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Reportlinker Adds The Future of 4G Technologies: New opportunities and changing business models for the emergence of LTE and WiMAX
[July 06, 2010]

Reportlinker Adds The Future of 4G Technologies: New opportunities and changing business models for the emergence of LTE and WiMAX


NEW YORK, July 6, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue: The Future of 4G Technologies: New opportunities and changing business models for the emergence of LTE and WiMAX http://www.reportlinker.com/p0233958/The-Future-of-4G-Technologies-New-opportunities-and-changing-business-models-for-the-emergence-of-LTE-and-WiMAX.html Technological innovation, including 3G, improved smartphones and multiplay mobile Internet devices (MIDs), has led to a boom in data usage with data traffic surpassing voice traffic for the first time in December 2009. Having nearly trebled in 2008 and 2009, global mobile data traffic is expected to double every year until at least 2013.



The wealth of content and mobile applications available to users worldwide puts a strain on mobile networks. Next generation technologies like pre-4G and 4G with their promise of greater speed and spectral efficiency become all the more appealing to the players involved in the ICT value chain. However, the reality is that 80% of mobile connections are still on 2G networks and 3G connections are only available in some areas, even in developed countries, with the exception of a few leading countries.

The 4G proposition sounds very promising but its success will ultimately depend on the availability of new spectrum and wide coverage. The many benefits of 4G may also be wasted unless ICT companies find business models that will not only drive adoption but will also help them to increase revenue.


Key features of this report Overview of the market trends, technological and regulatory changes that are shaping the adoption of 4G.

Identification of the main features of IMT-Advanced and of the principle 4G technology candidates.

Comparison of the LTE and WiMAX technology families and their respective interest for ICT players.

Examination of current pre-4G deployments.

Analysis of the threats and opportunities posed by 4G.

Scope of this report Review the current technologies, regulatory factors and industry support impacting the adoption of 4G technologies.

Identify key changes in consumer usage behavior that drive the need for the greater speed and spectral efficiency afforded by 4G.

Understand how legacy technologies will influence vendors' choice of 4G protocol due to the economic and technical implications of deploying each technology.

Identify the technology family best suited to a chosen 4G strategy based on each technology's characteristics and individual corporate circumstances.

Identify the various initiatives in support of each technology candidate in order to revise considered strategies if necessary.

Key Market Issues Mobile penetration keeps growing worldwide. More consumers have access to mobile broadband and applications that require large amounts of bandwidth. This new trend creates connection issues and network congestion while posing network management and profitability issues for network operators.

Technological advances such as the wider availability of 3G and innovation made in smartphones and other Internet-enabled devices have encouraged consumers to use their mobile devices more in the way they typically use their computers, accessing an increasing amount of data. By widening their range of user equipment, handset and PC manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung have increased consumers' expectations of a truly mobile computer environment. The experience of services such as mobile video, TV, and VoIP are becoming more comparable to those provided by a fixed PC environment.

The great majority of mobile users are still on 2G networks that do not support the rich communication services users are increasingly expecting from their networks. Even the experience of those users on 3G networks is restrained by the technology's limitations. As data traffic increases in volume, network operators are confronted with the threat of traffic congestion and diminishing revenue. They need to find a way to not only meet their customers' needs but also ensure their profitability, which impacts their relationship with other vendors in the ICT value chain.

Key findings from this report Consumers are generating increasingly high volumes of mobile data traffic due to their adoption of more advanced devices. Smartphones and mobile Internet devices contribute to the growing popularity of bandwidth-intensive applications such as mobile video but also peer-to-peer and social networking. This puts pressure on networks and leads to congestion and poorer consumer experience.

2G still accounts for the great majority of mobile connections worldwide but increasingly high pockets of data traffic in some markets, combined with changing user needs, are rendering current mobile technologies inadequate to meet demand satisfactorily. Although 3G is responding to rising consumer data usage, a more efficient technology is required to not only meet consumer needs but also enhance user experience while ensuring profitability for ICT companies.

Industry and consumers alike are keen to take mobile communications to the next level and there is strong interest in pre-4G technologies such as Mobile WiMAX and LTE that can increase data rates and capacity dramatically. Both technologies are marketed as 4G despite not meeting the IMT Advanced requirements. While Mobile WiMAX is already available in some markets, deployment of LTE is only just starting, pushing back the date when true 4G will be widely available commercially.

