are rallying forces again to win the hearts and minds of operators for future mobile broadband networks. This time, the wireless groups are competing for acceptance at the International Telecommunication Union, Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) as the primary standard for IMT-Advanced (that's 4G to you and me). (See ITU Approves New 4G Specs and Wireless Camps Prep Fresh 4G Battle.) Today is an important deadline for documents to be submitted to the ITU-R so that the technology candidates can be considered, and both the WiMax and LTE supporters have met this deadline. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. (IEEE) has submitted documents for its candidate 802.16m (a.k.a. WiMax Release 2), and the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has submitted documents for LTE-Advanced. Read full article...

Source: ATIS Date: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 Time: 1:00 – 2:00 pm EDT Discussion: As operators will need increased capacity to accommodate mobile IP capabilities in the near future, many are racing to evolve their networks to Long Term Evolution (LTE). Among next generation standards, LTE has emerged as the preferred solution to bring rapid evolution from diverse 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and 3GPP2 legacy networks. Just what implications does the LTE-evolution bring? What does your legacy network mean? Once an operator commits to LTE, what kinds of new business can be derived, and what new revenue streams open? How will LTE -- a capitol intensive technology -- generate additional revenues for operators and their share holders? During this webinar we will discuss and define: * Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Evolution Data Optimized (EVDO), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), and the Evolution to LTE * Network Efficiency enabled through LTE and IP based pla...

Source: 3GPP The 3GPP Partners, which unite more than 370 leading mobile technology companies, made a formal submission to the ITU yesterday, proposing that LTE Release 10 & beyond (LTE-Advanced) be evaluated as a candidate for IMT-Advanced. The ITU had set a deadline of 7 October for proposals to be received and 3GPP responded by submitting a comprehensive description of LTE-Advanced, an evolution of the LTE technology which has received considerable support from the world’s leading mobile operators. The submission was made jointly in the name of the 3GPP Organizational Partners: ARIB, ATIS, CCSA, ETSI, TTA and TTC, which represent the North American, European and Asian regions and make 3GPP a truly global initiative. Adrian Scrase, Head of the 3GPP Mobile Competence Centre, speaking in Geneva at the ITU Telecom 2009 Forum, stressed the evolutionary aspects of the LTE-Advanced proposal, commenting: “More than 30 operators have already announced their intention to deploy the ...

Source : PC World The LTE (Long-Term Evolution) modems shown at ITU Telecom World are still very much under development and will be ready to ship toward the end of next year, according to vendors. ZTE has provided the most detailed specifications of its upcoming modems. Currently, it's waiting for Qualcomm to start shipping the commercial chipsets. That will happen in September, which will leave it just enough time to get products out before the end of the year, said Xiaodong Zhu, CTO at ZTE in Western Europe, in an interview at the telecom conference. But the operators aren't convinced that ZTE and the other modem manufacturers will be able to do that. A unanimous panel of operators, including AT&T, NTT DOCOMO and Telefónica, voiced concerns about their ability to have devices ready by the end of next year.

Source: LTE World Download LTE Whitepaper...

Source : LTE World October 9, 2009 | Based on OMA DM and DS standards, Funambol collaborates with WiMax and LTE pioneers to perform rich media sync with social networks, email systems and PCs Funambol, the leading provider of open source mobile cloud sync and push email for billions of phones, today introduced the world's first open source 4G (fourth-generation) mobile cloud platform for device management and synchronization. The platform enables management of mobile devices, and synchronization of diverse mobile media, over WiMax and LTE with social networks, email systems and PCs. The company's software leverages the prevailing Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) standards for device management (DM) and data synchronization (DS). Funambol is working with some of the largest companies in the industry to deploy innovative 4G mobile cloud sync services over the coming months. "4G will usher in new mobile services, such as live video, videoconferencing and HD movies," said...

Source: VT Silicon press release VT Silicon, a fabless semiconductor startup in Atlanta, GA, today announced the industry’s first silicon-based power amplifier capable of meeting the stringent operating requirements of 4G wireless data transmissions. This breakthrough milestone was achieved after 2 ½ years of privately funded development by using the company’s patented Linearity Enhancement Technology (LET™) to achieve the power, efficiency, and linearity required by today’s battery-powered 4G broadband mobile devices. The use of silicon (Silicon Germanium, or SiGe) instead of the traditional, more expensive Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) allows a significantly lower cost device with a much higher level of integration. The new PA design has been shown to compete effectively with GaAs PAs on key 4G specifications such as EVM, PAE, and ACPR as defined by the WiMAX Forum™ and 3GPP. Read full article...

