Related
http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/04/...re-its-mouth-is-announces-lte-trial/#comments
In case anyone doesn't realize, clearwire is owned primarily by Sprint and is used for all of Sprint's 4g services.
I thought they forgot about us when they were actually just waiting to announce we were getting both LTE AND WiMAX!
just came here to post this...
and just think...one poster said basically phoenis is a bunch of low lifes with no tech jobs...thats until i informed him that he was wrong.....very wrong.
good news either way.
Press Release
Clearwire Announces New 4G LTE Technology Trials Expected to Yield Unmatched Wireless Speeds in the U.S.
* Initial Tests Expected to Demonstrate Real-World Download Speeds Ranging from 20-70 Mbps, Significantly Faster than the 5-12 Mbps Expected from Other Operators in the U.S.
* New Trials to Showcase Unique Advantages of Clearwire's Vast Spectrum Holdings and Flexibility of Company's All-IP Network Architecture to Test Multiple Coexistence Scenarios Between LTE and WiMAX
* Unprecedented Technical Trials to Test Both FDD LTE and TDD LTE Using Commercially Available Equipment on One of World's Most Widely Used 4G Frequency Band by Global Operators
KIRKLAND, Wash., Aug 04, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ:CLWR), a leading provider of wireless broadband services and operator of the largest 4G network in the country, today announced plans to conduct 4G LTE technology trials expected to yield unmatched wireless speeds in the U.S., and to test multiple coexistence scenarios between LTE and WiMAX radio technologies. The new tests are designed to showcase the unique capability of Clearwire's unmatched spectrum holdings and examine a variety of potential future technology combinations that could yield additional benefits to consumers and shareholders.
"Clearwire's unmatched spectrum and all-IP network make us the only service provider in the U.S. able to conduct tests of this nature and on this scale," said Dr. John Saw, Clearwire's chief technology officer. "As we have consistently stated, we remain technology agnostic, but WiMAX provides us with unique advantages to meet the needs of our customers today. Ultimately, consumers don't care about technical acronyms, but they do care about quality and affordable Internet services that work where and when they want, and that's what we're focused on delivering. Part of our technical due diligence at Clearwire is to be prepared to leverage a number of possible opportunities as we future-proof our network, and that's the goal of these tests."
The company expects the technical trials to demonstrate that Clearwire's 4G network can deliver significantly higher performance using LTE technologies than any other operator. Clearwire plans to conduct the tests in collaboration with Huawei Technologies, the same infrastructure provider which deployed the world's first commercial LTE network in Europe, using the same spectrum band and flexible base station platform that Clearwire utilizes in the United States. In the same vein, Clearwire will also be testing LTE on Samsung Electronics' common base station platform which it currently uses for its mobile WiMAX deployments. During the trials, Clearwire will collaborate with Beceem, and other partners, to determine the best methods for enabling end-user devices to take advantage of a potential multi-mode WiMAX/LTE network. Other participating vendors for Clearwire's technical trials are expected to be named at a later date. In addition, due to the global dominance of the 2.5 GHz - 2.6 GHz spectrum band, a number of large wireless operators are expected to participate with Clearwire on these tests. Additional details about those companies are also expected to be disclosed at a later date. The tests will be conducted in the fall and throughout early 2011 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Dr. Saw continued, "The 2.5 GHz spectrum band is universally allocated for global 4G deployments, so it has the potential to create one of the world's most robust ecosystem across billions of devices. We believe this commonality will result in a massive diversity of mobile devices and applications, at comparably low costs, due to unmatched economies-of-scale. In a 4G world, wireless coverage is important, but capacity is king. This capacity is a unique and sustainable advantage for Clearwire, thanks to our all-IP network and unmatched spectrum holdings."
Test Scenarios
Clearwire expects to conduct tests across three key areas:
* FDD LTE: Clearwire intends to conduct FDD LTE (Frequency Division Duplex) tests using 40 MHz of spectrum, paired in 20 MHz contiguous channels, of its 2.5 GHz spectrum. Clearwire expects to confirm the capability to produce real-world download speeds that range from 20-70 Mbps. This is expected to be significantly faster than the 5-12 Mbps speeds currently envisioned by other LTE deployments in the U.S., which will rely on smaller pairs of 10 Mhz channels or less.
* TDD LTE: Clearwire will concurrently test TDD LTE (Time Division Duplex), in a 20 MHz configuration, which is twice the channel size currently used in its 4G WiMAX deployments.
* WiMAX and LTE: Clearwire will also test WiMAX co-existence with both FDD LTE and TDD LTE to confirm the flexibility of its network and spectrum strength to simultaneously support a wide-range of devices across its all-IP network.
The company also restated its commitment to use WiMAX technology for its current 4G build plan. Since the company expects that a significant number of LTE devices will be available in coming years, Clearwire is conducting technical trials to determine how it could potentially add LTE technology to coexist with WiMAX.
Additional details about the new technology tests were not disclosed. General information about Clearwire is available at http://www.clearwire.com. For more information about CLEAR 4G service, visit http://www.clear.com or The CLEAR Blog http://www.theclearblog.com. You can also follow CLEAR information on Twitter at @Clear.
For press and broadcast: product images, video footage and company logos can be downloaded from the Clearwire website at: http://www.clearwire.com/newsroom. To subscribe to Clearwire's RSS news feed, click here.
