LTE forecasts – No threat to WiMAX
There is much to hear these days that the latest developments in the LTE technology will leave behind WiMAX. In a broader perspective, the situation is different. The article below from Orange Business Live discusses it.
Although the WiMAX vendor community has been pushing the notion that 2009 is the year of WiMAX, the recession coupled with an aggressive push towards mobile broadband’s LTE (long term evolution) could put the technology’s wider uptake in jeopardy. Nortel, for instance, has left the WiMAX market and Alcatel-Lucent has diverted R&D spend from WiMAX to LTE, although it seems committed to pushing WiMAX and cites this shift as being down to WiMAX now now being productised.
“LTE is our future,” said GSMA chief executive Rob Conway at the recent Mobile World Congress. “You can talk about WiMAX if you want, but it is a sideshow to this main event.”
Scorching words, but with analyst firm ABI Research predicting WiMAX subscriber revenue growth of more than 4,500% this year, the technology is far from over and done with. As ABI principal analyst, Philip Solis, points out; “To ignore a growth market in a down economy would be a mistake.”
Other analysts agree and point out that mobile WiMAX already has commercial deployments while LTE lags behind. Daryl Schoolar, at In-Stat, thinks WiMAX and LTE will take different paths. “Most of the operators looking to deploy WiMAX come to it from the fixed network space,” he says. “Most of the early operators supporting LTE come from the mobile space. These operators want to use LTE to increase capacity and peak rates on their existing mobile networks.”
Instead of LTE being a threat to WiMAX, Schoolar thinks HSPA may well turn out to be WiMAX’s true competitor. From an enterprise point-of-view the battle being teed-up in the vendor industry is divisive and, in many respects, counter-productive. End-users don’t care about the method, only the ease-of-use it offers and the bandwidth it provides. From that perspective, WiMAX is here now and can be used whereas LTE remains a concept for the future with most operators unlikely to be deploy it until 2011 or 2012.
[Via Orange Business Live]
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Obama’s Stimulus Package May Aid Rural WiMax Effort
3 Mar, 2009 No Comment broadband wireless Quantum Networks rural WiMAX wimax technology wireles technology
After signing a historic $787 billion bill that will provide funds to a host of public work programs, President Obama’s stimulus package will also benefit initiatives for the expansion of broadband wireless technologies to rural areas of the United States. Adding to the uproar over the signing of the bill from Democrats and Republicans alike the proposed allocation of $7.2 billion for wireless technology improvements is also receiving objections from critics that are cynical that the bill will benefit the industry.
The demur most critics have for this bill stems from their lack of faith in the federal governmental agencies that will most likely be heading projects for rural WiMax. They contend that every home in a rural area will not necessarily seek wireless service, and that the cost of bringing these services to rural areas will be quite hefty.
At the same time, supporters of the spending legislation welcome any and all companies that are willing to expand wireless services to their area. WiMax service is cost effective and supporters, think the spending legislation is a beacon for revamping the technological scope of the entire country with WiMAX technology. Not only would the $7.2 billion help underdeveloped areas, but with the flailing economy, it would also create much-needed jobs and help boost industry stocks. With the market hitting below 6,800 for the first time since 1997, any positive activity would be welcomed.
It seems likely that the future of the WiMax industry in the U.S will be aided by generous spending of the Obama administration. With WiMax the best suited technology to help begin these efforts, companies like Quantum Networks will have an integral part in the expansion of WiMAX in the United States
Regards,
Masood Ahmed Abbasi
Ms Telecommunication, Iqra Karachi
[...] This cup of tea was served by: State of Telecom Industry in Pakistan [...]