Key questions answered What are the major trends and drivers behind the adoption of 4G? What are the main 4G protocols and what is their appeal? What technologies, products and services will influence the successful rollout of 4G? Who are the major players in the 4G market and how do they position themselves? What are the main threats posed by the deployment of 4G and how can companies protect themselves? Table of Contents The Future of 4G Technologies Executive summary 14 Competitive landscape 14 LTE and WiMAX 15 Technology deployments 15 Leading player strategies 17 The future of 4G technologies 18 Chapter 1 Introduction 20 Introduction 20 Who is this report for and what is it about? 21 Definitions 22 Evolved Packet Core (EPC) (ex. System Architecture Evolution - SAE) 22 E-reader 22 GSM 22 IMT-Advanced (4G) 22 LTE 22 LTE Advanced 22 Mobile broadband 23 Mobile Internet 23 Mobile Internet device (MID) 23 Mobile WiMAX 23 Notebook 23 Netbook 23 Peer-to-Peer (P2P) 23 Portable media player (PMP) 24 Portable navigation device (PND) 24 Radio access network (RAN) 24 Radio interface technology (RIT) 24 Smartphone 24 Set of radio interface technologies (SRIT) 24 Tablet PC 24 Ultra mobile PC (UMPC) 25 Wi-Fi 25 WiMAX 25 WiMAX 2 (WiMAX Release 2) 25 Chapter 2 Competitive landscape 28 Summary 28 Introduction 29 Impact of legacy technologies 29 Impact of 2G technologies 29 2G technologies have limited data capacity 29 2G will remain the dominant technology until 2012 30 Impact of 3G and pre-4G technologies 32 3G technologies cannot cope with major changes in mobile services usage 32 Long Term Evolution (LTE) provides a temporary solution 33 Support for LTE translates into support for LTE Advanced 34 Mobile WiMAX offers an acceptable interim solution 34 Support for Mobile WiMAX translates into support for WiMAX 2 35 Legacy technologies will dictate the roadmap to 4G 35 Key trends and drivers 37 Mobile Internet fuels demand for faster service delivery 37 Mobile broadband substitution compounds network congestion 38 Increased mobile Internet usage also impacts devices and applications 39 Data traffic is skyrocketing 40 Current technologies are under mounting pressure 46 Industry support and regulatory factors will influence the adoption of 4G 48 Strong commitment from vendors to LTE will speed up 4G adoption 48 The LTE ecosystem is developing 49 The EU supports next generation networks and LTE 50 WiMAX also benefits from its own support group 51 The ITU IMT-Advanced standard and 4G technology candidates 52 3GPP and 3GPP2 standards 57 UMB 57 LTE Release 10 and beyond (LTE-Advanced) 58 IEEE standards 59 IEEE 802.16m (WiMAX 2 / WiMAX release 2) 59 The countdown to 4G has started but deployment may be delayed 60 The ICT landscape changes as competition intensifies 60 Chapter 3 LTE and WiMAX 64 Summary 64 Introduction 64 Note on technology definitions 65 Industry and regulatory bodies rally around 4G 65 LTE Release 10 and beyond (LTE Advanced) supporters 65 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 65 LTE/SAE Trial Initiative (LTSI) 66 Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) 66 The One Voice Initiative 67 GSM Association (GSMA) 67 Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance (NGMN) 67 IEEE 802.16m supporters 68 WiMAX Forum 68 WiMAX 2 Collaboration Initiative (WCI) 68 The WiMAX Open Retail Initiative 69 M Taiwan 69 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 70 Key features of LTE and WiMAX 71 Performance and capacity 71 Speed 71 Spectral efficiency and latency 71 VoIP capacity 72 Backward compatibility 73 Ubiquity and coverage 73 Ecosystem 75 WiMAX 75 LTE 77 Applications 78 WiMAX strives to reproduce a full computing environment 78 LTE Advanced will support the same applications as WiMAX 2 78 Economic factors 79 WIMAX 79 LTE 80 Summary: LTE and WiMAX share many similarities 81 Chapter 4 Technology deployments 84 Summary 84 Introduction 84 Regulations and policies can impact 4G adoption 85 EU regulations drive 4G development but favor LTE 85 The EU welcomes next generation networks (NGN) 85 The EU backs LTE and LTE Advanced 86 Beyond Next-Generation Mobile Broadband (BuNGee) 87 Spectrum issues could jeopardize 4G 88 Spectrum allocations will impact operators and manufacturers 88 WiMAX 88 LTE 89 Allocation of the digital dividend would benefit 4G 90 The spectrum (re)allocation process is under way 90 Europe: 90 Middle East: Bahrain frees up spectrum for LTE 91 Africa is allocating the 790-862 MHz band to mobile broadband 91 Central & Latin America (CALA): Mexico may open up the 700MHz band 91 Asia-Pacific 91 4G deployments in the world 93 WiMAX has a head start on LTE but lower coverage 94 Mobile WiMAX 94 WiMAX 2 98 Current WiMAX deployments 99 Asia-Pacific 99 Western Europe 100 Eastern Europe and Russia 100 Middle East 101 Africa 101 USA 102 Central & Latin America 102 LTE and LTE Advanced deployments 102 The first phase of LTE deployment will occur in 2010-2011 102 What is in the pipeline? 