About Clearwire
Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ:CLWR), through its operating subsidiaries, is a leading provider of wireless broadband services. As of June 30, Clearwire's 4G network is currently available in areas of the U.S. where approximately 56 million people live and the company plans to continue to expand its 4G coverage. Clearwire's open all-IP network, combined with significant spectrum holdings, provides an unprecedented combination of speed and mobility to deliver next generation broadband access. The company markets its 4G service through its own brand called CLEAR(R) as well as through its wholesale relationships with Sprint, Comcast and Time Warner Cable. Strategic investors include Intel Capital, Comcast, Sprint, Google, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks. Clearwire is headquartered in Kirkland, Wash. Additional information is available at http://www.clearwire.com.
That's insane , in a good way off course. To have both LTE And wimax, oh boy this is scary.
Sent from my Evo using XDA App
Time to start checking for 4g every couple of days - clearwire has a habit of turning up their wimax radios long before they actually release a press release saying it's fully turned on...
It will be a trial, but will it be an internal trial?
If I live in Phx, will I get those insane speeds with my Evo this fall?
That'd be mostly welcome =D
foueddyf said:
It will be a trial, but will it be an internal trial?
If I live in Phx, will I get those insane speeds with my Evo this fall?
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You won't be able to use LTE (which they are touting as having the "insane speeds") with the Evo as it is WiMAX only, but when they say a trial, I assume they are referring to at least turning on Sprint device access to WiMAX.
holob said:
You won't be able to use LTE (which they are touting as having the "insane speeds") with the Evo as it is WiMAX only, but when they say a trial, I assume they are referring to at least turning on Sprint device access to WiMAX.
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I thought the main difference between Wimax and LTE was software and not hardware, so with an update to our radio it should be able to access the LTE network.
About damn time.....
sweet, ill just be getting back there for school, this works out perfectly
Wait, I just realized this means absolutely nothing for us as of now. This isn't an official release of "sprint's" 4g, just an expansion of clear's infrastructure that's already here.
Sorry guys, until Sprint opens the doors on clear's 4g for us, then there's nothing to get excited about.
naw son
foueddyf said:
It will be a trial, but will it be an internal trial?
If I live in Phx, will I get those insane speeds with my Evo this fall?
That'd be mostly welcome =D
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The EVO is WiMax only. It's core processor is not configured for LTE's modulation and would require physical correction to activate LTE capabilities, as software would only "allow" it, but wouldn't make it happen. As far as WiMax availability, WiMax would only become availabe via a deliberate build-out of WiMax capable reception towers. These LTE trials are on a "minimum necessary" basis i.e. they don't erect many towers, won't include multimode WiMax/LTE towers, and it's possible the towers in these trials may only be used on temporary licensing and zoning permits that require their dismantling after a certain period of time or require costly re-certification. In addition, it'd be unwise for a cash flow ignorant company like Sprint/Clear to continue wasting money by erecting multimode LTE/WiMax towers when WiMax has already been proven enough that it should just be deployed. Multimode towers will continue to be more costly to run with the increasing demand for network capacity. If multimode towers are used just for a trial, it'd really be a spit in the face to those already paying for 4G speeds with the data premium required for having a EVO.
edtate said:
Wait, I just realized this means absolutely nothing for us as of now. This isn't an official release of "sprint's" 4g, just an expansion of clear's infrastructure that's already here.
Sorry guys, until Sprint opens the doors on clear's 4g for us, then there's nothing to get excited about.
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I believe Sprint gets automatic access to clear's 4g when they turn it on. Press releases usually coincide for Sprint and Clearwire to the minute and Sprint is the controlling and majority shareholder for Clearwire. Once Clearwire turns on WiMAX service here, we should have access to it.
Also, if you notice in Clear's press releases they mention "wholesale" customers and that they get a "nominal" fee for them even if they aren't in a covered area. Basically, Clearwire gets an automatic chunk of that $10 fee we pay even if we aren't in a 4g area.
JBundy said:
The EVO is WiMax only. It's core processor is not configured for LTE's modulation and would require physical correction to activate LTE capabilities, as software would only "allow" it, but wouldn't make it happen. As far as WiMax availability, WiMax would only become availabe via a deliberate build-out of WiMax capable reception towers. These LTE trials are on a "minimum necessary" basis i.e. they don't erect many towers, won't include multimode WiMax/LTE towers, and it's possible the towers in these trials may only be used on temporary licensing and zoning permits that require their dismantling after a certain period of time or require costly re-certification. In addition, it'd be unwise for a cash flow ignorant company like Sprint/Clear to continue wasting money by erecting multimode LTE/WiMax towers when WiMax has already been proven enough that it should just be deployed. Multimode towers will continue to be more costly to run with the increasing demand for network capacity. If multimode towers are used just for a trial, it'd really be a spit in the face to those already paying for 4G speeds with the data premium required for having a EVO.
