Nokia Siemens Networks announced that it will cut 1,500 jobs from Motorola Solutions, affecting R&D, supply chain and sales related to the WiMAX business.
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According to the 10th issue of the 4GCounts Quarterly Report From Maravedis, at the end of the third quarter of 2009, the number of mobile WiMax (802.16e-2005) subscribers surpassed the number of fixed WiMax (802.16-2004) subscribers worldwide for the very first time.
Co-author of the report and 4GCounts team leader Cintia Garza said, “77% of CPEs installed in Q3 2009 were indoor CPEs with over 3.6 million units, followed by USB dongles (595,000 units or 13%) and PCMCIA cards (240,000 units or 5%).”
For LTE, the second half of 2009 showed progress and growth in new LTE operator commitments and in terms of device certifications scheme and chipset development.
“Although dual mode devices including GSM, EVDO, and LTE are not yet commercially available, the first engineering samples of dual-mode chipsets were shipped in early 2009. Devices will become available in the second half of 2010 for dongles/embedded applications, but not until 2011 for the handsets and lower power devices such as MiFi WiFi routers,” commented Esteban Monturus, 4G analyst for Europe.
Key Findings from the Report Included:
-The average residential and business ARPU generated among operators during Q3 2009 across all regions was US$41 and US$121 respectively.
-BWA/WiMax base station sectors installed as of Q3 2009 totaled 201,355 – an increase of 25% from 160,882 the previous quarter.
-85% of WiMax operators offer unlimited data usage compared to 41% of 3G operators. That proportion will gradually decrease as operators look for new ways to manage data consumption.… Read the rest
It appears that 2010 may be the year for the Brazilian 4G market, with auctions expected for 3.5GHz, 2.5GHz, and 450 MHz bands and remaining 3G spectrum according to Maravedis’ latest report. Drawing from interviews with Brazilian operators and regulator Anatel, the report offers insight into the broadband wireless market and regulatory activity.
“As the largest market in Latin America, Brazil offers attractive opportunities for 4G operators. Demand for wireless broadband access is intensifying, but lack of sufficient spectrum has delayed many commercial network deployments. With two public consultations held in 2009 for 2.5GHz and 3.5GHz spectrum allocation, Anatel could release spectrum for the development of 4G this year,” explained Senior Analyst for Latin America Cintia Garza.
“At present, WiMax activity in Brazil has taken place in 3.5GHz only, with Neovia and Embratel leading the market. The driven applications are high-speed Internet and VoIP provided, mainly to address the needs of the small-medium enterprises and multi-dwelling units markets,” she added.
It is also worth noting that mobile services have been a major success, with 168 million mobile users out of a population of 192 million inhabitants. The predominant technology is GSM with 151 million subscribers, followed by CDMA and WCDMA with 8.4 million and 3.5 million respectively.… Read the rest
For quite some time now rumors have been swirling around about a possible merger between T-Mobile and Sprint. Just over the weekend this rumor has resurfaced after months of no mention. It is still inconclusive if there is truth to the supposed merger. However, as of the weekend some sources reported that Deutsche Telekom, the owners of T-Mobile were looking into acquiring Sprint.
While other carriers have announced that they will be going with LTE, Sprint is currently the only carrier offering 4G by utilizing WiMax technology. WiMax would allow customers to access cable broadband-like speeds wirelessly. The rollout is expected to reach 100 metropolitan areas and 100 million people by the end of 2009.
If this were to happen it might take awhile to work out the kinks or a favorable plan for both carriers and customers, since Sprint is CDMA and T-Mobile is GSM.This merger although minimizes options for the consumer might give Sprint and T-Mobile the competitve edge it may need to rival At&t and Verizon .
Neither Sprint nor T-Mobile have confirmed this rumor. Lets stay put and see what happens in the coming months.… Read the rest
With the pending release of WiMax 2.0 come s a dual-mode GSM-WiMax phone, as reported by Peter Sayer of PC World
Russian WiMax operator Yota will soon begin offering its customers a WiMax terminal that can make VOIP calls — and hand them over to a GSM network when the caller wanders out of the WiMax coverage area.
