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Mar. 25, 2009

It's a well known fact that today's LTE technology can represent some cost savings and some performance improvements.

However, integrating the technology into existing wireless operations can cause some problems for mobile phone carriers.

Helen Karapandzic, a wireless analyst says “LTE technology can provide data for less than 17 percent of the price of basic W-CDMA. It may be the only way to profitably manage the increasing demand for data traffic in the long term.”

It is also expected that wireless data traffic will grow on mobile Wi-MAX. WiMAX technology has growth opportunities beyond traditional wireless operator networks, such as data-centric deployments in developed and developing regions, states a report from ABI Research.

ABI Research analyst Philip Solis says “failing to recognize a growing market in a recession would be a mistake. Overall, Wi-MAX technology is ahead of LTE as far as deployment and has already been rolled out in certain U.S. markets. ABI expects growth to be modest for WiMAX base stations this year, with increased expansion next year.

Incumbent technologies like W-CDMA, HSPA and GSM will each have a role to play in the near future. Among the challenges for operators is integrating LTE technology into their existing access infrastructure to make the most of 4G.

Most LTE deployments likely will begin next year, though the bulk of deployments will come a few years out. Technological advancements will accelerate growth in wireless data traffic, which is expected to increase tenfold by next year.

ABI has found that Alcatel-Lucent views WiMAX more as a wireless broadband solution than a fully mobile wireless solution, and moved its R&D spending toward LTE since WiMAX is already widely deployed.

ABI Research is forecasting that some WiMAX deployments will start with fixed and portable services and possibly evolve to mobile use down the line.

Some wireless infrastructure vendors support both technologies. Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia both have products for WiMAX and LTE technology.

It's perceived that Alcatel-Lucent has backed off somewhat from WiMAX. However, it ranked first in last year's market share for mobile WiMAX base station deployments, followed by Alvarion, Motorola and Samsung, ABI noted.

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Source: ABI Research.