Sprint (WiMAX) vs. Verizon (LTE)

By Richard "Zippy" Grigonis

The deployment of WiMAX (News - Alert) has been something of a melodrama, first we all wondered whether Sprint would do it at all, given their loss of customers and financial situation in 2008, then came various on-again-off again deliberations with Clearwire (News - Alert). Finally, Sprint settled into its alliance with Clearwire and Intel (INTC), along with a few other companies, to build and deploy a real WiMAX network, which is slowly beginning to take shape.

Verizon (News - Alert), however, certainly an 800-pound gorilla in its own right, (and which earns 27 percent of its wireless revenue from data, interestingly enough) is skipping over WiMAX to the more intriguing (and potentially higher bandwidth) Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, itself a descendant of the venerable GSM and EDGE 2G/2.5G technologies. Not long ago, Verizon, along with AT&T and a few other players, acquired a hunk of 700 MHz spectrum formerly used for TV signals, which will now be repurposed for LTE.

Verizon is said to have established a 4G/LTE Innovation Center in Waltham, Massachusetts to encourage and assist makers Verizon Wireless technology partners to quickly develop and bring to market innovative LTE-based solutions within the consumer electronics, machine-to-machine, and business products segments. It will also help in terms of marketing these LTE products and “non-traditional products” for use on LTE networks. Verizon’s current principal equipment partners/suppliers related to LTE are Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson (News - Alert) and Starent Networks.

Verizon is already testing its 4G LTE service in places in the U.S. such as Columbus, Ohio, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and parts of Northern New Jersey – it’s also running in Budapest, Dusseldorf, and Madrid in Europe, since Verizon Wireless’ operating partner is Vodafone (News - Alert). Verizon expects to wrap up the trials soon and plans on launching a commercial service to vie with WiMAX in 2010. Download bandwidths of 50 to 60 Mbps have already been demonstrated, though in theory the technology could allow up to about 100 Mbps under ideal conditions.

Verizon Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Dick Lynch, detailed Verizon’s plans during his keynote remarks at the Mobile World Congress (News - Alert) in Barcelona, Spain, recently, saying, "The appetite for new and innovative broadband services is insatiable: People want new and customized content, relevant information and services, and increased opportunities to communicate with each other and the world around them. With the promise of more advanced devices and applications, Verizon is ready to lead the way in harnessing the power of LTE, at the onset of the LTE revolution."

Both WiMAX and LTE will finally bring about a true 4G packet-based wireless broadband services infrastructure. As the last vestiges of circuit-switched technology leave the world of wireless, network operators will have to achieve a new “mindset” in terms of both the technologies and services, not to mention a huge impact on the provider’s business models worldwide. For example, it will cause a tremendous build-out in terms of wireless backhaul to the core and the rest of the network.

LTE appears to be a bit more “voice friendly” in terms of Quality of Service (QoS) than WiMAX, and it should be interesting to see if LTE catches up and/or surpasses WiMAX, given WiMAX’ head start, albeit a slow and sputtering one.

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