AT&T looks beyond WiMAX, headed for LTE
By Darren Murph 
posted Jun 15th 2007 11:27AM
posted Jun 15th 2007 11:27AM
Just as Sprint starts pondering ways to possibly rid itself of the massive WiMAX expenditure load that it has taken on, AT&T is apparently looking right on past the technology into the next-generation of HSPA. The company's VP of Government Solutions for Mobility noted at a recent interview that AT&T would be taking a "wait-and-see approach to WiMAX as it didn't see the value proposition in mobile WiMAX." Consequently, he hinted that the firm would rather set its sights on LTE (long term evolution), but did suggest that it would be "evaluating the use of WiMAX technology for backhaul." A tough day for WiMAX supporters, indeed.[Via PhoneScoop]
Meanwhile 3G remains available in very limited markets. Why put the cart before the horse?
Why install more 3G antennas? WiMAX is the next transition. Good bye CDMA, good bye EVDO... VOIP is king, and wimax is what'll make that possible.
GSM... will survive wimax. Sprint and Verizon don't need to worry about that. Once wimax is up, they'll save oodles over those expensive towers and liscensing fees.
How arrogant of AT&T to do this. Sprint is going to setup the WiMAX network, and instead of speeding the installation up, AT&T will sit on it's thumb. What they're (AT&T) saying is, "We'll do something... later. We don't know what, yet. One of these days, though."
Why should they jump into this when 3G pretty much just came out here and isn't even wide-spread yet?
Hell, there are even a lot of places ATT doesn't even have EDGE service.
They've already made a substantial investment in something of the broadband nature, and to scrap all of that would be a waste of money already spent. Hence, apprehension in investing in something even bigger.
I think 'wait and see' is a smart thing to do for now, even though it's not the most exciting for those of us who are really into the new and exciting.
LTE is the name of the network that UMTS evolves to. From what I understand, it will also be an OFDMA-type air interface (like WiMax), but will probably be more fine-tuned to fit in with the UMTS (HSDPA/HSUPA) and GSM gear that AT&T Wireless already has.
There's nothing "arrogant" about this, this is the natural evolution path from the 3GPP guys doing the UMTS specs. Expect to see similar announcements from the European vendors.
WIFI and Wimax is where the cell phone industry is headed towards.
I have the Nokia e61i, which has wifi built it. With wifi, I don't have to pay any data charges and I get broadband speeds.
WIFI = VOIP = Free calling. I can call 40 countries worldwide completely free.
As WIFI continues to spread, the cell phone carriers will be forced to offer it and ultimately it will lead to cheaper monthly plans, heck even free. Just buy the device and your set :)
Sure wifi is the way to go.....if you don't mind driving around to find an open access point, and making sure that you stay put while you talk. Imagine a future where wifi AP's will allow your call to go through for only a small charge...thus totally fractionalizing the mobile voice industry.
The carriers have spent great amount of money to offer very broad and consistent services, and many people count on being able to make and receive calls. I don't think that reliance rill go away soon, so I don't see wifi offering anything beyond a supplementary way to get data access.
There is nothing the internet cannot do. As such, what we really need to be worrying about is getting every device online. Also of help here is that there is no useful device linux cannot be ported to. Hopefully we will soon see the day when everyone uses voip and the landline phone will be extinct. Hoping for the extinction of windows, well, that may take a little longer, but yeah, I'll be working towards that too. It's about time we implemented IP6, too...
Hey, In the interest of the future, I'll help anyone here who has any questions about using linux on home pc's, macs, or ps3's... or just questions in general. ethana2@gmail.com
That's really cool of you. I love Linux, Windows and OSX equally--and each for very different things, though I'm only a novice with all three. I gotta find a good book on linux though.
:)
Tell me what you love OSX and windows for so I can fix it ;)
Hey AT&T! how about doing some work so I can actually get a 3g signal for my HSDPA card my company is paying you guys $60 a month for? I know it's hard to serve small markets like CHICAGO but maybe you could try that before spending billions on another network?
I love MetroPCS
The only problem with being on a WiMAX connection is you should consider using a VPN account. I was too worried about using any hotspot point till I picked up a VPN account at www.strongvpn.com But maybe WiMAX is secured? Either way can't wait for it to come out so I can have VOIP over my phone.