During the international ITU World Telecoms Fair 2009 in Geneva, Yota and their partner Samsung, debuted their prototype and announced that they have commenced testing of the next version of mobile WiMAX technology: Release 2.0 (IEEE 802.16m standard). Both Yota and Samsung expect it to operate up to four times faster than the current generation of WiMax products, which are based on the IEEE 802.16e standard.The WiMax Forum offers a little more detail:
The IEEE’s IMT-Advanced proposal documents that … using 4X2 MIMO in the urban microcell scenario with only a single 20 MHz TDD channel available system wide, the 802.16m system can support both 120 Mbit/s downlink and 60 Mbit/s uplink per site simultaneously. Higher data rates can be obtained with additional spectrum resources or more complex antenna schemes. The WiMAX Release 2 profile will also incorporate these capabilities for improved VoIP capacity, spectral efficiency, latency, handover speed, cell range, and coverage, with support for wider operating bandwidth in both TDD and FDD duplexing.
The firm plans to start installing WiMAX Release 2.0 solutions from Samsung across its network by the end of 2010. Yegor Ivanov, Yota’s director of business development said that they hope to offer service in 180 Russian cities with a population of over 100,000 by the end of 2012. Yota will install around 20 base stations in each city, depending on the terrain, and aims to sign up around 5 percent of the population within its coverage area.
John Saw : As Clearwire’s senior vice president – chief technology officer, John Saw, Ph.D., is the chief architect of the company’s advanced wireless network infrastructure and technology, designed to deliver true wireless broadband performance in a mobile environment. Dr. Saw brings nearly 20 years of experience developing wireless networks and architectures to Clearwire, including pioneering work in the development and rollout of TDMA, GSM, CDMA and fixed wireless cellular infrastructure and microwave products.
In addition, he was instrumental in developing AT&T Wireless’ digital wireless broadband product, one of the earliest OFDM-based wireless systems deployed that foreshadowed the subsequent development of the WiMAX 802.16 standards. Prior to assuming his current role, Saw served as Clearwire’s vice president of engineering since joining the company as its second employee.
Before Clearwire, Saw held key engineering and technology executive positions with Netro Corp (now SR Telecom), AT&T Wireless (now AT&T Inc.), and Nortel. Saw also holds five U.S. patents in wireless technologies.… Read the rest
Market research firm Infonetics Research released results from its latest service provider survey, Global WiMAX Service Strategy 2009–2011. Highlights follow.
- 59% of respondents plan to offer VoIP over WiMAX services by 2011, indicating the strong potential of voice over WiMAX as an additional high-value revenue stream for operators
- An increasing number of GSM operators are entering the WiMAX market, seeking to leverage their trusted consumer brand by offering basic broadband services, and WiMAX offers the more cost-effective delivery option
- To move to full mobility WiMAX services, operators must continue to deploy network infrastructure to ensure coverage to support mobility and roaming, and wait for the mobile device ecosystem to become more diverse and affordable for consumers
“Although WiMAX service strategies differ from operator to operator and from market to market, most operators are focused on the less capital-intensive fixed and nomadic WiMAX broadband services now to address underserved markets seeking ‘wireless DSL,’ and many have formalized plans to migrate to full mobility WiMAX over the next couple of years. VoIP, CPE and device subsidization, and an emphasis on pre-paid and ad-hoc pricing are also integral service components for many operators we interviewed,” said Richard Webb, Infonetics Research’s Directing Analyst for WiMAX, Microwave, and Mobile Devices.
Infonetics’ Global WiMAX Service Strategy 2009–2011 : Service Provider Survey captures a strategic overview from WiMAX network operators (WiMAX-only, competitive, mobile, and incumbent operators) to better understand how and why WiMAX networks are being deployed, the rationale behind the services offered, the business model, the target markets, and the subscriber and revenue numbers operators are projecting between now and 2011.