108 WiMAX Forum is gearing up efforts to finalize WiMAX 2 108 WiMAX 2 should be commercially available on a larger scale in 2011-2012 108 The deployment of LTE Advanced will be delayed by LTE 109 Chapter 5 Leading player strategies 112 Summary 112 Introduction 113 Samsung Electronics 113 Samsung wants to be an innovator and leader 113 Samsung's 4G strategy is user- and device-focused 114 Samsung targets the smartphone segment 114 The Smart life content plan will help boost smartphone sales 114 Samsung ventures into software territory 115 Samsung launches its own app store 115 Samsung embarks on an open mobile OS strategy 115 The success of Samsung's 4G strategy relies partly on the success of its Bada OS 116 4G technologies: Samsung wants the best of both worlds 116 Samsung is a step ahead with its LTE product offering 116 Samsung's WiMAX involvement and strategy 117 Samsung is a leader and innovator in mobile WiMAX 117 Samsung leads the way to WiMAX 2 (802.16m) 118 Samsung's WiMAX range of devices is also versatile 118 Samsung targets Asia and the Middle East for its WiMAX development 118 LG Electronics 119 LG changes strategic direction and forms new partnerships 119 LG steps up efforts to become a reference in the smartphone segment 120 LG is seeking technology independence to secure its position as LTE market driver 121 LG's 4G strategy focuses on LTE 121 LG is gearing up towards producing an LTE capable handset 121 Innovation and leadership will consolidate LG's place in the 4G market 122 LG wants to capitalize on its LTE track record 122 Motorola 123 Smartphones will drive growth in the handset market 123 Applications will help Motorola meet its smartphone strategic targets 124 Motorola is involved in both LTE and WiMAX while remaining a key player in previous technology generations 124 Motorola raises its 4G profile 124 Motorola is a leader in WiMAX 124 Motorola aims for a larger share of the LTE market 125 Motorola's LTE contracts increase 125 Motorola intensifies its LTE efforts and extends its product range 126 Motorola targets emerging markets to drive growth 127 Motorola expands its 4G wireless strategy into the consumer electronics market 127 Motorola will start embedding proprietary technology in third-party CE devices 128 Motorola still believes strongly in WiMAX 129 Motorola supports WiMAX 2 129 Motorola deploys its WiMAX technology in Asia 129 Motorola is extending its WiMAX portfolio 130 Apple 131 Apple delays its entry into the 4G market 131 The iPhone 4's features offer better support for rich media communications 132 Apple's edge in the MID segment is confirmed 133 Apple offers multifunction devices with one predominant use 133 Changes to the iPhone's operating system makes the iPhone more 4G compliant 134 Apple's dominance of the apps market in all form factors continues 134 Apple wants a share of the mobile advertising market 135 Vendor summary - Samsung, LG, Motorola, Apple 136 Zain Group 137 The departure of Zain's CEO derails Zain's development plans 137 Zain's expansion is put on hold and its African assets are sold off 138 Zain brings next generation mobile technology to emerging markets 138 Zain will be launching LTE in the Middle East first 139 Zain chooses LTE to assert its position as a global player 140 Zain is also investing in WiMAX technology 140 Clearwire 141 Clearwire opts for aggressive and fast deployment across the US 141 Clearwire looks set to switch allegiance from WiMAX to LTE 141 Clearwire may enter an agreement with T-Mobile to create an MVNO 142 Clearwire opens up the ecosystem with its "best-of-breed" strategy 142 Clearwire's gamble has paid off so far 143 ZTE 145 ZTE aims for continued rapid growth 145 ZTE goes from late entrant to innovator 146 ZTE's High Performance Product Development program increases its competitiveness 146 ZTE is ready for 4G 146 ZTE has a double 4G offering 147 ZTE targets the US for 4G deployment 148 ZTE claims to have found the killer service: interoperability testing 148 ZTE is keen to increase investments in LTE 149 ZTE makes a bid for technology independence 149 ZTE pursues an aggressive internationalization strategy 150 ZTE will raise awareness of its brand in the terminal segment 150 Vendor summary - Clearwire, ZTE, Zain 152 Chapter 6 The future of 4G technologies 154 Summary 154 Introduction 154 LTE and WiMAX both have their place in the 4G family 155 Leading players and organizations will influence the choice of 4G