11/04, 6:55pm
One Voice initiative aims for interoperability
A long list of cellular providers and manufacturers, including players such as AT&T, Verizon, Alcatel-Lucent, Nokia Siemens, Ericsson and Samsung, have all agreed on standards for voice calls and SMS messages distributed across LTE networks. The companies have collaborated on a technical profile, the One Voice initiative, that aims to ensure widespread compatibility between different products.
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09/17, 5:20pm
Technology approaching commercial deployment
Nokia Siemens on Thursday announced that it has made the first voice call on a 4G LTE network. Although the technology has been previously tested, the latest demonstration was performed on a commercial base station while using standards-compliant software. The call was placed at Nokia Siemens research and development facility in Ulm, Germany, using the company's Flexi Multiradio Base Station.
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08/14, 3:25pm
Verizon LTE trials in 2009
Verizon Wireless will debut its next-generation Long Term Evolution (LTE) 4G data network in trials in the metropolitan Boston and Seattle areas before year's end, according recent according to recent comments by carrier president Denny Strigl. Beyond that, the carrier plans to bring the ultra high-speed wireless data network standard to as many as 30 markets, Strigl said. By the end of 2013, Verizon hopes to offer the service in all of its markets.
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05/12, 3:10pm
Kaufman vs. Apple execs
A Verizon version of the iPhone may not arrive for some time, but it remains a strong possibility, according to a pair of key Apple executives. In a meeting with Kaufman Bros. and a group of investors, CFO Peter Oppenheimer and senior Mac manager Tom Boger have explained that Apple is happy with the results in regions with multiple iPhone carriers, such as Australia. Adding Verizon in 2010 would cause a problem, the executives say, because of the carrier's current dependence on CDMA networking.
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04/01, 8:50pm
LG Booth at CTIA 2009
LG's booth at this year's CTIA expo may center on devices that were already announced at Mobile World Congress, but it's still one of the most interesting areas on the entire show floor. Most of this can be attributed to the 2009 phones using the Korean cellphone maker's S-Class 3D interface: although we still see room for improvement in certain scrolling features and in giving users a good frame of reference for their options, the touchscreen UI is surprisingly intuitive and easy to understand. Notably, each phone equipped this way also had a capacitive touchscreen that meant gentle flicks and taps could work; they behave much more like the iPhone and could be one of the few mainstream alternatives to Apple's handset.
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04/01, 3:45pm
Verizon JILL platform
Verizon executives at CTIA provided additional details regarding the upcoming 4G LTE network, along with a cross-carrier platform known as JILL. Despite the company pushing to get the next-generation technology rolled out before competitors, Chairman and CEO Ivan Seidenberg does not expect the transition to require a significantly higher amount of capital. He claimed the upgrades were "not that expensive," as the company plans to shift investments from the current EV-DO standard to cover a large portion of the 4G conversion.
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03/19, 2:50pm
LTE handset from LG at FCC
What is believed to be the very first device with support for the 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) data standard has been approved by the FCC for use in North America on Tuesday, according to the US regulator's documents. No photos were included in the FCC documents, as LG requested them to be kept confidential, at least for the short-term. Other information is scarce as well, with the only real hard piece of specifications being that the device, which is not guaranteed to be a phone but perhaps a data device only, will operate using only on the 1,700MHz AWS frequency.
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03/09, 6:15pm
Nokia denies Verizon rumor
Nokia has denied rumors claiming it had established a deal with Verizon to introduce a 4G touchscreen device, according to Engadget. Anonymous sources suggested the two companies were collaborating on a device that would provide 4G Internet access via Verizon's upcoming LTE network. The service is scheduled to begin operation sometime early in 2010, with current speeds reaching 60Mbps.
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11/17, 10:15am
RIM 4G BlackBerry enroute
Research in Motion hopes to avoid its earlier mistakes in wireless technology by leaping on 4G when it becomes available, according to a tip given to BGR. The Canadian BlackBerry designer is said to have created a team specifically to build a smartphone with much faster cellular Internet access using the Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard, which tops 100Mbps and should be used by most major North American carriers.
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11/05, 10:30am
Hybrid LTE and WiMAX Chips
Next year will bring devices that have two competing 4G data formats at once, a note from ABI Research. Company principal analyst Philip Solis explains that multiple carriers have expressed interest in supporting both Long Term Evolution (LTE) and WiMAX on the same chipset, letting them support either standard depending on the provider and region. The move would let carriers such as KDDI and Vodafone serve both their own services, which will prefer LTE, without the cost of building a second device for a WiMAX network in another country or a related provider.
