Mobile Broadband News Podcast: Episode 10
March 31, 2008
Mobile Broadband News Podcast: Episode 010 for 29 March 2008 is now available.
The MBN Podcast is a recap of the top stories from the previous week. Click on the link above to download the MP3 file, or add Mobile Broadband News to your iTunes Podcast list.
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Open Range Receives Financing to Provide Mobile Satellite and Wireless Broadband Service Using Globalstar ATC Spectrum Authority
March 31, 2008
Globalstar, Inc. announced that Open Range Communications, Inc. has secured approval for a $267 million broadband loan from the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Program.
In late 2007 Globalstar signed an agreement with Open Range permitting Open Range to deploy wireless broadband service in rural America using Globalstar’s Ancillary Terrestrial Component (ATC) authority. The agreement contemplates using the Globalstar spectrum to offer dual mode mobile satellite based and terrestrial wireless WiMAX services to over 500 rural American communities that currently do not have adequate access to terrestrial-based broadband voice and data services. Customers outside of the WiMAX coverage area will be able to use Globalstar service over the satellites. The agreement is contingent on various conditions, including Globalstar’s receipt of authority from the FCC to use an expanded portion of its licensed spectrum for ATC services.
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MiTAC International Tops New Asia-Pacific PND Vendor Matrix Ranking from ABI Research
March 31, 2008
MiTAC International has been ranked at the top of the latest Vendor Matrix released by ABI Research, which covers Personal Navigation Devices in the Asia-Pacific market.
Clarion and Alpine Electronics claimed the second and third spots in the company’s new evaluation of Asia-Pacific PND vendors.
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How will WiMAX in the US reach 10m users by 2010?
March 31, 2008
by Jeff Orr, Editor
Mobile Broadband News
The recent VON.x conference in San Jose hosted a WCA panel entitled, “Whither WiMAXâ€. Moderated by M:Metrics analyst Seamus McAteer, the panel consisted of:
- Rohini Chakravarthy, Principal, New Enterprise Associates
- Ron Resnick, President and Chair, WiMAX Forum
- Ben Vos, VP Core Technologies, Sprint Nextel
- Greg Welch, Market Development Director, WiMAX Program Office, Intel
- Paul Sergeant, Sr Manager WiMAX Marketing, Cisco Systems (formerly Navini Networks)
- Tom Gruba, Sr Director Marketing MOTOwi4 and WiMAX, Motorola
The highlight was an excellent question posed by moderator McAteer – “when will the US reach 10 million WiMAX subscribers?†Most panelists raised their hands for 2010. Putting this into perspective, McAteer noted that about 220 million Americans (ages 13+) have mobile phone service. Ten million WiMAX users, roughly 5% of the mobile phone population in a 2-year period, could prove challenging. The Apple iPhone will not reach 10 million subscribers at its 2-year anniversary. Why will WiMAX ramp at a faster rate than the iPhone?
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Cisco puts RAN and Wireless IP Wares on Display at CTIA WIRELESS 2008
March 31, 2008
Cisco Systems, Inc. announced that it will showcase at CTIA WIRELESS 2008 (April 1-3 at the Las Vegas Convention Center) mobility applications that promise to change the way people connect, collaborate and access entertainment on the move. These services represent a strategic opportunity for service providers to profitably address customer demand to access information and stay connected anytime, anywhere.
“Never before has it been so important that all mobile content and data be delivered instantly to users globally and across technologies with the same quality we have come to expect from wireline access,” said Larry Lang, vice president and general manager of the Services and Mobility Business Unit at Cisco. “Our desire for on-the-move connectivity has seen a marked growth in the demand for streaming visual content and applications that enable us to collaborate more effectively on the move. Teaming with a number of industry players, we are enabling service providers to deliver compelling new services that allow people to live the Connected Life.”
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WiMAX Forum Forecasts 133 Million WiMAX Users by 2012
March 31, 2008
The WiMAX Forum today announced it projects more than 133 million WiMAX users globally by 2012. The forecast is based on the results of an independently commissioned research study to be published in April 2008. Additional data from the study estimates that approximately 70% of the forecasted WiMAX users by 2012 will utilize mobile and portable WiMAX devices to access broadband Internet services.
The report entitled, WiMAX Forum Worldwide Subscriber and User Forecasts, examines the progress of WiMAX service providers, equipment vendors, content developers and users in regions around the world. The preliminary results released today at CTIA Wireless in Las Vegas reflect the accelerated growth of the WiMAX ecosystem, the acceptance of WiMAX technology and demand for mobile Internet services across the world.
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AT&T stumps for Mobile TV debut in May
March 31, 2008
by Jeff Orr, Editor
Mobile Broadband News
AT&T continues to predict the availability of its Mobile TV service intended to compete with Verizon’s VCAST. The company announced plans to release the AT&T Mobile TV service in May. The previous prediction was January 2008.
The service will run on the MediaFLO USA network, a subsidiary of Qualcomm. MediaFLO is the same network beneath VCAST. AT&T plans to launch the service with two devices: LG’s Vu and Samsung’s Access.
The channel line-up for AT&T will consist of: CBS Mobile, Comedy Central, ESPN Mobile TV, Fox Mobile, MTV, NBC 2GO, NBC News2Go and Nickelodeon, in addition to two exclusive AT&T channels.
The company announced its plans to launch a mobile TV service in February 2007, but failed to meet Q4′2007 estimates. In late October, the operator delayed until “early 2008″.
While the two US operators have locked themselves into the MediaFLO network, Europe recently endorsed use of the DVB-H standard. Asia has had the greatest success with mobile TV, specifically in South Korea and Japan. The number of mobile TV subscribers is expected to grow to 462 million, according to a January study published by ABI Research.