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It says specifically that they are doing a multimode trial here and previous Clearwire and Sprint statements have indicated that they are looking to build out LTE (and possibly transition away from WiMAX completely eventually). The main reason for this is likely that all other nationwide cell providers in the US will be going LTE and Sprint does not want to be the odd-man-out with WiMAX. It's likely that they were leave both on for a while and transition to LTE-only eventually. Clearwire has the spectrum to leave both on at the same time for a while.
holob said:
It says specifically that they are doing a multimode trial here and previous Clearwire and Sprint statements have indicated that they are looking to build out LTE (and possibly transition away from WiMAX completely eventually). The main reason for this is likely that all other nationwide cell providers in the US will be going LTE and Sprint does not want to be the odd-man-out with WiMAX. It's likely that they were leave both on for a while and transition to LTE-only eventually. Clearwire has the spectrum to leave both on at the same time for a while.
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Thanks for the clarification. I stand corrected. Clearwire should be kissing Intel's ass for being able to go multimode. @Holob, maybe post what you observe this fall??? Looking forward to it here in Wisconsin. We have been given no forward looking statement of when to expect anything here.
holob said:
It says specifically that they are doing a multimode trial here and previous Clearwire and Sprint statements have indicated that they are looking to build out LTE (and possibly transition away from WiMAX completely eventually). The main reason for this is likely that all other nationwide cell providers in the US will be going LTE and Sprint does not want to be the odd-man-out with WiMAX. It's likely that they were leave both on for a while and transition to LTE-only eventually. Clearwire has the spectrum to leave both on at the same time for a while.
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The results of the trial is the direction Sprint/Clearwire will go. Sprint wants to change its core network so either they will do LTE/WiMax, transition to WiMax 2 (no way that's happening), or fully transition their current WiMax to LTE. They are planning to upgrade current WiMax 802.16e to WiMax 802.16e Enhanced, which bridge them closer to WiMax 2, TD-LTE, and FDD-LTE.
Another issue is which version of LTE will Sprint/Clearwire chooses. If they decide to go with TDD-LTE, they will be still be the odd man out. The majority of the world is going with FDD. Different bands will be an issue, but roaming agreements will probably take place. All of the US carriers will need this be to solved.
Sent from the EPIC 4G with Sprint.
Many of us are so geeked about 4G speeds....the mytouch 4G sprouting about its HSPA+ network which is supposed to make this a better phone and such, but it's all hogwash. I found the article below very interesting and rather revealing as to how these carriers manage to soup us up and get us to believe what they want us to believe, true or not. Sad, but very enlightening.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- You've seen the 4G advertisements from T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon, bragging about a much-better wireless network with blazing fast speeds.
Here's the secret the carriers don't advertise: 4G is a myth. Like the unicorn, it hasn't been spotted anywhere in the wild just yet -- and won't be any time in the near future.
The International Telecommunication Union, the global wireless standards-setting organization, determined last month that 4G is defined as a network capable of download speeds of 100 megabits per second (Mbps). That's fast enough to download an average high-definition movie in about three minutes.
None of the new networks the carriers are rolling out meet that standard.
Sprint (S, Fortune 500) was the first to launch a network called 4G, going live with it earlier this year. Then, T-Mobile launched its 4G network, claiming to be "America's largest 4G network." Verizon (VZ, Fortune 500) plans to launch its 4G network by the end of the year, which it claims will be the nation's largest and the fastest. AT&T (T, Fortune 500) is expected to unveil its 4G network next year.
Those networks have theoretical speeds of a fifth to a half that of the official 4G standard. The actual speeds the carriers say they'll achieve are just a tenth of "real" 4G.
So why are the carriers calling these networks 4G?
It's mostly a matter of PR, industry experts say. Explaining what the wireless carriers' new networks should be called, and what they'll be capable of, is a confusing mess.
To illustrate: Sprint bought a majority stake in Clearwire (CLWR), which uses a new network technology called WiMAX that's capable of speeds ranging from 3 Mbps to 10 Mbps. That's a different technology from Verizon's new network, based on a standard called Long Term Evolution (LTE), which will average 5 Mbps to 12 Mbps.
Seeing what its competitors were up to, T-Mobile opted to increase the speed capabilities of its existing 3G-HSPA+ network instead of pursuing a new technology. Its expanded network -- now called 4G -- will reach speeds of 5 Mbps to 12 Mbps.
No matter what they're called, all of these upgrades are clear improvements -- and the carriers shelled out billions to make them. Current "3G" networks offer actual speeds that range from between 500 kilobits per second to 1.5 Mbps.
So Sprint and Verizon have new, faster networks that are still technically not 4G, while T-Mobile has an old, though still faster network that is actually based on 3G technology.
Confused yet? That's why they all just opted to call themselves "4G."
The carriers get defensive about the topic.
"It's very misleading to make a decision about what's 4G based on speed alone," said Stephanie Vinge-Walsh, spokeswoman for Sprint Nextel. "It is a challenge we face in an extremely competitive industry."
T-Mobile did not respond to a request for comment.
One network representative, who asked not to be identified, claimed that ITU's 4G line-in-the-sand is being misconstrued. The organization previously approved the use of the term "4G" for Sprint's WiMAX and Verizon's LTE networks, he said -- though not for T-Mobile's HSPA+ network.
ITU's PR department ignored that approval in its recent statement about how future wireless technologies would be measured, the representative said. ITU representatives were not immediately available for comment.
"I'm not getting into a technical debate," said Jeffrey Nelson, spokesman for Verizon Wireless. "Consumers will quickly realize that there's really a difference between the capabilities of various wireless data networks. All '4G' is not the same."
And that's what's so difficult. The term 4G has become meaningless and confusing as hell for wireless customers.