Long Term Evolution (LTE) is the project name of a new air interface for wireless access being developed by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). LTE is the evolution of 3GPP’s Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) towards an all-IP network. The LTE specifications provide a framework for increasing capacity, improving spectrum efficiency, improving cell-edge performance, and reducing latency. Many of the targets for LTE are similar to those for the continuing development of High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) – generally known as HSPA+ – although LTE has some specific additional capabilities such as flexible channel bandwidths and the advantages of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA). Both LTE and HSPA+ are being developed in Release 8 of the 3GPP specifications, which also include work on the evolution of EDGE, a technology based on the GSM air interface. Read full article...

Source: Gigaom After writing up a storm about the next-generation cellular Long-Term Evolution standard a few weeks ago, I noticed that several commenters were confused, critical or just plain wrong about LTE and WiMax, the other 4G network. So I called a few people and tried to figure out the salient differences between the two. First, both are 4G technologies designed to move data rather than voice. Both are IP networks based on OFDM technology — so rather than rivals such as GSM and CDMA, they’re more like siblings. But sibling rivalry does exist, so there’s still plenty of differences to hash out. Let’s start with the genesis of the two technologies.WiMax is based on a IEEE standard (802.16), and like that other popular IEEE effort, Wi-Fi, it’s an open standard that was debated by a large community of engineers before getting ratified. In fact, we’re still waiting on the 802.16m standard for faster mobile WiMax to be ratified. The level of openness means WiMax equipment is stand...

Source:softpedia Mobile phone carrier Verizon Wireless announced on Friday that it had successfully completed the first Long Term Evolution (LTE) fourth generation (4G) data call in Boston. The test was based on the 3GPP Release 8 standard, the same as the successful one the carrier performed in Seattle. According to the company, the data calls included video streaming, file upload and download, as well as web browsing. In addition, the carrier also announced successful Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) data calls, which would enable it to make voice transmissions over the upcoming LTE 4G network.

Source: 3G Americas 4G” is the term used to refer to the forthcoming "Fourth Generation" of mobile wireless services that is currently being defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Its Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) is in the process of establishing an agreed and globally accepted definition of 4G wireless systems using the name IMT-Advanced. Current 3G systems were established through ITU’s previous project on International Mobile Telecommunications 2000 (IMT-2000). As background for this project, ITU published a document, “Recommendation ITU-R M.1645: Framework and overall objectives of the future development of IMT-2000 and systems beyond IMT-2000.” The IMT-Advanced project schedule shows the requirements and evaluation criteria published in 2008 with submissions to occur through 2009. In Release 10, 3GPP will address the IMT-Advanced requirements in a version of LTE, called LTE-Advanced, for which specifications could become available in 2011....

Мне бы это устройство годика три назад, когда я жил в районе, не подключенном ни к одному провайдеру и вынужден был пользоваться коммутируемым доступом МТУ. Сейчас те времена вспоминаются с улыбкой, а научный прогресс тянет за собой вперед. Yota Egg является мобильным Wi-Fi роутером, работающий в сетях 4G (Wi-MAX). С ним отпадает нужда в интернет-кафе и прочих публичных точках доступа, потому что он сам является точкой Read full article....

PRLog (Press Release) – Oct 05, 2009 – ZTE Corporation (ZTE), a major global provider of telecommunications technology and network solutions, and Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI), a Hong Kong government founded research institute, today announced that the two companies will jointly demonstrate LTE TDD (Long Term Evolution Time Division Duplex) wireless HD video IOT (Interoperability Test) calls during the ITU Telecom World 2009 to be held in Geneva from 5-9 Oct. This is also the first cross-vendor LTE TDD IOT successfully completed in the industry. Read full article....

