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Microsoft Keeping Windows Open for WiMax

Evan Kessler on October 11, 2010

Today is an historic day in the world of gadgetry; No it's not the day Christopher Columbus discovered GPS to help guide the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria to the New World or wherever he was going. It was on this day in 2010, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer launched his company's arsenal of Windows Phone 7 wireless devices. Much pomp and excitement was produced during the live stream conference which revealed 9 new phones from the likes of HTC, Dell, Samsung and LG Electronics that will run on the new Windows Phone 7 software. While there's no way of telling whether Windows phone 7 devices will be to Android what the Zune was to the iPod (not quite competition), we can surmise that at least one of the new phones will be wandering into WiMax territory fairly soon.

In the hours preceding the launch announcement, it was found that the network icon for 4G WiMax had already been included on Windows Phone 7 support pages. While the first round of phones is said to be a GSM launch, we can use our keen powers of deduction to guess that out of the 9 that were introduced today, the HTC 7 Pro– slated to be released to Sprint users early in 2011–could likely be WiMax-compatible. Five of the other Windows 7 phones will make their debut in the U.S. on the soonish side, with AT&T getting three and T-Mobile getting two. Since neither of those carriers have WiMax networks, it's probably safe to assume they're not yet cut out for 4G duty on such a network. So far it looks like HTC is continuing to lead the 4G WiMax phone market, as they're currently pushing the EVO to Sprint users. With this Windows Phone 7 device coming on down the line, Sprint's 4G users might be the first to decide if the new Microsoft operating system has any staying power.… Read the rest

Novatel Readies for 4G Leap

admin on October 8, 2010 | 1 comment

Novatel Wireless, the innovative manufacturers of intelligent mobile hotspots, have continually churned out a quality product that's kept on-the-go consumers connected; Their MiFi 2352 and 2372 models are among the industry best at making sure open road roamers never miss an online beat. Though they're still every bit as reliable on current HSPA networks in Europe and North America, respectively; Novatel thought it was about time to upgrade their hotspot tech specs to get with the 4G times.

Their new product portfolio for customer broadband access boasts devices capable of operating on next-generation (4G) super-fast wireless broadband networks of WiMAX and LTE. Novatel hopes that its USB devices and WiMax-capable intelligent mobile hotspots will provide consumers with the opportunity to gain uninterrupted access to services such as Internet TV, mobile video, and on-line video games at speeds of up to 100mbps, which is much more than home connectivity solutions are currently capable of delivering.

The product reveal comes at a pivotal time as the upgrade to 4G has never been a hotter topic. Major carriers the world over are prepping WiMax and LTE Networks to lead the shift. Attempting to maintain relevance by shopping solely 2G, 3G and HSPA-enabled devices would be akin to cruising the autobahn in a horse-drawn carriage. You don't get ahead by shopping a slower technology and Novatel has boosted their profile by coming to the game ready to play.… Read the rest

Samsung Kicks WiMax Into 2nd Gear

Evan Kessler on October 5, 2010 | 2 comments

Before new technology appears on the North American horizon, it always seems to pass through the fertile testing ground that is Japan. It happened with your favorite Nintendo games as a kid and it's happening with mobile broadband technology now. As Clearwire and Sprint are hard at work trying to elicit "oohs" and "aahs" from U.S. customers with their burgeoning nationwide 4G WiMax networks, Samsung already has their sights set on the next generation.

In association with Japan's UQ Communications, the Korean electronics behemoth has taken the occasion of the CEATEC trade show in Tokyo to run public trials of their 330-Mbps WiMax 2 network. While still compatible with presently implemented WiMax networks, the new version provides a significantly faster, more efficient connection as evidenced by the concurrent display of full-HD 3D videos, and 16 full HD videos on four big screen TVs, carried out with Samsung's commercial mobile base station– a unit identical to many utilized by WiMax providers the world over.