For instance, T-Mobile's 4G network, which is technically 3G, will have speeds that are at least equal to -- and possibly faster -- than Verizon's 4G-LTE network at launch. At the same time, AT&T's 3G network, which is also being scaled up like T-Mobile's, is not being labeled "4G."
That's why some industry experts predict that the term "4G" will soon vanish.
"The labeling of wireless broadband based on technical jargon is likely to fade away in 2011," said Dan Hays, partner at industry consultancy PRTM. "That will be good news for the consumer. Comparing carriers based on their network coverage and speed will give them more facts to make more informed decisions."
Hays expects that independent researchers -- or the Federal Communications Commission -- will step in next year to perform speed and coverage tests.
Meanwhile, don't expect anyone to hold the carriers' feet to the fire.
"Historically, ITU's classification system has not held a great degree of water and has not been used to enforce branding," Hays said. "Everyone started off declaring themselves to be 4G long before the official decision on labeling was made. The ITU was three to four years too late to make an meaningful impact on the industry's use of the term."
I understand all that. But here is my newbie question:
Can the 4G TMo devices (say myTouch4G or G2) really attain quicker d/l speeds than a 3G device like Vibrant? If so, how?
I have not been able to read a clear explanation of this anywhere. Also, TMo says their network will hit 21Mbps in 2011, and that is backward compatible. If so, then why is a 4G device needed?
Call it 10G if they like its just a name, I dont care as long as the speed meets my need at a reasonable price.
because our phones are only capable 7 mbps while the g2 and the mytouch4g can go to about 14 mbps (not even 21) ... but yeah thats why ... its hardware related
spookini said:
I understand all that. But here is my newbie question:
Can the 4G TMo devices (say myTouch4G or G2) really attain quicker d/l speeds than a 3G device like Vibrant? If so, how?
I have not been able to read a clear explanation of this anywhere. Also, TMo says their network will hit 21Mbps in 2011, and that is backward compatible. If so, then why is a 4G device needed?
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They are backward compatible, for example HSPA+ will give vibrant which does not support HSPA+ a speed boost, just not fully benfitted. Same story with USB 3.0 and 2.0
4G is 100 mbps and TMobile will be 21mbps. None of these networks will have 4G speeds and all in fact are upgraded 3G speeds. AT&T will be usding the same HSPA that TMobile will be using and eventually they also will be at 21 mbps.
How any of these carriers can call themselves 4G is beyond me.
Actually the 4G spec calls for 1 Gbps stationary speed, the 100 mbps is the minimum while mobile so it will be 5 years before you really see that.
T-mobiles current "4G" Network is currently running at 21 mbps, with 42 mbps a software upgrade away. So while they don't meet the true 4G speed threshold, neither does sprints current 10 mbps wimax, or verizons 12 mbps LTE. When sprint and verizon first launched their "3G" networks they didn't meet the requirements for at least a couple years, and we are not any worse off due to that flexibility.
I still roll with a 7.2 mbps vibrant and I will be honest, there has not been any time where I had good 3G speed that I needed anything more.
spookini said:
I understand all that. But here is my newbie question:
Can the 4G TMo devices (say myTouch4G or G2) really attain quicker d/l speeds than a 3G device like Vibrant? If so, how?
I have not been able to read a clear explanation of this anywhere. Also, TMo says their network will hit 21Mbps in 2011, and that is backward compatible. If so, then why is a 4G device needed?
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think back to USB 2.0
when USB 2.0 came out it allows for higher speed transfers etc....
You will only get 2.0 speeds on a 2.0 port.
The USB 2.0 device will work in a 1.0/1.1 port, but it will not give you 2.0 speeds.
if you want, just replace USB 2.0 with HSPA+
and replace 1.0/1.1 with HSPA7.2
Let me try to shed some light on things for you.
spookini said:
But here is my newbie question:
Can the 4G TMo devices (say myTouch4G or G2) really attain quicker d/l speeds than a 3G device like Vibrant? If so, how?
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Yes. Without getting all technical, it has to do with how the data is compressed and encoded on the different channels that the phone and cell towers use.
HSPA+ is an improved version of HSPA. HSPA is an addition to UMTS 3G which allows for faster data transfer rates than just regular UMTS 3G.
I have not been able to read a clear explanation of this anywhere. Also, TMo says their network will hit 21Mbps in 2011, and that is backward compatible. If so, then why is a 4G device needed?
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You won't find one unless you do some real digging and learn enough to understand some basics of UMTS. True 4G does a lot more than just give faster data rates. The entire back-end of how the cell towers and core network route information is different. The way the radios in the cell phones work is different and the way the cell towers organize data is different. The benefit is more efficient mobile communication service.
The way things are with 3G, it is difficult to balance voice traffic with the ever-increasing demand for data traffic and maintain QoS for a large number of users simultaneously. Anyone who has tried to use AT&T 3G at a football game or concert can tell you how crappy the service gets when the towers get loaded.
Yes But Marketing.......
All that tarzanman said is correct but the larger picture is just perception and controlling it.
Basically, we really do not have 3g unless you really get somewhere close to 7mg speed consistently........We do not and i am ok with my 2-3mg speed it is plenty good enough for my needs.
