4G WiMAX and LTE Latest Updates

The race for 4G technology is really starting to heat up as CLEAR and Sprint continue to expand coverage, Sprint released their much anticipated HTC EVO, Verizon announced LTE test markets and reports LTE capable phones are in the works! Below are the latest updates in the world of 4G:

WiMAX Coverage News:

Both Sprint and CLEAR have been working hard to bring 4G WiMAX to the following new markets, Richmond, Salt Lake City, St. Louis, Kansas City and expanding coverage in Baltimore. CLEAR has also expanded coverage to Merced and Visalia, California; Eugene, Oregon; and Rochester and Syracuse, New York. Throughout the summer they plan to have coverage in 20 more major cities. On a more unofficial note, there have also been reports from customers in parts of New York and California that they are seeing 4G on their devices, despite the fact that 4G has not yet launched there.

WiMAX Equipment:

On June 4th, 2010 was the date that the HTC EVO was released, the worlds first 3G/4G capable phone! This phone is all about changing the way people use their phones with features such as the mobile hotspot (allowing you to use your EVO's 3G/4G connection to share with up to 8 devices via wireless). The device has been so popular, you currently can't find it in any stores as we all wait anxiously for another shipment. If touchscreen only devices aren't your style, Samsung has come to the rescue with the announcement of the Samsung Epic. This device will be the first 3G/4G phone with a full QWERTY keyboard.

As for WiMAX aircards, Sprint's Overdrive had gotten off to a rocky start because of some firmware issues, however, they have released a new firmware version 2.06.06 which has fixed the issue's users were complaining about. When ordering the Overdrive from 3Gstore, we make sure that every Overdrive shipped has version 2.06.06 pre-installed for you! Sprint has also released the new 250U 3G/4G aircard, which is the first device that includes the option for both a 3G and 4G antenna port (antennas currently work on 3G only). CLEAR announced that they'll be releasing 3G/4G portable hot-spots in July, which have been demanded ever since the popularity of the MiFi2200 3G devices.

LTE News:

As Sprint and CLEAR continue to expand coverage, Verizon has been focusing on their final testing phases (user trials in 5 markets - Boston, Seattle and 3 other unnamed cities). In early May, Verizon showed off their LTE network for the first time in Boston and the results were impressive. During the demonstrations they managed to get an 8.55Mbps download speed and a 2.8Mbps upload speed. Rural users can also start getting excited because they plan to partner with local companies that already have towers and backhaul available - Verizon will provide the LTE equipment and let the local providers manage the towers and backhaul. This strategy is planned to help them meet their goal of covering their entire 3G footprint with full 4G LTE coverage by 2013. Tips are also rolling in, rumoring that Verizon will be launching their 4G LTE service in 25 markets on 11/15/10, with several LTE handsets to follow on "Black Friday", which this year falls on 11/26.

LTE Equipment:

With the rumored LTE release date of 11/15, reports of various handset manufactures developing LTE handsets continue to roll in. RIM (manufacturers of Blackberry) is currently working one of the first LTE handsets for Verizon's LTE! This phone is being dubbed the BlackBerry Storm 3 has some impressive rumored spec's. The phone supposedly will feature a 1Ghz Processor, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage. Aside from the storm there might be up to five other LTE phones by next May, from manufacturers such as Motorola, HTC, LG and BlackBerry.

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Things are certainly heating up as we move through the summer months! We're sure there will be plenty of new devices in the upcoming months and can't wait to see Verizon's network first hand. That's all for now, 4G-lovers, but keep coming back for the latest updates at 4ginfo.com, and join in the 4G discussion on the 4G Forums!

It's a bird... it's a plane... it's... LTE news?!

WiMAX has dominated all of our 4G sites, blogs, and forums lately, but lest you have forgotten, there IS a second 4G mobile broadband internet technology - LTE! Many companies, including biggies like Verizon and AT&T have chosen to work towards building out LTE networks rather than WiMAX, but deployment and availability of LTE has been estimated to be several years behind WiMAX, which is why we don't hear nearly as much about it.

This week, though, brought about not one, not two, but THREE nuggets of LTE news!

First, Qualcomm announced that they are building a dual mode modem that will operate on both LTE and HSPA+ and that they plan to have it ready for second quarter of 2009 - whether there is a network to use it with or not. Senior VP Encrico Salvatori elaborated, saying much "still depends on a number of very uncertain factors, many of which are dependent on mobile network operators' plans and investment priorities about how and when to roll out this next stage of wireless technology" - in other words, they are steaming ahead at full speed with their chip-making plans even though they have no control over actual network availability.

Also in the news this week: LG, another electronics giant you are surely familiar with, showed off their first modem, an LTE-ready chip to be used in future 4G phones. They're estimating that the first 4G phones will come out in 2010, but without a network right now anybody's guess is as good as anyone else's!

Then, on the heels of those two hardware-creation updates, Verizon CTO and VP Dick Lynch announced during a speech that Verizon is accelerating their plans and vows to have an active LTE network "somewhere here in the U.S. probably this time next year." A lofty goal indeed, considering previous estimates were looking more in the 2012 range, but a wise move by Verizon/Vodafone if they do indeed have the resources necessary to build out a new network. Remember, part of the reason Clearwire is able to roll out their WiMAX network so aggressively is because of that 3+ billion in investment dollars the merger with Sprint afforded them - developing, testing, and deploying a new network doesn't come cheap. However, if they can pull it off, they will beat competitors like AT&T to the market, which will pay off big time in the long run!

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Discuss Verizon's LTE plans on the 4G Forums

A good majority of this blog has been dedicated to WiMAX, but not because we're forgetting about LTE! There simply hasn't been much to discuss in that arena, largely because it is much further behind WiMAX in terms of projected debut date and how far along they are in their development of the technology.

Today, though, we've got a little LTE update! Nortel and LG Electronics ran successful tests of the network in Ottawa, streaming HD video (good luck trying to do that on with 3G!) over a network consisting of multiple cell sites and sectors served by Nortel's eNodeB LTE base station and ATCA-based Access Gateway. They used an LG device (no elaboration was provided on exactly what the device IS, unfortunately) while traveling in a vehicle going up to 100km/hr (AKA about 62mph for our sorry non-metric country), proving that the service can continue connecting to and transmitting from different cell sites seamlessly as it travels through coverage areas.

This news is very encouraging for the future of LTE, and it's nice to see some concrete evidence about WiMAX's competitor. Nothing advances technology (and hurries companies up!) like competition.

Discuss Nortel's Ottawa tests on 4G Forums

LTE technology, the WiMAX competitor and 4G network that carriers such as Verizon, China Mobile, and Vodafone have hitched their wireless star to, isn't expected to be widely available until 2010 at the earliest, but tech research experts are already predicting it to be a huge hit with subscribers. The ABI Research Institute is estimating that 32 million people will be subscribed to LTE service with one of the carriers by 2013 - just a few short years after it becomes commercially available.

The majority of those future subscribers will likely hail from Asia, mainly because they don't currently have much in the way of 3G technology. With their lack of 3G services, it seems to make sense that carriers would opt to forgo all the research, development, and implementation that equipping the area with 3G would entail in favor of waiting just a couple years to get a 4G system rolling. The rest of the 32 million subscribers are expected to be split between North America and Western Europe.

It's interesting that ABI is expressing such lofty confidence in the market share potential of LTE. I'd like to see their thoughts and predictions regarding Sprint's (and others') future WiMAX services and predict the popularity of that side of the technology.