Multi-mode LTE chips predicted for 2009, WiMAX for "developing nations"

We may be savoring just a small taste of WiMAX here in these United States, forced to wait until "2010+" before getting to know the robust flavor of LTE (the next, next high-speed wireless standard), but that's not stopping analyst Philip Solis from predicting that multi-mode chips supporting both standards will be introduced sometime next year, ahead of LTE itself. He indicates that numerous providers like Vodafone are hedging their bets (though we know where CEO Arun Sarin is placing his), and so therefore mobile device makers should follow suit by supporting both formats in their laptops, netbooks, and MIDs. We're inclined to say he might actually be a year too pessimistic on that call, but more interesting is his comment that wireless broadband providers "will use LTE in industrialized regions, and WiMAX in developing nations." We're sure that Baltimore has some issues it needs to address, but labeling it a "developing nation" bit seems a bit harsh.

[FOREX @ Nov 5th 2008 9:21AM]

You have apperently never been to Baltimore.

[eggothewaffle @ Nov 5th 2008 9:35AM]

Hey! It's not all that bad (as long as you stay within the JHU campus).

[fh @ Nov 5th 2008 9:47AM]

And you have apparently never been to a developing nation?

Hehe; seriously though, the divide does make sense. LTE will in all likelihood surpass WiMAX on most technical fronts, but will probably end up so patent-encumbered that it restricts deployment to already-industrialized nations. The suggestion that Baltimore is a "developing nation" has it backwards: industrialized regions can still have both systems, but non-industrialized regions are unlikely to have LTE, at least for some time.

[neodorian @ Nov 5th 2008 12:43PM]

@eggo: another Hopkins kid afraid to leave the bubble? I saw an awful lot of cops cuffing kids over there last night. It was much safer in the real city.

Also I've been using Xohm there for the past few weeks and it is pretty sweet.

[Atropos @ Nov 5th 2008 9:42AM]

Don't developing nations have enough problems without WiMAX?

[fh @ Nov 5th 2008 9:49AM]

In many regards, an IP network can greatly help a developing nation (create and manage infrastructure, etc). And a robust wireless solution is arguably less costly than traditional landline deployment.

[Magallanes @ Nov 5th 2008 12:26PM]

Don't developing nations have enough problems without WiMAX?

Not much really, at least my country is like of some sort of a poor Dakota, uninteresting, isolated and very few people really knowns or care about their existence. Boring? yes, troubled? not really.

[dltccf @ Nov 5th 2008 12:05PM]

As I sit here in downtown Baltimore I must say that labeling it developing nation would fit if only it were actually developing.

[aitorbk @ Nov 6th 2008 3:23AM]

As anyone will tell you, robust and wireless are not two words that like to be together... we, we do have many mobile phones, but the quality is not very good..

[Jeff Lewis @ Nov 6th 2008 4:18PM]

I think there's another disconnect that's happening here. WiMAX networks can be built by almost anyone with a thick enough pipe to connect to. It's not a telephone protocol, it's more like WiFi, except that unlike WiFi, it's actually possible to cover large areas with WiMAX.

LTE, on the other hand, is very much a cellphone system - which means you have to have a cellphone network already in place to implement it. That means the same players doing the same thing, charging the same rates and still thinking the way cellcos think.

Even if we concede WiMAX isn't as 'advanced' as LTE (and that has yet to be proven), WiMAX is here now and is actually working. Rates for access are more inline with broadband ISP rates.

I think WiMAX has a very good chance of knocking even traditional cell PHONE markets on its ear, let alone mobile data. I think LTE will be more of the same, just faster and more expensive.