Here is a good analogy......when front wheel drive car first came on the market they were hailed as a breakthrough in making a car handle better allowing more room in the car and being safer. The fact is only a little more room is the real benefit and the rest....well, it is just cheaper and easier to mass produce. The car handles poorer than a rear wheel car or 4-wheel. But, they convinced most of the dopey-ignorant customers/masses and even to this day people still think they are better. Moral of the story.........control the message and control the spin, and to hell with facts........ because most don't care they just want the latest "craze jargon" on their lips so they feel cool...(sorry for the rant)
I have had a cell phone now for 27 years.......and here is my advice:
here in the USA --go with T mobile for now watch the business trends and when they start acting like Verizon and Att then look for the next up and coming carrier and then go with them.. That is the only way to have decent, reliable and fast connection speeds for a reasonable prices.
Who cares? As started in the article ITU's decisions hold no water. They have no authority and their definition is arbitrary. I'm in the product development industry, and when our end product goes through a redesign or significant optimization it gets a generation bump. We're now up to third generation. Product looks the same for the most part, but performance increased as a result of engineering changes.
For the wireless industry, all carriers are implementing significant performance increases through network upgrades. These upgrades are not 100% compatible with current generation devices. As far as I'm concerned that's worthy of a generation bump. People are splitting hairs for no reason. It's quite silly. If I were an engineer for any of the major carriers right now I would be pretty annoyed with this ITU business by now.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
It is easy,
HSDPA+ (TMO), EV-DO(Verizon), LTE(Verizon) and 802.16e Wimax(Sprint) are considered 3G Transitional.
LTE Advanced and 802.16m (WiMax "Advanced" if you want to call it that) are 4G.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3GPP
Go to the bottom of the page and view the chart.
t1n0m3n said:
It is easy,
HSDPA+ (TMO), EV-DO(Verizon), LTE(Verizon) and 802.16e Wimax(Sprint) are considered 3G Transitional.
LTE Advanced and 802.16m (WiMax "Advanced" if you want to call it that) are 4G.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3GPP
Go to the bottom of the page and view the chart.
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Verizon can call their LTE whatever they want but the fact is it isnt as fast as TMobiles HSPA+
i rather have true unlimited 3G than some bologni 4G with a 5Gb cap. May be is too much to ask for.
Remember, Most tout 4G more or less as 4th Generation rather than true 4G. Although marketing says otherwise. It's a ploy to get your service, just like spray painting your head makes you look like you have more hair. I don't care what they call it, as long as it benefits my speeds.
For companies that have actual caps. its stupid that they are increasing the speeds that you hit your cap. So you may have better speeds to do more, but really you are just hitting your cap faster so you can pay them more money.
t1n0m3n said:
It is easy,
HSDPA+ (TMO), EV-DO(Verizon), LTE(Verizon) and 802.16e Wimax(Sprint) are considered 3G Transitional.
LTE Advanced and 802.16m (WiMax "Advanced" if you want to call it that) are 4G.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3GPP
Go to the bottom of the page and view the chart.
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lol are you serious. wikipedia is not even a credible source and ANYONE can go in and change the info.
Actually, that wikipedia article is pretty spot on.
Tarzanman said:
Actually, that wikipedia article is pretty spot on.
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indeed it is. And unless you want to read a few 700 page books on the differences between UMTS/WCDMA/HSPA, and LTE/LTE-a, that's about as good of a source as is available at this point.
And as to the OP - it's all about marketing. Technically speaking, 1xRTT and EDGE are both 3g technologies. But cell companies hyped up EvDO and UMTS as 3g, to simplify it for the American consumer.
And so they're marketing their next generation of networks as "4g", even though that doesn't meet up with what the ITU defines as 4G on technical terms.
Again, this is all because cell phone companies know that people buy into the hype rather than concern themselves with the details.
But in the end, who gives a damn? It's significantly faster than what people used to expect from 3g (ie 1-2mbps), so as long as the results are better, they can call it 9000G for all I care.
All of this 4G related discourse is exactly what the carriers want. Four gee shmoor gee. I'm just happy I get 3-5 mbps down where I live.
In the end, we are all just stupid pawns
Tarzanman said:
Actually, that wikipedia article is pretty spot on.
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It doesn't matter, wiki bashing is in vogue even if one doesn't have a clue if the article is accurate or not.
Wikipedia 4TL!
http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/25/fcc-unanimously-approves-lte-standard-for-nationwide-public-safe/
simple as that
The FCC's been looking to establish a nationwide public safety network since the early days of the infamous 700MHz spectrum auction, and while it never quite accomplished that task, the commission has made a small but important step -- it's unanimously decided that Long Term Evolution (LTE) will be the one ring that binds all future chunks of public safety radio band. Of course, this wasn't a terribly hard decision for the FCC to make, as major commercial cellular carriers and a number of regional public safety agencies have already invested in LTE equipment for the 700MHz band... and the decision doesn't yet specify a voice standard. All that's been decided upon is how those countless packets of data will float over the air. How will disparate groups of first responders communicate with one another in the event of a national emergency? That's what the organization is asking you right now -- feel free to contact the FCC anytime within the next 45 days with your proposal.
