Sprint Technology: The First True 4G

By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet Contributing Editor

Technology trends are always exciting, simply because of the impact they can have on everything we do moving forward. According to Todd Rowley, vice president of 4G of Sprint, the most significant technology trend of 2010 was the introduction of 4G smartphones like the HTC EVO 4G and the Samsung (News - Alert) Epic 4G.

Rowley recently took part in a TMCnet interview in anticipation of the upcoming ITEXPO East event. Rowley stressed there is a difference between true 4G and HSPA+ overlay for 3G. As for mobile winners in 2011, Rowley noted that application developers are already surging to the forefront of consumer consciousness.

When asked if Apple and Facebook will be able to continue to dominate, Rowley highlighted that there will always be up and comers who will try and snatch the crown, so they must continue to innovate. As for best verticals for opportunities in the overall market, Rowley pointed to healthcare and education as benefitting the most from 4G. In regards to net neutrality, Sprint commends the FCC on their careful and deliberate approach to the issue. For his personal use, Rowley carries an EVO and a BlackBerry and WiFi (News - Alert) is a must-have at home.

Rowley highlighted that Sprint does employ social media engagement to connect with customers as well as collaborate internally. When asked about the greatest technological development in 2011, he expects to see growth coming from machine-to-machine (M2M). He also believes that device and equipment manufacturers, apps developers and IT decision makers need to hear his message in Miami. He will share how Sprint revolutionized the wireless industry as the first national wireless carrier in the U.S. to launch and market a 4G network.Their entire conversation follows:

What was the most significant technology trend in 2010 and what impact will it have in 2011?

The introduction of 4G smartphones such as the HTC EVO 4G and the Samsung Epic 4G, the first two 3G/4G powered Android (News - Alert) smartphones introduced in the U.S. by Sprint that won numerous accolades. These two devices blurred the lines between phones and tablets and set the bar for mobile communications -- helping people to stay connected with services like mobile video chatting and increases people’s everyday productivity with mobile e-mail, calendar synchronization and Internet access at blazingly fast speeds. It is through innovation and collaboration with our great business partners such as HTC and Samsung that we will maintain our 4G leadership position into 2011 and beyond.

The term 4G is being used by everyone regardless of the technology they have deployed?   When it comes to the mobile Internet, is the last mile the real place to put the emphasis? What other considerations impact the experience?

Falling behind in the 4G race and feeling the need to compete, several carriers are now calling their HSPA+ technology 4G and focusing solely on speed. Bottom line, HSPA+ is an end of the line technology overlay for a 3G network, whereas Sprint 4G is just the beginning of a next generation network built from the ground up. 

Market Intelligence Company ABI Research (News - Alert) is backing Sprint’s WiMAX technology and considers today’s WiMAX and LTE technologies to be 4G. HSPA+ speeds are often fast and even comparable to 4G speeds on WiMAX. However, ABI Research defines 4G not just on speeds, but the combination of speed, latency, capacity and cost. And that is where Sprint 4G on WiMAX is different.

We aim to offer the customera fast and reliable mobile connection that fits their communication needs. Speed is one thing, but the impact that low latency has on a user’s browsing, streaming and downloading session is tremendous. Another key factor is spectrum – and Sprint is well positioned with more than three times the spectrum of any U.S. Wireless Carrier. This excess spectrum allows us to add capacity to the 4G network as we continue to add more customers, ensuring fewer data bottlenecks. 

Will the mobile winners in 2011 be the device companies, the app store companies the carriers? Who should be on our radar to watch?

Application developers are already surging to the forefront of consumer consciousness. While Sprint isn’t in the applications business, we definitely want to steer customers in the direction of what’s new, fun and potentially life changing through the Android Marketplace, BlackBerry App World, etc. This is part of our open strategy: we do not block any apps and support the open Internet model.  We recently held the Sprint 4G App Challenge with partners WIRED, Reddit and Ars Technica to challenge developers to create innovative 4G Apps. The winners and their apps were:

Entertainment: Andrei Goumilevski, Tallahassee, Fla. – NASAImagesNASAImages showcases 4,000 space images from the NASA APOD site. Because the images are large, Sprint 4G enables customers to download them quickly.

Gaming: Rob Miley, St. Charles, Mo. – Say What? Mobile GameSay What? is the mobile version of the kids game Telephone, where one person whispers a phrase in someone's ear and then that person would repeat what they heard to the next person. Once the game is complete, players can hear the beginning and ending phrase. Players are randomly connected to active games. Interaction with the app and the game server is frequent, so the Sprint 4G Network provides a fast and reliable Internet connection for optimal play.

Productivity: Rajan Singh, San Jose, Calif. – Recipe SearchRecipe Search is a reverse recipe finder app. The user simply speaks the ingredients they have in their refrigerator or pantry and they will see a display of meals with directions that they could cook. Sprint 4G will reduce latency and deliver results quicker.

Social Networking: Carmen Delessio, Pound Ridge, N.Y. – BFF Photo – Facebook UploadBFF Photo brings Facebook photos to the user’s phone. Consumers can use the app to view photo albums, friends’ albums and take and upload photos and videos. The app fully uses the bandwidth and reliability of the Sprint 4G Network to manage the connection to Facebook and the speedy media download to the customer.