Samsung fully expects standards for WiMax 2 to be ready to roll by next month and to have compatible devices and services on tap at the end of 2011. The goods news for those still making nice with earlier versions of WiMax is that they'll be able to intermingle with the upgrade, and vendors of the current WiMax system can easily move their customers to the new standard with the application of system software and upgraded channel cards. These apparent advancements in WiMax technology (phase 2) prior to the official phase one of the major LTE networks, may ultimately give the 4G standard a fighting chance when it comes to establishing technological superiority. So while many are labeling WiMax a "niche" technology, its champions are determined to show it has some room for growth just yet.… Read the rest

Samsung Works WiMax On Europe’s Eastern Front

Evan Kessler on September 16, 2010 | 1 comment

Using conventional wisdom and keen powers of observation, your average enlightened follower of wireless trends may have long ago declared LTE the “royal highness” of 4G network technology standards on the European continent; But even with the region’s more developed nations opting for Long Term Evolution as their chief 4G format, Samsung isn’t quite ready to take part in that coronation ceremony.

The Korean mega-conglomerate is still holding strong to the belief that there’s plenty more fruit to be harvested from the WiMax technology tree. That fruit may not be plucked in wealthier countries like Sweden, Great Britain, and Germany; Samsung sees their fortunes rising where the sun does–in the east. Having struck two deals to provide 802.16e infrastructure for the rollouts of two national WiMax networks in Bulgaria and the Ukraine, they may be laying the foundation for even further success spreading and improving WiMax in the region for countries looking for a more cost-effective solution to improving their speed of their net access.

The devices at the center of these respective rollouts are Samsung’s U-RAS Smart CP base stations, which Ukraine’s Intellicom LLC will deploy to their top 4 markets by June 2011, hopefully making WiMax readily available to 20 million households by 2013. They’re not alone in trying to tackle that market though, as rival Ukraine High Technologies will be boxing them out for position for customers on a national level.

Bulgarian service provider, Max Telecom, will utilize the Smart base stations in an effort to upgrade its existing WiMax networks to best competing operators TransTelecom and Nexcom Bulgaria LLC. As a chief selling point of the new network Max will be boasting of their “high-quality VoIP” services that they hope will be available to the nation’s population of 7.6 million by 2012. Bulgaria’s WiMax users are expected to more than triple by 2015.

Though an investment for the further development of WiMax technology in a region where the 4G standard isn’t exactly “killing it” may seem risky for Ukrainian and Bulgarian providers alike; the U-RAS Smart CP Base Stations takes into account the potential shift of preference by supporting “a migration to WiMax 2 (802.16m) and TD-LTE, the alternative technology that can operate on the same spectrum as WiMax.” It’s better to be safe than sorry.… Read the rest

WiMAX Is Still Alive and Kicking in Taiwan

Ahuva Zucker on August 17, 2010

Just last month, Intel disbanded its offices in Taiwan, scaring investors in Taiwan that the future of WiMAX might not be so stable. Intel told investors that it was just a “normal process that takes place as new technologies mature”, but not everyone was convinced. Taiwanese companies make approximately 80% of WiMAX devices; their investment in the technology is estimated to be upwards of hundreds of millions of dollars. The potential damage to Taiwan’s economy could be devastating.

Today, however, Azimuth Systems, a company that provides testing for wireless solutions such as WiMAX and LTE, announced that Taiwan’s Institute for Information Industry has chosen to use the ACE™ MX MIMO channel emulator for the purposes of WiMAX testing. Azimuth publicized their press release earlier today with numerous statements about the quality of their products and services, but investors should see this for the good news that it is. Taiwan is continuing to work with WiMAX, even without the Intel local office. WiMAX technology is still flourishing in Taiwan.… Read the rest

Sprint to Buy Remaining Ownership of Clearwire?

Mikel Robinson on August 3, 2010 | 18 comments

The writing has been on the wall almost since its inception, with a trail of clues leading from Wall Street to Overland Park, KS all the way west to Kirkland, WA, the days of Clearwire operating its own network under its own board of directors and, most importantly, under its own symbol on the ticker may be drawing close to an abrupt and uneventful halt. Sources familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal that Sprint Executives, most particularly Dan Hesse are disappointed at Clearwire’s Network Expansion and deployment as well as its overall strategy. Not a very desirable choice of words as Clearwire is due for another round of funding here by the end of the year. It is expected that Sprint will use over $1 Billion in cash to provide for this round of aid and debt obligations – however, with a disappointing network Sprint could very well use its cash to simply buy out the remainder of Clearwire’s ownership in the company. Dan Hesse himself, in a recent earnings call with Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Citi Group and others is slow to add fuel to the speculative fire:

“I get a lot of questions about Clearwire and about Sprint’s network RFP. On the topic of Clearwire, we have an advantage in the aligned ownership interests we share with the cable partners, Intel and Google and we benefit from the many contributions they have brought to the table and we benefit from the resale of 4G services… As in the past, any strategic or funding decisions about Clearwire must be a collective decision among the strategic investors and the Clearwire Board. Beyond that, we are not going to comment on the ongoing media speculation.”