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09/18, 2:45pm
LTE in-car tests a success
Wireless network provider T-Mobile and Nortel Networks on Thursday announced the successful test of the Long Term Evolution (LTE) high-speed wireless data network in a moving car, according to a new update. Tested on a highway in Bonn, Germany in a vehicle moving at an average speed of 42mph, the upcoming LTE network achieved 170Mbps download speeds and 50Mbps upload speeds. Throughout the trip, the car was in range of three cell sites.
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09/10, 4:35pm
Motorola testing LTE tech
The Long-Term Evolution (LTE) technology that promises to offer wireless transfer speeds as fast as 100Mbps has begun testing with Motorola and a number of wireless provider companies that include Verizon Wireless, a Wednesday report suggests. According to the report, Motorola Vietnam and head of technology for the company’s Asia division Ray Owen said the company will begin introducing commercial products that take advantage of the technology in 2009.
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08/31, 1:50pm
Bell Telus May Use HSPA
Both Bell Canada and Telus are on the verge of altering the Canadian cellular landscape by announcing a move to the same 3G cellular network type as Rogers, according to tips from alleged sources of the Financial Post. The newspaper believes the two rivals will reveal an upgrade from CDMA and EVDO-based networks to HSPA as early as this coming week and mutually rely on Nokia Siemens Networks to replace their existing network infrastructure over the space of a year. Neither would incorporate hardware for GSM both to shed legacy costs as well as to avoid compensating Rogers for roaming fees when customers are in areas not served by either Bell or Telus.
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08/11, 2:55pm
MetroPCS to Use LTE for 4G
MetroPCS will use the same fourth-generation (4G) cellular data access as larger carriers, the company has revealed while discussing its latest quarterly results. Though small, the provider says it will switch its network from its existing CDMA format to the same Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard that will be used by AT&T, Verizon and the latter's recent buyout target Alltel.
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07/16, 4:25pm
Aircell Wi-Fi going LTE 4G
Aircell, which will offer Wi-Fi access on airplanes while in flight via its Gogo service, today announced it would base its second generation of the service on the 4G Long Term Evolution data network. When the service goes live later on this year, it will use CDMA EVDO Rev A for data transfer during flights, topping out at more than 12 Mbps. By the end of 2009, Aircell plans to up that number to 22.7 Mbps with advances in its current technology. When the company incorporates the 4G LTE network in 2011, throughput speeds will jump to 300 Mbps, Aircell promises.
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07/09, 3:05pm
Korea Developing 5G
Although fourth-generation (4G) cellular wireless still has yet to hold its own, the South Korean government is already developing 5G access that may be ready soon after 4G services go live, the country's officials say (registration required). The country hopes to invest money equal to $58.4 million over the next three years into both advancing 4G access and to starting work on 5G at the same time. Doing so is said to hopefully make the Asian country the top-ranked cellphone producer in the world by setting a 4G standard and becoming the primary source of 4G on the planet.
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06/19, 2:40pm
Xohm Second Wave Expansion
Sprint's next wave of cities to receive its Xohm WiMAX service after Baltimore will focus primarily on Texas and the northeast, the carrier is telling interested customers. In addition to extra launches planned for Chicago and Washington DC, the 4G service should be available in Boston, Philadelphia, and Providence in the New England area as well as its first southern effort in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
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06/18, 4:10pm
Xohm Live in September
Sprint's long-delayed full rollout of its Xohm WiMAX Internet service should start in September, company chief technical officer Barry West said Wednesday at the WiMAX Forum's Global Congress event. The executive now claims that the 4G-class wireless network will start its normal, paid business in September with a first run in Baltimore; Chicago and Washington DC, which have also participated in early trials, will see their networks opened to the public sometime in the fall. Other cities should come soon after, West says.
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06/10, 2:10pm
Verizon on iPhone 3G Plan
Apple's decision to allow subsidized prices for the iPhone 3G is an admission that it needs to follow the traditional cellphone provider model, Verizon's chief operating officer Denny Strigl claimed at the second day of the Deutsche Bank Conference. The executive downplays the impact of the new cellphone on his own company and contends that Apple and AT&T are simply learning to accept a conventional practice that discounts the phone's up-front price rather than insist on splitting monthly phone revenues.
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06/05, 10:35am
Verizon Buys Alltel
Quickly following up on earlier confirmations by its partner Vodafone, Verizon on Thursday said it would buy out Alltel in a cash merger with a total value of about $28.1 billion. The deal is mutually agreed upon and should see the union take place by the end of the year following approvals from the US government; Alltel chief Scott Ford will continue to run Alltel until the deal is completed.