Sourece : Total Telecom Chinese vendor sets out its LTE store. ZTE said LTE will provide a good opportunity for the Chinese equipment manufacturer to penetrate more developed markets in future as the OFDM-based technology "does not have much to do with the past". According to Donglin Shen, VP wireless technology and strategy at ZTE, "LTE is a key opportunity for us as we are fairly new in developed markets." The company has an around 35% share of the Chinese 3G market, and said its global 3G market share has increased over the past year. Speaking to Total Telecom at ITU Telecom World in Geneva on Monday, Shen added that the market is clearly now converging on LTE, although he noted that operators still come to vendors with questions about when they should deploy the technology, and how they should resolve the thorny issue of voice over LTE. Read full article....

Webinar: 4G Mobile Broadband - The Network Impact By Cisco and Light Reading Analyst Video Webinar: 4G Mobile Broadband: The Network Impact By Cisco and Light Reading Analyst (Registration required)

Will LTE be the next major standard in mobile broadband technology? Source : techworld When the first Long Term Evolution, or LTE, network is launched next year, users can expect to see a download speed of about 20Mbps, according to Motorola and Chinese networking giant ZTE. On the show floor at ITU World, ZTE and Fujitsu are showing upcoming modems that support download speeds of up to 100Mbps (megabits per second) and upload speeds of up to 50Mbps when connected to an LTE network, according to their respective spec sheets. But no user will ever see those kinds of speeds. The real-world bandwidth will instead be about 20Mbps when downloading data and 5Mbps when uploading data, according to Xiaodong Zhu, CTO at ZTE in Western Europe. Those numbers are seconded by Stephane Daeuble, senior manager at Motorola LTE Global Marketing. Read full article....

This Motorola whitepaper defines the most common throughput measures and provides insight into the associated variables, why considering peak rates for evaluating a business case is misleading, and why average sector throughputs are much more realistic when evaluating the business case for different technology options. Whitepaper further looks at the expected performance of LTE, supported applications, and how other factors such as latency and Quality of Service (QoS) set LTE apart from previous wireless technologies. Download white paper here....

Download paper here...

Review of August, 2009 Download report here. About The WiMAX Forum® Industry Research Report is a monthly summary of primary and secondary research and news, provided by WiMAX Forum to the industry. It includes the latest updates on WiMAX Forum-tracked statistics, product certification, regulatory information, technology standards and more. This report will be published and made available on the WiMAX Forum website the first week of every month. If you have any questions or comments regarding the research contained herein, please contact Jonathan Singer, the WiMAX Forum's Market Research Manager at Jonathan.Singer@wimaxforum.org. Read full Article...

Source: fiercebroadbandwireless Altair Semiconductor predicts the first LTE handsets will come to market in the second half of next year but won't achieve mass market appeal until 2012. Eran Eshed, Altair's co-founder and vice president of marketing and business development, said the company will debut its first LTE radio modem this November. In an interview with Unstrung, he said phones using Altair chips could come to market later in 2010. "You'll see real handsets in real trials in the second half of 2010," he said. After that, Eshed said he expects volumes to rise in 2011, and then reach a mass market level by 2012. "That means millions of units," he said. Read more: http://www.fiercebroadbandwireless.com/story/chipset-vendor-predicts-mass-market-lte-device-market-2012/2009-10-04?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal#ixzz0T5JS5XSK

Following closely behind the Mobile WiMax launches of their spun-off Clearwire unit, Sprint this morning announced that they've launched "4G" wireless broadband services in ten additional cities. According to Sprint statements, the faster broadband service is now available in Salem, Oregon; Milledgeville, Georgia; and the Texas cities of Amarillo, Killeen-Temple, Corpus Christi, Lubbock, Waco, Wichita Falls, Abilene and Midland-Odessa. Customer plans for the new service cost $69.99 monthly for access to both the Sprint 3G and 4G network. The plan costs $10 more than their 3G plan alone, but the 4G access comes with no caps (for now). 3G users face a 5GB monthly usage cap.

Anite has submitted the first LTE test case 8.1.2.1 based on the conformance test specification 36.523-1. The test case was debugged using the LG Electronics LE03 UE. This is in a way good news as the industry is moving forward at an amazing speed. The Release-8 of LTE was finalised in reality in March 09 (or Dec. 08 for some specs). Read full article....