That’s CEO speak for “DROP IT, I’m not here to degrade Clearwire’s already poor stock position”. It makes no difference whether Clearwire decides to sell NOW or LATER, their position has been (from the beginning) to acquire as many customers as possible in an effort to be taken over by a carrier that doesn’t have its own spectrum (think Comcast OR of course Sprint). However the recent success in the new Clear markets should slow the speculation for now as Clearwire is on pace to hit corporate metrics and surpass 2 million customers by the close of business 2010.

… Read the rest

Best Buy the Latest Customer of Clearwire for Not So Dubious Reasons

Mikel Robinson on August 3, 2010

Just weeks after Best Buy announced that they would resell the Sprint 3G network under the “Best Buy Connect” brand, the company has announced that they will add a 4G tier, or even possibly 4G included with their USB devices and forthcoming mobile hotspots. According to Jed Stillman, VP of Best Buy Connect:

“This agreement paves the way to providing one-stop shopping and support for mobile broadband as more people become more connected across all kinds of devices,”

The truth is that this agreement comes in lieu of two simple facts:

· Best Buy Mobile is one of the most successful and disruptive forces in mobile phone retail

· Best Buy has been a KEY POINT OF DISTRIBUTION for CLEAR WiMAX.

In fact, the former of the two bullets is what no one is talking about, but is THE MOST OBVIOUS REASON for Best Buys new found commitment to the Sprint/Clearwire network. In each and every market that Clear launches, Best Buy stores that (before CLEAR) are already successful retail locations ALSO happen to be the best retail stores for CLEAR sales. All of the last year Clear has had their own corporate reps selling CLEAR WiMAX inside Best Buy to their customers – some Best Buy stores move anywhere between 250 and 300 CLEAR ACTIVATIONS A MONTH – ALL OF THEM TWO YEAR CONTRACTS!!! For any of you who know the revenue that Clear is paying (as I do) for these activations you know that CLEAR IS A CASH COW for best buy. Keep in mind that the COOL devices for Clear are just now starting to launch (MiFi’s etc). In essence, Best Buy smelled something cooking, and they ordered their own chef to whip up their own version of the same dish.

The news comes just in time for Clearwire, as they are teetering on the weight of their own debt, their own pressure, and ultimately their own deadlines. They have committed to having 140 million POPs covered time and again by the end of 2010, yet if you go to www.clear.com/imap they do not even have their TOP markets (New York, LA, San Fran, Miami, Denver, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, and Cincinnati) listed as “future markets” which is most terrifically odd considering that those markets I listed would account for more than 35 million POPs by themselves. In addition, there is … Read the rest

The 4G Wrestling or the 4G Wedding?

Ilana Cohen Bengio on August 2, 2010

3G, implemented 4 years ago, has almost reached its saturation point, and thus the war among major U.S wireless carriers- Verizon, AT&T and Sprint- has begun. 2010 is a turning point in the telecommunication market and companies are trying to take over the 4th generation industry: 4G.
Consumers expect a high speed connection between 100Mb /s and 1Gb/s, contrary to 3G which does not exceed 14.4 Mb/s. Two technologies with this capability are in competition: WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) and LTE (Long Term Evolution).

LTE is considered by many to be the obvious successor to current-generation 3G technologies. LTE’s promise of high-speed, two-way wireless data promises an “all-IP” mode of communication in which voice calls are handled via VoIP. It’s also designed to handle video and to permit roaming through multiple systems–from cellular to Wi-Fi and satellite. The LTE solution is supported by AT&T and Verizon and should be implemented by the end of 2010. However, LTE still remains slower than Wimax and tests show that the infrastructure is not mature enough, and will need about 2 more years to be completely efficient.

