Swiss Road to 4G: Construction Ahead

In late May, Switzerland’s Federal Communications Commission, or ComCom, renewed the mobile licenses of the nation’s three main operators, Swisscom, Orange and Sunrise, through 2013. In doing so, it laid some groundwork for the migration to 4G services over the next five to 10 years. But questions remain regarding exactly how Switzerland’s move to 4G will proceed. The original licenses, which had been granted for a 10-year period in 1998 for the provision of GSM services, had already been extended until late 2009. As a result of the license renewals, the Swiss spectrum map has been reshuffled, with Orange acquiring an equal share of 900MHz spectrum in exchange for scaling back its stake in the 1800MHz band. The 900MHz, 1800MHz and 2100MHz spectrum bands in Switzerland are now split equally among Swisscom, Orange and Sunrise. A fourth operator, In&Phone, continues to operate on a limited basis in the 1800MHz band under a 10-year license awarded in 2003.

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Rush for 4G drives mobile telco spending

The race for 4G is pushing up global capital expenditure on mobile communications, according to new research. However, the US economy’s uncertain outlook in 2008 is prompting ABI Research to predict that North America’s mobile capital expenditure will remain flat this year. Advertisement Other regions will increase their capital expenditure commitments for new 2G/3G deployments or expansions, all-IP service discovery platform upgrades, soft-switch unified core systems and preparations for 4G.

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Complex LTE IPR System

Progress since 2005 •ETSI has improved visibility of standards essential IPR across its membership •NGMN Ltd has produced indications of the total royalty burden of candidate technologies LTE & WiMAX •Placed IPR royalty rates in the middle of the next generation mobile economy debate •Raised the IPR discussions to the attention of the EU and other regulatory bodies •Built a legally sound platform of trusted collaboration among technology stakeholders

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Ericsson in 4G talks with ME operators

Ericsson, the Swedish mobile phones and technology services provider, confirmed on Saturday it is negotiating with mobile operators in the Middle East to launch a next generation mobile broadband technology network in the region. 4G, also known as Long-Term Evolution (LTE), will enable operators to offer enhanced wireless broadband services as well as Internet TV, mobile video blogging, on-line video games and the mobile office environment. One of the most significant aspects of 4G, it is claimed, will be the mass capability to achieve “mobile broadband anytime anywhere”.

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4G wireless Web in US

COMCAST Corp, the largest US cable operator, said on Monday it is introducing a wireless service for subscribers to access the Web beyond their homes anywhere within the United States. The so-called fourth-generation (4G) wireless service, is the first execution of a partnership between Comcast, Clearwire Corp and other companies that use the emerging WiMax high-speed mobile technology. Many consumers already update their blogs and watch videos using their mobile phones. Cable companies such as Comcast and Time Warner Cable Inc do not want to become irrelevant by restricting subscriber access to the home.

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Comcast Deploys WiMax 4G Broadband

Comcast just became the wireless Internet vendor to beat by offering 4G wireless Internet in Portland, Oregon. Leveraging Clearwire’s WiMax network, this move leaves LTE (Long-Term Evolution), the competing technology, a step behind. The new service, called Comcast High-Speed 2go, offers speeds of up to 4Mbps. The Fast Pack Metro package is aggressively sold at an introductory rate of $49.99 a month, which also includes a 12Mbps home Internet service and a free Wi-Fi router. After the first year, the rate jumps to a still-competitive $73 per month. An additional $20 adds nationwide 3G data service to the package, provided by Sprint Nextel (the majority owner of Clearwire). Existing Comcast broadband customers can pick up the service for an additional $30 for local and $50 for nationwide.

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Yota and Microsoft innovative 4G service receives industry recognition

The device is the first GSM+Mobile WiMAX mobile phone to be launched in Russia and comes installed with Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 software. It will be available to all Yota mobile customers, offering them innovative mobile services with faster connections to the same range of applications that they use on their computers in their homes and offices. The Global Telecoms Business Innovation Awards reward the most innovative projects and initiatives undertaken by companies in the telecommunications industry. Around 250 industry leaders from around the world attend the ceremony every year, which was held at the Sheraton Park Lane Hotel in London in 2009.

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Ericsson in 4G talks with ME operators

Ericsson, the Swedish mobile phones and technology services provider, confirmed on Saturday it is negotiating with mobile operators in the Middle East to launch a next generation mobile broadband technology network in the region. 4G, also known as Long-Term Evolution (LTE), will enable operators to offer enhanced wireless broadband services as well as Internet TV, mobile video blogging, on-line video games and the mobile office environment.

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Sprint to unveil HTC Hero and Samsung Android 4G handsets?

The HTC Hero is all over the news and so is Samsung’s upcoming Android 4G phone. Well, the recent rumor in the market is that Sprint is all set to launch these Android powered devices very soon.

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Report: The Emerging 4G Wireless Landscape in the U.S.

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/b95f60/the_emerging_4g_wi) has announced the addition of the “The Emerging 4G Wireless Landscape in the U.S. - Operators, Chip Sets, and Consumer Electronics” report to their offering. Popularity of new smartphones such as the iPhone 3GS and the Palm Pre has stimulated growth in consumer uptake of mobile data services. At the same time, mobile video applications such as YouTube (which is pre-installed in these devices), consume such a high volume of data that they strain the capacity of 3G networks. To address opportunities in the growing demand for mobile access to rich digital media, wireless operators are compelled to develop roadmaps for migration to lower cost/bit, higher capacity 4th Generation (4G) networks. This report dispels the confusion that has resulted from partisan “4G Wars” between proponents of next-generation wireless technologies. The emerging 4G landscape in the U.S. will be characterized by co-existence of mobile WiMAX and LTE technologies that are explained here in terms of the advantages that each will provide over 3G.

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