Show full PR text
FCC TAKES ACTION TO ADVANCE NATIONWIDE BROADBAND COMMUNICATIONS FOR AMERICA'S FIRST RESPONDERS
FCC Takes Significant Steps toward Solving Problems Identified by 9/11 Commission
Washington, D.C. – The Federal Communications Commission today adopted a Third Report and Order (Order) and Fourth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) that will significantly advance communications interoperability for our Nation's first responders. The rules adopted and proposed in today's Order and FNPRM support the build out of robust, dedicated and secure mobile broadband networks that will enable public safety broadband users to share information, videos, photos and emails across departments and jurisdictions nationwide for day-to-day operations and during large-scale emergencies.
The Order and FNPRM requires all 700 MHz public safety mobile broadband networks to use a common air interface, specifically Long Term Evolution (LTE), to support roaming and interoperable communications and seeks comment on additional rules to enable nationwide interoperability. The FCC's actions today build on the technical requirements that state and local 700 MHz broadband waiver recipients are already subject to in the early buildout of their regional public safety broadband networks.
The FNPRM seeks public comment on, among other things:
The architectural vision of the network;
The effectiveness of open standards;
Interconnectivity between networks;
Network robustness and resiliency;
Security and encryption;Coverage and coverage reliability requirements;
Roaming and priority access between public safety broadband networks; and
Interference coordination and protection.
The deadlines for public comments and reply comments on the FNPRM are 45 days and 75 days, respectively, after publication in the Federal Registry.
Action by the Commission January 25, 2011, by Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FCC 11-6). Chairman Genachowski, Commissioners Copps, McDowell, Clyburn, and Baker. Separate statements issued by Chairman Genachowski, Commissioners Copps, McDowell, Clyburn, and Baker.
For additional information, please contact Jennifer Manner, Deputy Bureau Chief, PSHSB, at (202) 418-3619 or [email protected]; or David Furth, Deputy Bureau Chief, PSHSB, at (202) 418-0632 or [email protected].
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so THATS what LTE stands for... I thought it was a vzw marketing gimmick.
At the pace the government moves at it will be an antiquated standard by the time it rolls out anyway.
Feb 7th announcement "Watch us implode in seconds right before your very eyes"
1. Remove discounts
2. Change upgrade policy
3. Up-charge all smartphones
4. Gov drives a nail right between your eyes....lol
5. IMPLODE
Bye Bye
azfxstb said:
Feb 7th announcement "Watch us implode in seconds right before your very eyes"
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lol
Screw David Copperfield and his disappearing motorcycles, Blain is going to make a national leader in wireless service vanish overnight*
*Feb MRC will not be prorated
*whether, and I doubt that would have any impact on Sprint and them being forced to go LTE.
Just because the government chooses to go LTE, doesn't mean every other company in the nation has to too. Government/World prefers Blu-ray, Microsoft still uses HD-DVD. Plus, the First Responders are a group who respond to emergency situations first. The fact that they'll be using LTE is purely for them to contact others in their group.
Both LTE and WiMax have their advantages and disadvantages. This is all just a repeat of DVD vs VHS, DVD vs UMD, and Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD bouts, just to name a few. However, I do see LTE winning. It is getting the most support, and now that the government will start supporting it 10 years from now, Sprint will probably make the move then.
What I hope is that when/if LTE does win, what will Sprint do to the users who have WiMax devices? Will Sprint replace the device with it's WiMax cousin? Or will Sprint give everyone the middle finger? What will the companies with LTE do if WiMax wins? Will Sprint throw a Nation-wide party if WiMax wins?
PsychoFox13 said:
What I hope is that when/if LTE does win, what will Sprint do to the users who have WiMax devices? Will Sprint replace the device with it's WiMax cousin?
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They do not care about your wimax device it will be at least 1+ years old anyways..EOL dead gone later sucka
PsychoFox13 said:
*whether, and I doubt that would have any impact on Sprint and them being forced to go LTE.
Just because the government chooses to go LTE, doesn't mean every other company in the nation has to too. Government/World prefers Blu-ray, Microsoft still uses HD-DVD. Plus, the First Responders are a group who respond to emergency situations first. The fact that they'll be using LTE is purely for them to contact others in their group.
Both LTE and WiMax have their advantages and disadvantages. This is all just a repeat of DVD vs VHS, DVD vs UMD, and Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD bouts, just to name a few. However, I do see LTE winning. It is getting the most support, and now that the government will start supporting it 10 years from now, Sprint will probably make the move then.
What I hope is that when/if LTE does win, what will Sprint do to the users who have WiMax devices? Will Sprint replace the device with it's WiMax cousin? Or will Sprint give everyone the middle finger? What will the companies with LTE do if WiMax wins? Will Sprint throw a Nation-wide party if WiMax wins?
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i would disagree considering most other providers will be using it. Sprint is very big in the gov sector...i assure you they will not miss out.
The thread title is misleading, as it seems to imply that Sprint will be required to move to LTE. However, Sprint will probably choose to move to LTE anyway. This might be one more reason why, but I doubt it will be the main one.
OP, there's one major flaw:
Sprint doesn't have 700MHz spectrum, last I heard. Of the Big Four, only AT&T and VZW got in on that cake. Oops.
drmacinyasha said:
OP, there's one major flaw:
Sprint doesn't have 700MHz spectrum, last I heard. Of the Big Four, only AT&T and VZW got in on that cake. Oops.
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Right on the nose. This announcement is all but irrelevant to Sprint since they have nothing in the affected band.