Source: Fujitsu press release Fujitsu today announced that it has been selected by NTT DOCOMO, INC. as a vendor for developing a mobile data communications terminal based on LTE technology, a next-generation mobile communications standard Read full article...

Source: pcworld Chinese vendor ZTE is showing off two LTE (Long Term Evolution) modems, which on paper will support mobile broadband speeds of up to 100 Mbps, at ITU Telecom World in Geneva. The AL620 and the AL600 will both support download speeds of up 100 Mbps (bits per second) and upload speeds of up to 50 Mbps when connected to an LTE network, according to their respective spec sheets. Both modems come in the shape of a USB (Universal Serial Bus) dongle. If there is no LTE coverage, which likely will be a common occurrence during the next couple of years, the AL620 can fall back on standard HSPA (High-Speed Packet Access) at download speeds of up 14.4 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 5.7 Mbps or HSPA+ at 42 Mbps and 11 Mbps, respectively. It can also surf the Internet using EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution) and GPRS (General Packet Radio Service). The AL600 can access the Internet using HSDPA and HSPA+, but it also adds support for EV-DO Rev. A (Evolution-Data Opti...

Published by Nokia Siemens Networks Broadband has become a ‘must have’ for both businesses and consumers. At the same time, the way in which consumers and businesses use communications services is evolving, with wireless delivery of broadband services offering a new level of flexibility and “go anywhere” connectivity. Click here to read this whitepaper: lte_motivation_a4_0505_0 Read full article....

Motorola announced today that it has successfully deployed a Time Division Duplex Long-Term Evolution (TD-LTE) network in the streets of Geneva to support China Mobile Communications Corporation’s presence at the Geneva PALEXPO during ITU Telecom World 2009. Read full article....

This post/article tries to illustrate how DOT (Department of Telecom) and other vested interests are killing Internet access in India There are couple of assumptions which I should stress in the beginning :- a. BSNL is and would be the predominant provider atleast in the near future . (opinion based on TRAI reports released every month) b. DOT as the REAL policy maker for time to come. There is lot to talk about so without further ado let’s jump right in. The first nail in the coffin was with the IT ACT 2008 Amendment which was pushed in the Parliament without any discussion. I elaborated on it some months back in another blog post. What I failed to mention at that point in time was how women and girls are being harassed by cops who venture into cyber-cafes. Read full article....

Published by Nokia Siemens Networks LTE (Long Term Evolution) and SAE (System Architecture Evolution) are on the way. The question is now about when, where and how LTE/SAE will arrive. Regardless of what motivates each operator to make the transition, it is essential to demonstrate the stability and performance of the new systems at an early stage in order to promote the smooth and cost-efficient introduction and deployment of LTE/SAE technology. This is true both within companies and as part of wider, coordinated efforts towards interoperability. Since the 3GPP specifications are now reasonably well defined and stable, the time is right to evaluate performance and to publish the most interesting results. Click here to read this whitepaper: lte_measurement_a4_1302_0

Source : Unstrung News Analysis Long Term Evolution (LTE) chip developer Altair Semiconductor is predicting that the first "real" LTE handsets will first arrive on the market in the second half of 2010, but it expects the next-gen phones to go mass market until 2012. The Hod Hasharon, Israel-based semiconductor startup has just released customer samples of what it says is "one of the first" LTE baseband chips available: The "FourGee-3100." The firm says that the silicon can be used for LTE USB dongles, PC cards, and even mobile handsets. A baseband chip is used with a radio modem for cellphone applications. Eran Eshed, co-founder and vice president of marketing and business development at Altair, told Unstrung Thursday afternoon that the firm will unveil its first LTE radio modem this November. He estimates that this means that production phones using the Altair silicon could Read full article...

Source : Sequans communicaitons CHICAGO, 4G WORLD, booth 423 --- September 15, 2009 --- Sequans Communications, the world’s leading WiMAX chipmaker, made public today its move into LTE and details of the LTE development program it launched earlier this year. Sequans has been preparing for this move as part of its long-term growth strategy and has been steadily adding resources and headcount to support it. Sequans intends to develop products for both the LTE and WiMAX markets in parallel. “Our success in WiMAX has enabled us to expand naturally into LTE and we are ready to meet the needs of LTE equipment manufacturers with outstanding silicon and software solutions, building upon our significant experience with WiMAX operators and OEMs.” said Georges Karam, Sequans CEO. “We have assigned a number of our key engineers to the LTE program and have hired others with deep experience in cellular technology who have successfully developed LTE components that meet 3GPP specifications. Our L...

