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Sep. 16, 2009

Discount wireless carrier MetroPCS has named Ericsson and Samsung for the launch of its LTE network next year.

Overall, Ericsson will provide network infrastructure equipment and Samsung will provide the carrier's initial LTE handsets and related accessories.

MetroPCS plans to launch its LTE technology and a dual-mode LTE/CDMA smartphone in its major metropolitan areas including New York City and Los Angeles some time in the fourth quarter of next year, said MetroPCS CEO Roger Linquist.

Winning the MetroPCS LTE contract is another North American win for Ericsson, which scored a chunk of Verizon's LTE infrastructure buildout in February. Its winning bid for Nortel's CDMA/LTE assets in late July furthered the strength of its North American presence.

Additionally, Samsung is working hard to expand its LTE device offerings and announced Sep. 8 that it has developed an LTE modem compliant with 3GPP's latest wireless industry standards release.

MetroPCS also said it is recovering from a sharp drop in its profitability arising from its rapid expansion into its northeastern markets, which caused its second-quarter profit to fall almost 51 percent.

The wireless carrier also has been competing aggressively against Leap Wireless subsidiary Cricket, adding new mobile features to its $40 per month unlimited subscriber plan.

Overall, MetroPCS is the 5th largest wireless network operator in the U.S. and has a subscriber base of a little over 6.24 million users.

The race to LTE technology is on in full force as other mobile operators are joining the club as well.

On Aug. 19, Verizon Wireless confirmed it has completed its first successful LTE data calls in Boston and Seattle. Verizon's LTE technology is based on the 3GPP Release 8 standard.

This comes amid rumors that Verizon could be "courting" some high-profile devices from Apple. Recent rumors that are increasingly gaining credibility could potentially place an iPhone and an Apple tablet PC on Verizon’s network sometime next year.

An LTE-capable network offered by Verizon would negate the need for Apple to create a CDMA version of its iPhone, as AT&T is also moving to that technology.

We will know more in the next coming months the large impact that LTE is having on the wireless industry as a whole, and how the various players gradually convert their networks to it.

But in the last three to four months, efforts in creating a patent pool for LTE technology have faced some road blocks. It’s rather challenging to create and maintain successful patent pools simply because you need almost everybody inside the pool to begin with.

If a company with a lot of patent rights stays out of the pool, it’s almost impossible to make it work, said Ericsson Chief Technology Officer Hakan Eriksson. He didn’t say whether Ericsson is committed in staying out, but it doesn’t sound like the company, which may hold anywhere from 15 percent to 25 percent of LTE patents, is jumping in head first either.

Meanwhile, and as the wireless industry matures, patent fights likely will become less frequent among the big players. Many mobile phone carriers already have settled long-standing litigation. The real problem, Eriksson says, lies in patent trolls, or those that hold a patent but don’t do anything with it until they want a piece of the action later in the game.

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Source: MetroPCS Communications.