Of the operators surveyed, 41% are from Asia Pacific, 36% from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), 18% from North America, and 5% from Central and Latin America (CALA).… Read the rest
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has announced its success in raising €218 million for Russia’s MTS mobile operator. Commercial banks will provide €103 million of the loan. The loan will support MTS’s expansion and deployment of new technologies that reduce energy consumption of base stations, incorporate renewable energy sources, and reduce the carbon footprint of telecommunications.
MTS Systems Corporation collaborates with product developers to help customers design, develop, and produce high quality technological products. The company serves the global telecom market. The EBRD is an international financial institution that invests primarily in private sector clients whose needs cannot be fully met by the market. It promotes the entrepreneurship of small businesses and the privatization of publicly-owned companies.
EBRD will set aside €10 million of its loan to fund MTS’s trial program for rural areas. The program will attempt to cut MTS’s carbon footprint by using renewable energy to power 20 base stations in rural Russia. The trial will use 3G, GSM, and WiMAX technology to power base stations in the rural areas.
The telecom industry has failed to power rural base stations in the past because of the high cost and seemingly low return; however, the 3G, GSM, and WiMAX technologies are a solution to the financial issue. If the program succeeds, it could reach rural communities that exist beyond the reach of electrical grids. It could also cut energy use by up to 46 percent.
The EBRD’s endorsement of environmental-conscious technology through MTS mirrors the move toward smart grids around the world. General Electric (GE), IBM, Google, and others are now in the midst of developing smart grids for their utilities products. GE announced just last year that it plans to base its smart grid products on a WiMAX platform.… Read the rest
Airspan received some negative publicity back in March from Buzz Broadband but continues to be a respected provider of WiMAX solutions. Vodacom Lesotho, a subsidiary of the Pan-African cellular communications company, has officially selected Airspan to be its WiMAX provider.
Vodacom offers world class GSM service, a standard collection of applications and features available to mobile phone subscribers, to more than 23 million customers in South Africa, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho and Mozambique. Partnering with Airspan will allow Vodacom to provide subscribers with IP data services as a substitute to fixed line broadband access. “Airspan will supply its MicroMAX base stations in the 3.3 – 3.5 GHz frequency band in addition to CPEs (customer premise equipment).” Vodacom believes that Airspan’s solution is perfect, particularly in rural areas, for rapid deployment.
Airspan’s MicroMAX system provides a low-cost, high-performance point-to-multipoint IEEE 802.16 compliant solution. This OFDM based architecture is suited to deliver high-speed data, Voice Over IP (VoIP), and multimedia services to residential, SOHO (small office/home office), and SME (small medium enterprise). MicroMAX offers service providers an integrated access solution, providing quick-to-market deployment and low-market entry cost for broadband services in an expandable “pay as you grow” model. CNN Money News
Given the failure of Airspan’s partnership with Buzz Broadband, Airspan hopes winning this contract with Vodacom will highlight the flexibility and scalability of Airspan’s base stations and CPEs.… Read the rest
WiMAX Day thinks so. Many have cited 2008 as the year for WiMAX. In fact, WiMAX topped several lists as a promising technology for the new year. The buzz about WiMAX may very well inspire more interest and more investments in the technology. WiMAX Day compares WiMAX to where GSM was ten years ago and estimates $30 billion in investments based on deployment of new networks, mergers and acquisitions, acquiring more spectrum, and other facets. According to the article:
“With all the spectrum up for grabs, we think 20 to 30 new WiMAX networks can pop up in the next year,” said an analyst at Deutsche Bank in New York. “There’s no average size for investment, but some of these can enter the hundreds of millions [of dollars] to billions, gauging from recent RFPs issued to vendors.”
These figures do not include what Sprint is putting into WiMAX this year, or the KDDI-Intel venture in Japan. As more capital enters the WiMAX industry, some of the projected growth for this year may very well start to take shape. More details on the specific numbers for 2008 will be released by WiMAX Day later this year.… Read the rest