Infonetics Research: Mobile data card subscribers to hit 144M by 2011
March 30, 2008
Sales of mobile data cards, which enable broadband access in laptops via a service provider’s mobile data network, are forecast by Infonetics Research to nearly quadruple between 2007 and 2011, when they will reach $2.9 billion.
According to Infonetics’ new Mobility: Broadband, Phones, Subscribers, and Services report, these mobile data cards could threaten the Wi-Fi hotspot market as HSDPA and EV-DO-based mobile broadband becomes more available, more affordable, and a higher performance choice.
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Elektrobit to Highlight New Mobile Reference Designs at CTIA WIRELESS 2008
March 30, 2008
At CTIA WIRELESS 2008, April 1-3, 2008, in Las Vegas, EB will showcase new reference device form factors for integrated Satellite-Terrestrial communications, highlight its recently announced Mobile WiMAX smartphone reference design and have on display its Mobile Internet Multimedia Device.
EB will highlight state-of-the-art reference designs to provide wireless device manufacturers the opportunity to bring new products to market faster, and with lower development costs. The new devices to be shown, include:
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Ericsson to demonstrate HSPA Evolution at CTIA Wireless 2008
March 30, 2008
Ericsson will conduct a demonstration of end-to-end HSPA Evolution technology with speeds of up to 42 Mbps at CTIA Wireless 2008, which is being held in Las Vegas from April 1 to 3.
Speeds of up to 42 Mbps represent the next phase in HSPA Evolution. These speeds are achieved by combining new higher order modulation technology (64QAM), together with 2×2 Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) antenna technology. The first step of the HSPA evolution will be introduced during 2008.
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Motorola Demonstrates Industry’s First EV-DO Rev-A to LTE Network Handoffs
March 30, 2008
Motorola, Inc. announced the first successful packet-switched network handoff between CDMA EV-DO Rev-A and Long Term Evolution (LTE) technologies in a demonstration with VoIP calls and streaming video. Motorola’s handoff technique illustrates how service providers using CDMA-based networks today can smoothly integrate broadband OFDMA and IP packet-based wireless broadband technologies like LTE into their network, enabling the roll-out of more interactive services like HD mobile blogging and broadcasting, HD video-on-demand and online gaming.
Designed to encourage discussions and trials of high-performance, mobile broadband networks, Motorola’s demonstration highlights LTE’s potential for delivering multiple voice, video, data and wireless services with transparent mobility between LTE and legacy networks using multi-mode LTE/CDMA/EV-DO Rev-A enabled devices. The handoff also shows carriers interested in upgrading their networks the viability of deploying LTE while using their existing 3G network coverage and assets, without sacrificing service quality as consumers move between LTE and 3G network coverage zones.
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Only One Step Towards Recovery, says ABI Research on Motorola Split
March 30, 2008
Motorola Inc., whose share of the worldwide mobile phone market has been in a downward spiral for several quarters, announced Wednesday morning its intention to split the company into two publicly traded entities. One company will focus on mobile handsets and accessories while the other will concentrate on its remaining businesses, which include wireless broadband and enterprise communications.
There are many uncertainties remaining around this announcement, none more apparent than, will the split actually happen and when? Motorola’s public statement confirmed that its board has commenced a process that would split the company, but included a caveat saying “if” the split is consummated, it is not likely to happen before next year.
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Sharp launches 922SH HSDPA Phone in Japan
March 30, 2008
Sharp launches its 3G mobile phone ‘922SH’ in Japan market through SoftBank, which is expected to be available on 28th March.
Supporting 1-Seg, international roaming service, HSDPA and Bluetooth connectivity, the 922HS is quipped with a full qwerty keyboard, a 3.5-inch 260,000 pixel display with 480 x 854 resolution, and a 2M camera.
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mimoOn Demonstrates end-to-end 3GPP LTE on Software Defined Radio Platforms
March 30, 2008
mimoOn GmbH announced the implementation of an end-to-end LTE software solution that will significantly accelerate development of mobile infrastructure and client devices. The company offers two versions of its SDR LTE product: one customized for base stations, picocells, and femtocells; and the other for client devices such as data cards, mobile phones, wireless modules and wireless modems. mimoOn will demonstrate its LTE SDR solution at the CTIA WIRELESS show in Las Vegas, U.S., from April 1st to 3rd.
mimoOn’s solutions are also important for Test and Measurement vendors who have to lead the industry and offer test equipment, before LTE products can be released into the marketplace. One of the major themes this year at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona was LTE and enabling the next generation of wireless networks that can achieve 100Mbps downlink/50Mbps uplink. The challenge is that vendors have to start design of LTE equipment now in order to meet market demands in 2009, even though the LTE specification is not yet ratified.
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Motorola Announces Common Platform to Support Both WiMAX and LTE
March 30, 2008
Motorola, Inc. announced a new common wireless broadband platform that will be used to support both WiMAX 802.16e access points and the Long Term Evolution (LTE) evolved Node-B (eNodeB). The new common platform is physically smaller than the first generation WiMAX product, further reducing operators’ deployment and operating costs. Motorola’s flexible modem technology allows the common platform to be software configurable to support either WiMAX or LTE.
“We’re building upon our OFDM expertise and early success in WiMAX 802.16e as we develop our LTE product solutions,” said Fred Wright, senior vice president, Motorola Home & Networks Mobility. “We can reuse about 75 percent of the basic application software and platform technology we developed for WiMAX in our LTE products, thereby advancing our development efforts. For example, the new common wireless broadband platform is expected to be commercially deployed in WiMAX networks in 2008, followed by the LTE application available by late 2009 giving us the advantage of deploying LTE technology on a field proven platform.”
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