Multimedia: Jason Shah, Chicago, Ill. – MediaflyWith Mediafly Mobile, users can organize and discover podcasts, audio, video, radio and streams from their Android phone. The Sprint 4G Network makes watching streaming video on this app easy and enjoyable.

We also partner with other application developers such as Calgary Scientific to market a first of its kind medical imaging solution that could contribute to better patient outcomes, faster treatment decisions and a reduced financial burden on long-term patient care. Also with Grid Net to provide a Smart Grid solution using Grid Net’s software platforms to connect smart meters and smart grid routers via the Sprint 4G network.

Companies like Apple and Facebook are the darling of the Wall Street and the consumer. Should we see them as market leaders that are going to continue to dominate or are they the AOL and Netscape of this market?

Apple, Facebook, Google (News - Alert): These are the most well-known and established brands that are garnering the most attention. But let’s not forget that they all started from humble beginnings. There will always be up and comers who will try to snatch the crown, so it is on these companies to continue to innovate and meet the consumers needs to remain relevant. If they can do that, they should continue to be the leaders, while keeping any contenders at a significant disadvantage.

Are there specific verticals that represent the best opportunities?

From the business segment, I believe that healthcare and education will benefit the most from 4G in the near term. Their services rely upon high resolution connectivity and are poised for major adoption of 4G services and applications. In the consumer segment, gaming and video chat benefit most from the 4G technical characteristics. 4G will make these applications real for a mobile application.

How important are government mandates and regulations to your business plan? What concerns do you have for the future? The FCC has recently voted to support net neutrality. Is net neutrality necessary, or will it present more challenges than it will solve?

Sprint commends the careful and deliberate approach the FCC has engaged in thus far on the issue of net neutrality, particularly the FCC's recognition of the differences between fixed and mobile networks and the need of broadband providers to reasonably manage their networks. Sprint is encouraged that the FCC will continue to resolve net neutrality issues in a balanced manner that benefits both carriers and wireless users.

What are you using personally for your phone? Have you deployed WiFi in your home? What are you children, family and friends teaching you about our industry? As a speaker at our events you are probably a mobile traveler? Do you feel that provides you a better perspective on what is needed in the market?

I carry an EVO and a Blackberry. I have a MBB card and an Overdrive. However, I actually don’t feel like I am a good proxy for the average customer. I have found that my travel schedule and connectivity needs are nowhere near the average customer’s out there – so as business executives we must always be careful not to allow our outlier personal needs and experiences to distort our views of what is required and valued in the mainstream market.

Now – what happens at home with my family and friends – I do believe is much more meaningful. We absolutely have WiFi, and I couldn’t imagine life without it. Everyone has a laptop, one PC, a Pandora WiFi connection thru our Blue-ray, a couple of Xbox connections and several iPod connections. 3G/4G becomes critical to a family with these types of connectivity needs. I find most of my friends are in a similar boat.

What impact has social media had on how you interact with your customers?  How do you measure its effectiveness? Where has social media impacted you the most? How have you leveraged social networking as an internal collaboration tool?

Sprint’s social media engagement has given us another avenue to reach out to our customers, allowing us to better meet them where they are and help to improve Sprint’s overall corporate reputation.

We have nine dedicated Executive Escalations analysts focused on three sites: Facebook, Twitter and Sprint.com Community with an average of 250 unique customers engaged per week and a total of more than 5,800 customers engaged in 2010. The Sprint Social Media program has won two awards for Excellence in Social Media: 2009 SNCR Commendation of Merit and 2010 Hermes Creative Platinum Award.

We also empower the Sprint employee base to harness the power of social media with the Social Media Ninja program. Through this program we improve Sprint’s reputation by harnessing the powerful influence of our employees who are in a unique position to be online ambassadors for our company. Our Social Media Ninjas, consisting of over 1,000 employees actively share best practices in social media, advise of Sprint policies and educate about Sprint resources andcustomer assistance.

What will be the greatest technological development in 2011? Why? Make one prediction based on your expectations for this year?

I’d have to say that we’ll see lots of growth coming from machine-to-machine (M2M) because the footprint exists, the chipset costs are down and the ecosystem is in place.

Our event from a content perspective breaks up M2M, 4G and SuperWiFi as separate tracks. Who needs to hear your message your session  in Miami? Is the mobile Internet similarly fragmented? How do your customers talk about the business?

Device and equipment manufacturers, apps developers, IT decision makers

Why is your session a must attend for attendees in Miami this February?

Come learn how Sprint revolutionized the wireless industry as the first national wireless carrier in the U.S. to launch and market a 4G network. See what it took to get to this point and learn how Sprint will continue to be a 4G leader (and hear how you can be a part of that) through industry innovation and collaboration.

To find out more about Sprint, visit the company at ITEXPO East 2011. To be held Feb. 2-4 in Miami, ITEXPO is the world’s premier IP communications event. Pete Weldon of Sprint is speaking during “The Future of Video Communications on Mobile Devices.” Don’t wait. Register now.

(source: http://4g-wirelessevolution.tmcnet.com/topics/4g-wirelessevolution/articles/139092-sprint-technology-first-true-4g.htm)