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06/04, 4:30pm
Verizon May Buy Alltel
The American cellular industry may consolidate once again with a potential Verizon buyout of Alltel, CNBC claims. Referring to anonymous sources said to be aware of the deal, the TV news network asserts that Verizon would pay as much as eight times Alltel's pre-interest, pre-tax earnings, or $27 billion, for the acquisition. The deal would be a friendly takeover as Goldman Sachs and TPG, the financial institutions that took Alltel into private holding just last year, are eager to turn a premium no matter how small.
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05/22, 3:50pm
Apple and wireless tech
Apple may be exploring known wireless technologies which are nevertheless outside of its current roadmap, a job listing suggests. The company is hunting for a senior RF system engineer to staff its offices in Santa Clara, California, who will help build products currently planned with wireless, and additionally investigate new technologies as they present themselves. Critically, the ideal canadidate would not only know 802.11 Wi-Fi, but "Bluetooth, 3G, UWB, WiMAX, GPS, Mobile TV and similar wireless technologies."
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05/15, 2:05pm
Alltel to Use LTE for 4G
Alltel will use Long Term Evolution (LTE) for its next-generation phone network, according to statements made during a conference call discussing the provider's latest financial results. Company chief Scott Ford explained that the technology is Alltel's pick and that LTE will have a "significant" installed base for the company's cellular network within the next three to five years. Ford doesn't say when Alltel will start its rollout, but notes that there is no short-term budget and that nothing will be underway until at least 2009.
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05/14, 8:45am
ATT 20Mbps 3G in 2009
AT&T's cellular Internet access will be more than five times faster in 2009 than it is this year, the company's mobility chief Ralph de la Vega said today at Morgan Stanley's annual Communications Conference. The executive says that the company's HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) network will be improved from the theoretical peak downloads of 3.6 megabits per second common across most of the network today to about 20 megabits per second in 2009.
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04/03, 10:35pm
Verizon 700MHz 4G Access
Verizon will use its recent 700MHz wins to setup a nationwide 4G cellular network, the company declared tonight. A lift of the FCC's ban on discussing the 700MHz auction results reveals that the telecoms firm will introduce a Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless network on its share of the frequency, providing much faster Internet access than the carrier's existing 3G, EVDO Revision A-based network.
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03/26, 12:50pm
250Mbps cellular broadband
Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo has managed downlink speeds of up to 250Mbps in field testing of LTE (Long Term Evolution), a company announcement claims. LTE, often dubbed 4G broadband, is expected to eventually replace the current worldwide 3G standards, HSDPA and HSUPA. LTE should allow individual cellphone users to reach download speeds of up to 20Mbps; this at least two and a half times faster than the fastest 3 and 3.5G deployments, still used in a minority of public networks. Most 3G connections are over five times slower.
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03/20, 3:20pm
Verizon 700MHz Wins
Verizon was the winner of the nationwide license for the crucial 700MHz wireless auction as well as most regional licenses, the FCC has revealed. An initial list of winners shows the telecoms giant to have successfully won both the national license as well as 11 out of 12 of the local licenses available for the "C" block that is likely to be used for wireless data. The licenses supply the company with coverage across all of the US and would allow it to launch any future service with few gaps in its network. Only AT&T Mobility has managed to win a major regional "C" block bid for coverage in the Mississippi Valley, according to government documents.
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03/12, 11:10am
Ericsson 700MHz Gear
Swedish electronics giant Ericsson today revealed that it will already be set with technology that will support new 700MHz Internet access when it becomes an option in the US and elsewhere by 2009. The company says it is already developing chipsets that will natively use the upcoming Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard for extremely quick 4G Internet access; the new technology should allow download speeds up to 326Mbps on the carrier's end (20Mbps for each user) while still providing the advantages that come with the 700MHz airwaves, such as longer range and better signals when indoors.
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02/12, 11:35pm
China Mobile backs LTE
In what seems to be an enormous shift in the race for a 4G wireless standard, China Mobile on Wednesday is expected to show its support for the LTE, or Long Term Evolution, 4G wireless technology. Should this prove to be true, LTE will have accrued support from China Mobile, Vodafone, Verizon, and, peripherally, AT&T, according to Yahoo News. Arun Sarin, CEO for Vodafone, expects that WiMax – one of LTE's competing standards – will be rolled in to the LTE standard, as the UK-based company deploys its 4G networks in 2010.
