SDRNews SDR2009-01-15 The 4G Wireless War
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Round One in the 4G Wars
by Andrew McCaskey
Verizon and it’s lobbyists are not going to let the 4G opportunity slip out of their fingers. If you thought that Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD was bloody, get your ringside seats for this one- WiMax versus Long Term Evolution (LTE). Here is the interaction of business, technology and regulation at it’s finest.
The first battlefield is upon us: The Feb 19th conversion from Analog to Digital. It will free up huge swaths of spectrum in the 700MHz band currently in use by analog broadcasters, which the Federal Communications Commission auctioned off last year. And the winners, having paid their money, want the goods. Verizon is leading the pack saying no delay can be tolerated, even though President-Elect Obama has called for a delay in the transition.
Their claim is that the delay will prevent them from testing their LTE system later this year.
On the other side, AT&T has joined the Consumers Union and several prominent Democratic legislators in supporting the call to give the troubled transition more time. A longer, more disruptive delay might provide some breathing room for Verizon competitor Clearwire. That company is seeking to build market share for its own WiMAX network, a joint venture with Sprint, before LTE is ready .
Opponents of a delay, such as the Consumer Electronics Association, may also have ulterior motives . There have been some suspicion that the electronics industry had championed a “bare-bones” converter box program in hopes that frustrated consumers would conclude it was simpler to buy newer television sets ready to receive digital signals. The cable industry and direct broadcast satellite, meanwhile, have remained publicly neutral, but may stand to gain from a chaotic transition that drives consumers onto their systems.
At CES, Clearwire company spokesmen hinted that LTE silicon was not even available and that Verizon fielding any system by that deadline would be next to impossible. Fear, Uncertainty and doubt – nothing new in the communications or computer industry.
From the sidelines, it’s going to be as entertaining as Blu-Ray. Except this one is important because connective competitiveness in all sectors of our economy. is at stake.
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