I agree that they probably will go LTE in the long run, but I knew that when I got my phone. They have enough investment in WiMax and enough customers using WiMax devices that they're not going to just go and switch it all out overnight. I understand many of their WiMax base stations can do both with a firmware upgrade, so I suspect they'd roll out such an update and split the spectrum as needed in various areas while they release new LTE devices and get existing users transitioned over.
Remember that while most Sprint customers have dual-mode gear CDMA/WiMax, many of the Clear WiMax fixed install radios as used for home/small business service are WiMax only, so those would also all have to be switched out before they could disable WiMax in a given area.
tl;dr - Don't worry about it. By the time any forced switch is actually happening you'll be looking for a new phone anyways.
drmacinyasha said:
OP, there's one major flaw:
Sprint doesn't have 700MHz spectrum, last I heard. Of the Big Four, only AT&T and VZW got in on that cake. Oops.
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Looking at the FCCs website they show 763 to 775Mhz & 793 - 805MHz are set aside for public safety services, my guess is that's what they are planning to use. Since Sprint's IDEN network is in the 800s I wouldnt think it would be too difficult to make them work on whichever frequency the FCC calls for.
http://reboot.fcc.gov/spectrumdashboard/searchSpectrum.seam
xHausx said:
Looking at the FCCs website they show 763 to 775Mhz & 793 - 805MHz are set aside for public safety services, my guess is that's what they are planning to use. Since Sprint's IDEN network is in the 800s I wouldnt think it would be too difficult to make them work on whichever frequency the FCC calls for.
http://reboot.fcc.gov/spectrumdashboard/searchSpectrum.seam
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exactly! I mean we really knew it was comming but this is one of the many nails in the coffin
Justin.G11 said:
At the pace the government moves at it will be an antiquated standard by the time it rolls out anyway.
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Reminds me the Congress's 1988 legislation about the metrication of the US.
Eh it'll be funny if and when sprint goes to wimax2. Then gov will be all what happened here. Thought lte was the best. Lol
Sent from the Evo 4G
xHausx said:
Looking at the FCCs website they show 763 to 775Mhz & 793 - 805MHz are set aside for public safety services, my guess is that's what they are planning to use. Since Sprint's IDEN network is in the 800s I wouldnt think it would be too difficult to make them work on whichever frequency the FCC calls for.
http://reboot.fcc.gov/spectrumdashboard/searchSpectrum.seam
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Wait, but isn't this a good thing? If those are LTE frequencies, then those carriers that use them will have to give them up and/or have more interference from the gov't using them.
Since Wimax is out of that range, our signals are in a less crowded spectrum.
It's like if you bought frequencies in a certain range, then the gov't steps in and say, hey wait, we want those bands for our emergency units to communicate with each other. So, you have to give them some bands in the middle of your spectrum. That would suck.
Maybe I'm not understanding this clearly, but it seems like a good thing.
When the FCC get's involved in this kind of stuff it makes me feel really uneasy. Big government leave our phones and internet along
Bigjim1488 said:
When the FCC get's involved in this kind of stuff it makes me feel really uneasy. Big government leave our phones and internet along
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Pink Floyd....lawl
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
drmacinyasha said:
OP, there's one major flaw:
Sprint doesn't have 700MHz spectrum, last I heard. Of the Big Four, only AT&T and VZW got in on that cake. Oops.
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Click to collapse
Sprint does have 700mhz spectrum. And it uses it fully, today. Remember Nextel?
I know it's hard to believe but Sprint easily has the most spectrum out of all carriers in the US.
Also, the fact that it's not 700mhz makes the network useless is a myth. Did you that 2.5ghz is the spectrum being used right now on LTE rollouts around the world? The US is pretty much the only country right now using 700mhz for LTE.
With a proper network buildout there's no difference from 700mhz to 2.5ghz.
zeuzinn said:
Sprint does have 700mhz spectrum. And it uses it fully, today. Remember Nextel?
I know it's hard to believe but Sprint easily has the most spectrum out of all carriers in the US.
Also, the fact that it's not 700mhz makes the network useless is a myth. Did you that 2.5ghz is the spectrum being used right now on LTE rollouts around the world? The US is pretty much the only country right now using 700mhz for LTE.
With a proper network buildout there's no difference from 700mhz to 2.5ghz.
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I'm not to familiar with this but doesnt 700 mhz offer better wall penetration as opposed to to 2.5 ghz? I would love decent wimax coverage indoors.
http://goo.gl/FJ7dY
Ha! Funny....according to this article (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2384698,00.asp) hyperlinked in the original one you posted above, it indicates that "The upgrade will allow upload speeds to be increased to 5.76 Mbit/s..." That's a huge lie! I already got the 4.1.83 update, and yes, my upload speeds jumped from ~700kbit/s to ~1000-1200kbit/s. Where are they actually experiencing such high upload speeds? I'm in New York City....
--Q
Bell has done the same, retroactively labelled all of their 14.4 phones as 4G.
I think they should have gone, at very least, with 21 which is release 7 HSPA+ and has 64-QAM.
Of course ideally they would've have stuck it out with '3.5G' which is what these are, just evolved 3G with faster speeds, and kept 4G for LTE which has other tangible benefits mainly lower latency. Who cares how many megabits you can pump when the latency of 50+ ms bottlenecks most tasks.
Completely agreed! Doesn't engender a sense of confidence in your wireless provider.....a buncha liars and PR-twisters....disgusting really....
