LTE gaining momentum, Bad news for WiMAX

According to IDC, LTE( Long Term Evolution- LTE is the 4th generation of radio technologies designed to increase the capacity and speed of mobile telephone networks ) is gaining momentum and we should see dozens of new network launching LTE network by this year. WiMAX future looks bleak compared to LTE. The capital spending on LTE will exceed WiMAX equipment spending by end of 2011. The research points out that the commitment level for LTE is high with more than 100 operators publicly supporting it, including nine of the ten largest mobile operators worldwide. Verizon and MetroPCS already announced that their network will be LTE ready by end of 2010. There are lot of technologies that has been proposed for supporting Voice over LTE network. Volga( Voice over LTE via Generic Access) forum is one of them. Volga was initiated with intent to extend traditional GSM and UMTS circuit-switched services over LTE access networks.

Big vendors are trying hard to get a Pie in the LTE equipment market. Ericsson has a bigger pie compared to other vendors like Huawei, Nokia Siemens and Alcatel Lucent.

Here are some additional findings from IDC's special study:
• LTE provides capacity support/offload for 3G networks, making it a complementary technology in the near term.
• The LTE equipment race is experiencing a "land grab" between incumbent 3G market leader Ericsson and the fast rising Huawei, while Nokia Siemens and Alcatel Lucent work hard to remain relevant.
• In 2010, all LTE vendors, including the likes of Motorola, NEC, and Fujitsu, are increasing their go-to-market efforts, further amplifying competitive pressures.
• Iconic smartphone devices, coupled with growing mobile broadband laptop use, will continue to drive the explosion in mobile data traffic.