4G Now

Mobile WiMAX Penetrates 49 Nations in the World with Samsung, ZTE at the Forefront

As of December 2008, 85 operators in 49 nations worldwide have chosen Mobile WiMAX for commercial or test service.

According to Samsung Electronics, there are over 300 fixedline WiMAX service providers in about 100 nations and they are considering the switch to Mobile WiMAX, which signals further expansion of Mobile WiMAX.

Samsung is preparing for commercial or test service of Mobile WiMAX with 23 operators in 19 nations and talks are going on with over 20 operators in a dozen nations about adoption of Mobile WiMAX. The company has already provided equipments for countries in all regions in the world: the US in North America; Japan and Taiwan in Asia; Russia and Lithuania in Europe; Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in the Middle East; Brazil and Venezuela in Latin America. In particular, Omnivision in Venezuela started commercial service in 2007, and Sprint Nextel in the US, Skartel in Russia and Mobily in Saudi Arabia in September 2008, while there are 6 other nations planning to launch commercial Mobile WiMAX service next year.

ZTE, a Chinese Mobile WiMAX equipment provider, has penetrated even more nations than Samsung. According to the Chinese company, over 30 operators in the Asia-Pacific region, Middle-East/ Africa, and Europe has launched Mobile WiMAX service on a test- or commercial basis using ZTE's equipment and over 120 operators in the world are partnering ZTE for Mobile WiMAX business. ZTE is the only Chinese company among the 15 board members of the WiMAX Forum and has WiMAX R&D Institutions throughout the world.

Quoting ABI Research's report, Samsung forecasts the world WiMAX market volume will surge from $3.5 billion in 2008 to $59.6 billion by 2012, with the number of subscribers growing from 12 million to 280 million during the same period. 

Samsung to Export WiBro to Taiwan, Kuwait

Samsung Electronics said Sunday that it has signed deals with partners in Taiwan and Kuwait to provide them with wireless broadband (WiBro) Internet technology.

The electronics giant said the deal with Taiwanese carrier VMAX Telecom Co. calls for the setting-up of infrastructure that will allow commercial WiBro services to begin next year. Financial terms were not revealed.

WiBro, one of the major 4G communications standards, is an improved version of WiMax that enables high-speed Internet connectivity even when a user is in motion. WiMax refers to a wireless Internet technology developed by the world's largest chipmaker, Intel.

Samsung Electronics also formed another deal with MADA Communications Co. of Kuwait to provide WiBro service-related equipment and launch commercial service there in 2010.

With the latest deals, Samsung Electronics has sealed export agreements for WiBro technology with firms in 10 countries, including the United States, Russia and Brazil, it said.

YonhapNewsAgency

C-motech WiBro Modem Offers Differentiated Service

A USB modem for WiBro access provided to SK Telecom by C-motech, a local telecommunication equipment maker, is drawing attention because of differentiated specifications. 
 
C-motech Cacao (CBU-410S) modem is twice as fast as previous version to support WiBro Wave 2. It supports automatic program installation, automatic software upgrade and micro SD memory.
 
What distinguishes Cacao from other products is Z Pack and My PC service. Z Pack service can activate any program in any computer by saving software such as the Office program in USB modem. My PC service offers a remote access to computers at home or work with WiBro modem to let people use content and software in computers that are away from them.

LG Telecom to Embark on 4G in 2013

LG Telecom, a South Korean CDMA service provider announced its plan to launch a 4G service in 2013 when the carrier will obtain a low-frequency band.

With the Korean government planning to reallocate frequencies next year, LGT hopes to get a low-frequency band such as 800MHz and 900MHz and start investment for a nationwide 4G service which is 3 to 6 times faster in data transmission than 3G. Presently, the company has a spectrum (of a 20MHz bandwidth for both uplink and downlink) in the 1.8GHz band, but additional frequency allocation is necessary from 2011 to cope with increasing subscribers and rising demands for its data service, OZ.

