Major Mobiles Promise to Keep Costs Down on LTE Technology
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New technology is always welcomed with a bit of fanfare and a bit of fear. It sounds great, but how much is it going to
cost? New wireless technology is no different. It’s an improvement, but it also means making a new (and potentially costly) purchase. Several mobile mega-giants have agreed to keep costs down on the new LTE wireless technology, which seems the heir apparent to GSM. But will this price pledge affect the average wireless consumer?
What is LTE Technology?
LTE, short for Long-Term Evolution, is the next step up from the current Global System for Mobile (GSM), and it's the technology that will soon take GSM’s place. This new technology offers speeds of approximately 100 megabits per second through wireless broadband. LTE also boasts the ability to handle a large volume of traffic, which is a vast improvement over the third-generation networks currently in place (like GSM). Currently, more than 80% of the world’s mobile carriers use GSM technology. In November 2007, the GSM Association announced its support for LTE, marking this new technology as the harbinger of fourth-generation wireless.
Implementing LTE
Wait a second…isn’t switching over to a whole new system of technology rather expensive? By virtue of a recent pledge, the switch may be fairly painless for all wireless manufacturers. Seven of the world’s largest mobile companies -- Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, NEC, NextWave Wireless, Nokia, Nokia Siemens Networks and Sony Ericsson -- will each confine themselves to an “industry principle of fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory licensing terms for essential patents.”
What? Basically, the agreement made by these companies means licensing costs on LTE technology will stay at less than 10%, whether it is used in laptops or cell phones. The theory behind the agreement is that this will help mobile and computer manufacturers adopt LTE more quickly, and at an affordable cost.
Rival Mobile Technology
A large auction of wireless airwaves will begin near the end of May 2008, an event which could give rise to many new mobile companies. These new companies could base their networks off either GSM or LTE technology…or they could use something altogether different.
Canadian companies Bell and Telus use Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), yet another form of third-generation mobile technology that rivals leader GSM. Verizon Wireless, second only to AT&T in the U.S. as the largest mobile phone provider, currently uses CDMA as well. However, the company has announced plans to begin implementing LTE by the end of 2010. British company Vodafone, along with China Mobile, both expect to start using LTE technology in the future as well. Qualcomm, another huge wireless provider, was not part of the group LTE technology agreement, and, therefore, was not part of the licensing pledge. This absence could stem from the current litigation between Qualcomm and Nokia, a long and ongoing affair concerning patent disputes.
Next: Keeping Down Costs: A Trickle-Down Effect? >>
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