The other technology called WiMAX, developed by Sprint and Clearwire is already available as a type of broad-base Wi-Fi. More than 450 tests are on-going to deliver high-speed connections to cell phones and landline devices in more than 135 countries like Kenya, Russia, Bulgaria, Netherlands, India, Denmark, Japan and the US. The Wimax advantages are threefold: it can be spread in remote areas such as emerging countries; the technology is operational and functions with any device integrated with a Wimax chip; and it solves roaming problems. Despite these advantages and the anticipation over 4G, Sprint and Clearwire are not leaders of the U.S wireless carriers market. Indeed, LTE has a better popularity rating than Wimax, and neither Sprint nor Clearwire has enough money to challenge Verizon and AT&T.

While US carriers wrestle with these options, one wonders if a marriage between the two technologies would be a better alternative. WiMAX, which is already available and updated, could be implemented initially, allowing time to improve the LTE infrastructure. Thus, consumers can experience the superior performance of LTE without losing connectivity in the mean time. Accordingly, it seems that WiMAX and LTE are more complementary than rivals.… Read the rest

Mobile WiMAX is Rapidly Gaining World-Wide Adoption

Sanjiv Gupta on August 2, 2010

These are exciting times for the world’s first wireless mobile broadband internet technology – Mobile WiMAX is rapidly gaining world-wide adoption with corresponding commercial rollouts: In recent news, Imagine acquires Clear’s Ireland operations, Reliance Infotel ltd. changes their mind and plans for Mobile WiMAX deployments in India, Clear plans several new markets inside the U.S. by the end of the year (with current standing of 21 states (50 cities)), Best Buy Connect in conjunction with Clear announces their official wholesale relationship to sell 4G Broadband Service in the U.S., and the WiMAX Forum announces WiMAX 16e Enhanced for further network optimizations. Moreover, the ITU ratified IEEE 802.16m is set to continue to advance this open-standard 4G Mobile Broadband Internet technology growth for the next several years to come.

In order to take advantage of the current proliferation of WiMAX – ready PCs (netbooks, notebooks) available online and in the retail channels, as well as be ready to intercept the near term launch of a variety of WiMAX-ready slate tablets and smartphones, a green field WiMAX operator needs to diligently perform early technology assessment between a whole host of these WiMAX enabled retail PCs, dongles, and CPEs within their own Mobile WiMAX network infrastructure (BS, ASN, CSN, etc.). Once the WiMAX Forum PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) requirements for the AAA (Authentication, Authorization, Accounting) server are satisfied, the green field operator can begin a first pass over-the-air network entry verification with subsequent DL/UL (downlink/uplink) speed testing. This first level assessment should bring a baseline confidence to the operator prior to a full-scale IOT (inter-operability) testing/optimization of the green field WiMAX network.

Let us do a quick review of a typical WiMAX network architecture: Essentially, the MS (member station)/SS (subscriber station) is on one side, and the BS (base station), ASN (Access Service Network) Gateway, CSN (Connectivity Service Network: HA(home agent), AAA, etc.) is on the other side. Please remember the following common interface terminologies: the air-interface between the MS to BS is termed R1, the interface between MS to CSN is R2, BS to ASN is R6, ASN to CSN is R3, ASN to another ASN is R4 and CSN to another operator’s CSN is R5. Next, we provide a simplistic summary of the network entry and initialization process: Phase a) the MS scans the DL channel and synchronizes with the BS, Phase b) transmit parameters are obtained, Phase c) … Read the rest

Rohde & Schwarz and Benetel Present Femtocell Test and Measurements Solutions

Elizabeth Dickey on March 23, 2010

Rohde & Schwarz and Benetel Ltd are working together to supply test and measurement solutions for Femtocell Access Points (FAP) from product development through pilot and mass production. Rohde & Schwarz have the test and measurement equipment necessary while Benetel has experience in test software and custom solutions.

The BTS114RS production test system is the first femtocell test system to utilize parallel RF testing to reduce the cost of test (COT) while the design and verification system, FAST, helps shorten product development time during the R&D phase. The system has a compact design to minimize floor space requirements and also includes auto calibration, remote log-in capability, and a database with tools for analyzing production data.

Benetel’s design verification system, FAST, also benefits from the partnership, helping femtocell developers shorten product development time by automating device verification. The Benetel Test Set contains a series of filter banks which can be switched in and out of the RF path, enabling the automation of blocking and adjacent channel measurements.

Benetel is in Central Hall, C3, booth 1727 at CTIA.… Read the rest

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