The Korea Communications Commission will take the spectrum in the 800 MHz band from SK Telecom in June 2011. Before the return of the spectrum, the KCC will redistribute it among carriers so that they can establish the network for about 2 years. Of 50MHz frequencies in the 800MHz band that presently belongs to SK Telecom, KTF and LGT can get 10 to 20 MHz frequencies. The two carriers have to divide the spectrum or compete with each other at an auction.

As soon as LGT obtains the low-frequency band, it will choose the most appropriate 4G technology and draw up an investment plan. The choice will be made according to the criteria such as price, security of terminal procurement and roaming convenience. As of now, LTE is more prospective than Mobile WiMAX.  

LG Telecom says network equipment to be installed from next year will have a multimode structure that supports a variety of handsets and technologies ranging from 2G to 4G, which will advance the completion of the nationwide 4G network.

LG Develops World's First LTE Handset Chip

LG Electronics said Tuesday it has developed the world's first handset modem chip using a technology most likely to succeed the current third-generation wireless technology as a global standard.

The company's long-term evolution (LTE) modem chip supports wireless download speeds of 100 megabits per second and upload speeds of 50 megabits per second, LG, the world's fifth-largest seller of mobile phones, said in a statement.

The LTE technology, which can download a 700-megabit feature-length film in a minute, is a leading candidate to become the fourth-generation wireless technology standard for mobile phones, according to the South Korean company.

The technology is expected to be in full commercial use in 2010 to be used alongside the current third-generation WCDMA wireless standard.

"Now that LG has developed and tested the first fourth-generation handset modem, a commercially viable LTE handset is on the horizon," said Paik Woo-hyun, chief technical officer of LG Electronics.

According to market research company Strategy Analytics, global sales of LTE handset will reach 70 million units in 2012 and expand to 150 million units by 2013.

YonhapNewsAgency

NeoWave Unveils M2M WiBro Device

NeoWave, a Korean communications equipment developer, announced that it completed development of KWN-B2000 WiBro device targeting machine to machine (M2M) businesses. The device passed the tests of local WiBro service provider, KT, said NeoWave.
 
KWN-B2000 is an external modem for credit card checkers. The company operated a dedicated division for the last one and a half year to plan, choose WiBro solutions, explore potential market, and complete development of the product.
 
NeoWave selected XRO Series WiBro solution that was developed by local technologies. No royalty payment and quick responsiveness to changing market trends are the biggest advantages, said the company.
 
NeoWave plans to develop more WiBro devices for specialized as well as general market segments.
 
In the meantime, KT recently launched KT WiBro Biz Alliance to create new business models by incorporating WiBro with various businesses. 

"WiBro is Only for Niche Market. LTE Is a Mega-Trend": LGE

LG Electronics strongly defended its LTE technology as the 4G communication service standard to the country's top regulator. Eyes are on how it would affect government's industry support policies which have so far been leaning towards WiBro.
 
The Korean government is determined to promote WiBro (wireless broadband), which was jointly developed by Samsung Electronics and the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), in the global market as the next generation standard. However, LGE publicly asked the government to be fair because LTE is going mainstream in the global market. 
 
Choi See-joong, the Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), visited LGE and Samsung plants on Thursday and said that the government will make strenuous effort to get WiBro be adopted as a global 4G standard. He went on to say that the commission will provide numbers to enable WiBro voice call services within this year and introduce a plan to select a new service provider. Chairman Choi also saw the demonstration of WiBro Evolution system developed by Samsung and the ETRI.
 
LGE, however, said to the top regulator that WiBro is highly likely to be a niche segment that just ensures portability of broadband Internet led by KT of Korea and Clearwire of the U.S., which meant that government policy should not be only focused on WiBro. It stressed the fact that even the CEO of Clearwire hinted that the company might turn to LTE.
 
The government needs to take into account the influence of LTE in the global market when it assigns frequency bands to service providers, said LGE.
 
LGE said that the LTE group will claim 440 million subscribers around the world in 2015. It also anticipated that LTE market will be rapidly expanded from 2010 because Verizon, a U.S. provider, is set to officially launch LTE service in early 2010 while Japanese mobile operators, NTT DoCoMo and KDDI, are also actively promoting LTE.