The update indeed makes the phone able to get such high speeds, since the modem was capped. BUT that doesn't mean att will server that speed to you.
That's a ceiling value, not an average!
quordandis said:
Ha! Funny....according to this article (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2384698,00.asp) hyperlinked in the original one you posted above, it indicates that "The upgrade will allow upload speeds to be increased to 5.76 Mbit/s..." That's a huge lie! I already got the 4.1.83 update, and yes, my upload speeds jumped from ~700kbit/s to ~1000-1200kbit/s. Where are they actually experiencing such high upload speeds? I'm in New York City....
--Q
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Atrix upload is still capped, just higher than before
god, i've never been this annoyed at AT&T in all my 10 years of being with them. seriously they are such marketing whores.
What 4G was supposed to be, IMT-Advanced is. Wireless carriers marketed 4G as whatever they wanted while it was not a frozen standard. By the time the ITU actually laid out a concrete plan, it was too late. The wireless carriers confused the market completely with their bull****.
IMT-Advanced will have IEEE 802.16m (the new Mobile WiMAX Release 2 or WirelessMAN-Advanced) and LTE Advanced. These are currently the only 2 IMT-Advanced complaint plans. This is what 4G was supposed to be.
IMT-Advanced is still some time away from what we currently have, and NO carrier is implementing this technology in production environments yet. It's not just AT&T, it's every carrier that says they have 4G and every mobile vendor who says their phones at 4G. They're not.
knigitz said:
What 4G was supposed to be, IMT-Advanced is. Wireless carriers marketed 4G as whatever they wanted while it was not a frozen standard. By the time the ITU actually laid out a concrete plan, it was too late. The wireless carriers confused the market completely with their bull****.
IMT-Advanced will have IEEE 802.16m (the new Mobile WiMAX Release 2 or WirelessMAN-Advanced) and LTE Advanced. These are currently the only 2 IMT-Advanced complaint plans. This is what 4G was supposed to be.
IMT-Advanced is still some time away from what we currently have, and NO carrier is implementing this technology in production environments yet. It's not just AT&T, it's every carrier that says they have 4G and every mobile vendor who says their phones at 4G. They're not.
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Thank you..
Sent from my Motorola Olympus
Hello everyone,
Today was a very big day if you are on or thinking about making the move over to Sprint. Today, they announced their plans for their future LTE network and how they plan to move forward over the next few years.
The first thing to discuss is Wimax. Wimax is a good technology, but the problem is that both Clearwire and Sprint deployed it very poorly. First of all, it was deployed on a very high spectrum, making it difficult to penetrate through buildings and travel long distances, while not degrading in signal strength. The other thing about the current Wimax deployment is that (and I have noticed this personally) switching from tower to tower over Wimax is very poorly done. What I mean by this is that switching from tower to tower doesn't work like it would if I were to use 3G.
Wimax was, however, a great investment. Wimax gave Sprint a great partnership with Clearwire, and it also gave Sprint the the title of the first 4G network(not that the title really matters anymore). I feel that Sprint knew they were going to at some point make the switch to LTE, which is why they used Wimax instead of LTE. It turns out that it is pretty easy to convert a Wimax tower to an LTE tower, its just a few hardware and software changed and you are ready to go.
Now its time to get down to the exciting stuff, the conversion over to LTE. Sprint plans to deploy its LTE network by the middle of 2012 using its current Wimax network (which will be converted over to LTE), Lightsquared's new LTE network (assuming it goes through the FCC), and most importantly, Nextel's IDEN network. I say that IDEN is the most important because of two things; the first being that the network is already of decent size, so there would be a good signal in much of the country, the second being that the IDEN network runs a lower part of the wireless spectrum, allowing the signal to reach farther distances and penetrate buildings. All three of these solutions will expand Sprint's network effectively and quickly, and give many people in America 4G.
As far as devices go, Sprint will be releasing 15 LTE equipped devices in 2012 (the first phones will be strictly 1900Mhz which will be Sprint's 4G), and will continue to sell Wimax devices throughout 2012. This is a smart move, as I believe that completely dropping Wimax support would cause a sort of uprising among Sprint customers. If Sprint turns off its Wimax network at the end of 2012, they should allow any customers that still have a Wimax phone to upgrade to a new LTE phone, thereby honoring their promise of unlimited 4G.
The price of this new network is not cheap. Currently, Sprint believes it will spend around $10 billion to create this new LTE network. They also believe that they will be saving about $17 billion within the next 5-6 years because they will be fading out their IDEN network (which currently costs $4 billion a year to run). Note that this number is much higher than wall street analysts had expected, but Sprint is going to do what it has to do.
So what is the end result? I believe that if all goes smoothly, the LTE rollout will go quickly and Sprint will have a thriving LTE network by the middle of 2013, and at that point it will cover most major cities in America as well as the more populated suburbs. However, if this transition does not go well, I feel that this could be the end of Sprint. Sprint is spending a lot of money these days ($10 billion on a new network over 3 years, $30 billion on Iphones over the next 4 years) and I am sure investors are a bit wary of the overall situation.
I have very high hopes for Sprint, and I hope that they rollout their new network successfully and quickly, so that everyone can experience the true speed and power of 4G LTE on the (in my opinion, maybe not yours) best wireless network in the nation.
PS: If you read all of this, thank you.