Communications and Technology Industry Research

Eyeing a cost-saving technology in this economic recession, more than 18 operators worldwide are pursuing future broadband and wireless communications by carrying out so-called “long term evolution,” or “LTE (News - Alert)” application development plans, according to a New York-based IT research firm.

 

Officials at ABI Research say that Verizon already has announced acceleration of its LTE deployment timetable, bringing the launch forward from 2010 to 2009, and that others are looking at 2011 or 2012 – a time by which, hopefully, much of this economic crisis will have passed.

 

According to ABI Senior Analyst Nadine Manjaro, the firm believes that NTT will also deploy LTE in Japan in 2009.

 

“We forecast that by 2013 operators will spend over $8.6 billion on LTE base station infrastructure alone,” Manjaro said. “For operators that have already deployed 3G networks, LTE will be a key CAPEX driver over the next five years.”

 

As TMCnet has reported, LTE has been making headlines lately.

 

One France-based telecommunications consortium recently announced that it’s solidified specifications for a project designed to improve the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System standard for mobile phone.

 

Officials represented by the Third Generation Partnership Project, or “3GPP,” say they’ve approved a functional freeze of LTE, as part of Release 8, marking a major step forward in bringing the next-generation wireless broadband technology to market.

 

“There is significant commitment from operators to deploy this technology, and this landmark achievement will allow them to realize their early deployment plans,” 3GPP officials say. “LTE is aimed at providing the true global mobile broadband experience for users but also places high priority on improving spectral efficiency and reducing cost.”

 

3GPP – a collaboration of European telecom groups – say there’s a “significant commitment” from operators to deploy the technology, and that “this landmark achievement will allow them to realize their early deployment plans.”

 

“LTE is aimed at providing the true global mobile broadband experience for users but also places high priority on improving spectral efficiency and reducing cost,” officials say.

 

Also, as TMCnet reported, a Fortune 100 company is saying it plans to carry out LTE, WiMax and fiber-to-the-home projects in 2009.

 

Officials at Motorola Inc. say that despite the weak economy, they’re seeing strong demand for media mobility points.

 

According to Dan Moloney, president of Motorola’s (News - Alert) (News - Alert) home and networks mobility businesses, the company is committed to broadband and 4G development and made significant gains in 2008, particularly with LTE to address the mobility demands from consumers looking for personalized media experiences.

 

“Our testing of LTE networks has demonstrated great forward movement for the cellular community into networks that are fast, agile and able to deliver content on consumers’ terms,” Moloney said. “We’re looking forward to carrying this commitment into 2009 and leading the market in further development and deployment of LTE technologies.”

 

Officials at ABI say that LTE application development will also drive investment as operators work to determine which services to deploy on this high speed, low latency network.

 

For Manjaro, the resulting new applications will tie mobility and presence aspects together to create more compelling services than in the past.

 

“This is significant because it represents the beginning of a new generation of application development which will leverage the vast amounts of data in operators’ networks,” Manjaro said.