article page
| 1
| 2
| 3
However, all caveats aside, the data is substantial.
More handsets are making their way onto the market. HTC and T-Mobile were optimistic that sales of the Android-powered G1 would top a million units by the end of 2008. In addition, Australian store Kogan has announced an unlocked Android-powered smartphone known as the Agora. The phone is bound to shake things up when it is released at the end of this month.
In addition, there is talk of Apple moving into the WiMAX/WiBro space with some sort of device (likely to be a MacBook and/or iPod
|
|
In addition, billing and charging models have to stay agile as companies attempt to dodge economic woes and keep ARPU high. |
|
However, while Eslambolchi was once hopeful for the promises of WiMAX, he is now convinced that LTE (Long Term Evolution) will win out in the end.
Is he alone in this assumption? Blogger Dean Bubley sees the WiMAX vs. LTE race as actually having three horses in it: WiMAX vs. LTE vs. the Global Economy. Bubley points to
|
|
|
|
rather than an iPhone. At first, anyway.). In addition, HTC, maker of the G1, is hoping to have Windows Touch and Android WiMAX devices sometime next year.
New Networks
And what of the state of WiMAX and its South Korean cousin WiBro? While it's clear that WiMAX is a solid option as a last-mile technology in historically underserved areas, it still has a way to go as a wireless technology. In the US market, Sprint WiMAX provider Xohm launched in Baltimore in the end of September. Xohm will, it turns out, be merged with Clearwire, and, as of December 1, 2008, the Sprint and Clearwire projects will be branded as “Clear.” The venture has received investments from Time Warner Cable, Intel, Google, and others.
However, is WiMAX doomed to be outmoded in the near future? Dr. Hossein Eslambolchi, former CTO of AT&T and industry visionary, reported in his keynote at TM Forum's Management World Orlando show that wireless internet will become more and more pervasive.
|
|
the growing number of devices for WiMAX on the horizon, as well as the Xohm/Clear launch, as positives. Meanwhile, he mentions that LTE is being pushed to the side by providers like Verizon and DoCoMo, and is having legal problems over spectrum rights in Europe. However, at this point, even though LTE looks hobbled, WiMAX is doomed to patchiness pending more widespread rollouts, which are likely to also be slowed by the state of the economy.
Clearwire, for its part, has released statements alluding to the “war” between LTE and WiMAX, saying that “Mobile WiMax and LTE have a lot in common. Far more in common in fact then either of these technologies have with today’s 2G and 3G technologies.” Furthermore, Clearwire leaves the door open for embracing LTE as it matures, but sticking with WiMAX for now.
Keeping it Running
OSS/BSS professionals probably find it hard to read the above without giving some thought to what new and different services new
article page
| 1
| 2
| 3
| |
|