Source : Wichorus press release CHICAGO (4G World) – September 17, 2009 - WiChorus, the Smart 4G Packet Core provider, unveiled a solution that enables mobile operators to build their 3G HSPA packet core networks with a 4G platform and provides a future-proof software upgrade path to LTE Evolved Packet Core (EPC). The exponential growth of mobile broadband data is changing the function and performance requirements of the mobile packet core for HSPA and HSPA+ networks, as well as deployment models. By leveraging its high-performance 4G packet core platform, WiChorus is addressing these new needs and enables support for GGSN, LTE, PDN Gateway and Serving Gateway network functions. The mobile operators coping with an unprecedented rise of Internet traffic and adopting or enhancing HSPA networks can now future-proof their networks for LTE, with the un-matched performance and capacity of SmartCore platforms. The WiChorus HSPA GGSN is currently in trials with mobile operators Read full a...

NEC Corporation announced today that its new Compact EPC system will be on display at LTE Forum 2009. An all-in-one core network system, it qualifies for the world's smallest class by incorporating MME and Serving-GW/PDN-GW into an area measuring 483mm(L)x222mm(H)x497mm(D) that fits within the 5U-height of a standard 19-inch rack. Each compact system is capable of simultaneously accommodating nearly 300,000 subscribers while controlling more than 1,000 LTE base stations. All functions are loaded into compact, blade integrated AdvancedTCA(R), chassis. This provides the operator with a flexible and reliable way of moving to 4G Read Full article...

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Mobile Broadband update - Alan ( GSA President) Mobile Boradband Growth ( Reports from operator worldwide) LTE Advanced prespective ( NSN) Thanks,BP 

Source: AIRCOM International AIRCOM International, the leading independent network planning and optimisation consultancy, today revealed the economic reality of LTE migration facing mobile operators around the world - as much as US$1.78 billion for a tier one US operator in the first year. As the economic downturn puts pressure on credit markets, and mobile operators attempt to limit significant CAPEX commitments, AIRCOM believes that innovative approaches to LTE network roll out, network sharing for example, will be essential in ensuring the profitable delivery of future mobile services. Read full article....

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WEBWIRE – Thursday, October 01, 2009 Complete development of LTE-PF chipset engineering sample TOKYO - NTT DOCOMO, INC., NEC Corporation, Panasonic Mobile Communications Co., Ltd. and Fujitsu Limited announced today that they are making progress with their joint development of "LTE-PF", a mobile-terminal platform based on Long Term Evolution (LTE), a coming mobile communication standard for super-fast downlinks above 100 Mbps and uplinks above 50 Mbps. The four companies have completed the development of an LTE-PF chipset engineering sample and are now evaluating its main functions. The sample will be exhibited at the NTT Group stand at ITU Telecom World 2009 in Geneva, Switzerland from October 5 to 9 and the DOCOMO stand at CEATEC JAPAN 2009 at Makuhari Messe, Chiba Prefecture, Japan from October 6 to 10. Read full article....

US-based WiMAX specialist Clearwire has announced that it has contracted Chinese equipment supplier Huawei Technologies to provide wireless radio access network infrastructure for its planned nationwide WiMAX rollout. Huawei will provide several key infrastructure pieces, including base stations, element management system (EMS) components, and related network hardware and software. Huawei’s is contracted to supply roughly 2000 base station for 3 US market i.e Seattle, California & Honolulu. As per industry insiders Huawei will supply first 4X4 MIMO based systems to clearwire. Highlights of this particular contract are; 1. Huawei will supply approximately 2000 Base Station with 4x4 Mimo configurations. ( DBS 3900 series) 2. Huawei also has the roadmap to upgrade these base stations to a profile called MIMO+BF. ( improves coverage & capacity) 3. First time we will see third party integration of ASN-GW which means compliance to open R6 interface. 4. Wichorus will provide A...