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02/07, 11:35am
Moto LTE Demo at MWC 2008
The upcoming Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard should make HD video a real possibility on cellular networks for the first time, Motorola intends to prove in a demo at next week's Mobile World Congress. The company says it will show examples of HD video moving in both directions during the event, including HD "blogging:" LTE will be used to stream live HD video to a set-top box that viewers at home could use to follow footage from a cellphone in real-time. In the the reverse direction, LTE will also be shown in a Slingbox-like experience where users stream an HDTV feed from home directly to a handheld device, saving the trouble of reducing video quality to make the signal viewable outside the home.
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02/07, 10:30am
Qualcomm Multi-Mode 4G
Qualcomm today said it would be the first company to produce chipsets capable of supporting multiple 4G Internet standards. Three of its chipsets will now not only support the Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard that will be used many larger world carriers but also competing and bridging standards: the top two chipsets, the MDM9600 and MDM 9800, will support the upcoming EVDO Rev. B and Ultra-Mobile Broadband (UMB) standards for CDMA networks even as they support LTE networks once they appear. Each will be powerful enough to handle downloads as quick as 50Mbps and uploads as fast as 25Mbps, Qualcomm says.
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02/06, 12:30pm
ATT 3G Expansion in 2008
AT&T today said it would rapidly expand its third-generation (3G) cellular data network over the course of 2008, greatly improving coverage of the relatively fledgling service. The carrier intends to introduce its HSPA-based Internet access to 80 new cities throughout the year to include a total of 350 areas. Many if not all of these current and future areas will be upgraded to use the faster HSUPA (High Speed Upload Packet Access) format, AT&T adds. Practical speeds for these networks are estimated to range between 600Kbps and 1.4Mbps with downloads and between 500Kbps and 800Kbps for uploads, enabling video uploads as well as more two-way Internet features.
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02/04, 4:20pm
HSPA Plus Chipset
Texas Instruments today said it had reached a major milestone by introducing a new platform for HSPA+, a new form of "3.5G" high-speed cellular Internet access that builds on today's normal HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) connections. The technology, currently based on a new signal processing chip, would effectively turn a cell tower's base station into a standard IP (Internet protocol) router that uses standard Ethernet to make its connection. This plus other optimizations should permit downloads as quick as 42 megabits per second and uploads at 11 megabits per second; the uplink speed would be roughly double that of already advanced 5.8Mbps HSPA uploads, while downstream access would be as much as six times faster.
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01/29, 3:20pm
Sprint Clearwire WiMAX
Both Sprint and Clearwire are back to discussing a previously-ended deal that would see a shared WiMAX effort, according to people speaking with the Wall Street Journal. In spite of ending talks just last year after failing to come to an agreement, both companies are reportedly once again prepared to explore a deal that would let customers of either Clearwire or Sprint roam on each other's WiMAX networks, saving both companies from having to build out an entire national network themselves. The new strategy would see Sprint's WiMAX service, named Xohm, spun off as a separate entity and merged with Clearwire to create a single, unified service.
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01/25, 5:10pm
LTE vs WiMAX Report
The Intel-backed Xohm WiMAX service from Sprint is unlikely to survive as a fourth-generation (4G) cellular Internet standard in the face of its main challenger Long Term Evolution, according to a new analyst report from Maravedis. Although Intel has generally backed the service and expects to make WiMAX a staple of its Montevina notebook platform in mid-year, both troubles inside Sprint and opposition from other cell carriers backing LTE are believed in the report to be sinking Xohm's hopes for future success.
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01/22, 2:35pm
3GPP Finalizes LTE Spec
The specifications for the upcoming fourth-generation Long Term Evolution (LTE) have been finalized, the wireless standards group 3GPP says. In its final form, the 4G cellular technology will use the same basic multiple-in, multiple-out antenna concept as 802.11n Wi-Fi to greatly improve the bandwidth over today's 3G technology. By piecing together multiple signals the technology can achieve as much as 326 megabits per second in downloads on a 20MHz slice of the wireless spectrum; uploads peak at 86MHz, says the standards body. The finished version of LTE also cuts latency down to 10 milliseconds between the tower and the user, allowing relatively time-sensitive activities such as video calls or games.
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12/19, 10:00am
LTE Hits 173Mbps
Setting a new record for long-range wireless, Nokia Siemens Networks today revealed that it has completed a test of fourth-generation cellular data that proves the service quick in real-world conditions. Using the upcoming Long-Term Evolution (LTE) standard, the company has successfully reached wireless download speeds as high as 173 megabits per second in a downtown Berlin environment where interference would normally reduce the signal strength and hurt connection speed. The service crests above 100 megabits per second even with multiple users wandering as far as a kilometer (0.6 miles) away from the tower providing the signal, according to Nokia Siemens.
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