technology 155 The choice of technology depends on the business model 156 All roadmaps lead to 4G 156 The GSM and CDMA roadmap 156 The WiMAX roadmap 158 LTE and WiMAX are not mutually exclusive 160 The deployment of 4G will change the ICT market 162 Impact on networks 163 Impact on the ecosystem 163 Devices will become multimode 163 Ultra mobile device adoption will increase 164 CE devices will turn into mobile Internet devices 165 Impact on content 168 Increased data usage could raise copyright issues 168 Impact on applications and services 168 4G will accelerate three-screen convergence 169 Adaptability and personalization will be the key words 169 4G will enhance the gaming experience 170 Location-based services (LBS) will drive network traffic up 170 In Africa, mobile entertainment will drive growth 170 Mobile VoIP will take off once 4G is fully deployed 170 Impact on user experience 171 Mobile cloud computing will become more of a reality 171 The new ICT competitive environment 172 Technology convergence is still ongoing 172 Impact on business models 173 Prepaid model 174 Usage-based model 174 Companies mentioned Apple, Clearwire, LG, Motorola, Samsung, Zain, ZTE, Companies mentioned Application-specific 174 Time-based 175 Time of day model 175 Location-based model 175 Funded by mobile advertising or mobile commerce 175 Who stands to gain and who stands to lose from 4G technologies? 177 Consumers 177 Network operators 178 Network equipment vendors 178 Device manufacturers/consumer electronics manufacturers 179 Software vendors 179 Index 181 List of Figures Figure 2.1: Global mobile subscribers by technology generation (bn), 2009-14 31 Figure 2.2: Global Internet* subscribers (m), 2008-2012 38 Figure 2.3: Global mobile data traffic (Terabytes/month), 2009-14 40 Figure 2.4: Mobile data traffic by region (Terabytes/month), 2009-14 41 Figure 2.5: Mobile data traffic by device type (Terabytes/month), 2009-14 43 Figure 2.6: Mobile data traffic by application (Terabytes/month), 2009-14 45 Figure 2.7: 4G drivers 46 Figure 2.8: Progression towards IMT-Advanced 53 Figure 2.9: IMT-Advanced candidate technology submissions 54 Figure 2.10: Steps in 4G radio interface development process 55 Figure 2.11: Critical milestones in the 4G radio interface development process 56 Figure 3.12: LTE vs. WiMAX 81 Figure 4.13: Top 5 4G markets (% share of global 4G subscriptions), 2014 93 Figure 4.14: Global WiMAX technology adoption by subscriber coverage (%), 2009 94 Figure 4.15: Regional mobile WiMAX subscriptions (m), 2009-15 96 Figure 4.16: EMEA mobile WiMAX subscriptions (m), 2009-15 97 Figure 4.17: Global LTE subscriptions (m), 2012-2015 107 Figure 5.18: Vendor summary - Samsung, LG, Motorola, Apple 136 Figure 5.19: Vendor summary - Clearwire, ZTE, Zain 152 Figure 6.20: LTE and WiMAX - competitive positioning 160 Figure 6.21: The impact of 4G 163 Figure 6.22: Global user device shipments (m) 2009-13 165 Figure 6.23: Penetration of devices classified as MIDs (% of total devices), 2012 167 Figure 6.24: New pricing business models 176 Figure 6.25: Positives and negatives for stakeholders in 4G technologies 177 List of Tables Table 2.1: Global mobile subscribers by technology generation (bn), 2009-14 31 Table 2.2: Global Internet* subscribers (m), 2008-2012 38 Table 2.3: Global mobile data traffic (Terabytes/month), 2009-14 41 Table 2.4: Mobile data traffic by region (Terabytes/month), 2009-14 42 Table 2.5: Mobile data traffic by device type (Terabytes/month), 2009-14 44 Table 2.6: Mobile data traffic by application (Terabytes/month), 2009-14 45 Table 2.7: LTE ecosystem, 2010 50 Table 2.8: Key features of 3G and 4G 52 Table 2.9: Key features of LTE Advanced 59 Table 3.10: WiMAX coverage by region, 2009 74 Table 4.11: Top 5 4G markets (% share of global 4G subscriptions), 2014 94 Table 4.12: Global WiMAX technology adoption by subscriber coverage (%), 2009 95 Table 4.13: 38 LTE networks commitments, 7 April 2010 104 Table 4.14: 25 LTE networks commitments, 7 April 2010 - Launch date to be confirmed 105 Table 4.15: LTE trials (pre-commitment stage) 106 Table 4.16: Global LTE subscriptions (m), 2012-2015 107 Table 6.17: Global user device shipments 2009-13 165 Table 6.18: Penetration of devices classified as MIDs (% of total devices), 2012 167 To order this report: Wireless Technology Industry: The Future of 4G Technologies: New opportunities and changing business models for the emergence of LTE and WiMAX Wireless Technology Business News More Market Research Report Check our Company Profile, SWOT and Revenue Analysis! Nicolas Bombourg Reportlinker Email: [email protected] US: (805)652-2626 Intl: +1 805-652-2626 SOURCE Reportlinker

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