Qualcomm throws in the towel on UMB, 4G race down to LTE and WiMAX
Realistically, the death knell tolled long ago for Qualcomm's stillborn Ultra Mobile Broadband initiative, its own special flavor of 4G and the logical next step in the CDMA2000 family of technologies. To make things nice and official, though, they went ahead and officially announced that they've halted development on the spec during an analysts' meeting earlier today, throwing support behind the competing LTE standard -- one of the two remaining techs vying for the hearts and minds of the world's 4G-wanting public. So where's one of the world's great patent enforcers going to collect cash now? Oh, don't worry about little ol' Qualcomm; the company claims it has plenty of 4G-relevant intellectual property that'll keep its bankrolls full for years to come.[Via dailywireless.org]
Filed under: LTE
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ryan C @ Nov 13th 2008 6:33PM
Not suprising. Once Verizon and Alltel announced they were hopping on the LTE bandwagon with AT&T and T-Mobile, UMB's coffin was nailed shut.
Fernando @ Nov 13th 2008 7:40PM
:D
Go LTE!~
emaildejan @ Nov 26th 2008 8:02PM
Don't be too sure. There are already several WiMAX networks already up and running in several places around the globe. For example, in South Korea, Russia, India, Pakistan, and soon enough, nationwide here in the good old USofA. As for Verizon launching LTE, that's somewhat problematic. Their LTE speeds will be drastically slower than those offered by WiMAX, which makes Verizon LTE inherently POOR for mobile video (which is the BIG seller for 4G to begin with). Why will VZ LTE be slower? Because VZ doesn't have the spectrum needed for true 4G speeds...Sprint and Nextel bought up all the best spectrum pre-merger. So, either VZ comes up with a better mouse trap (which is still possible), OR they end up having to go a new route after all.
BTW, as far as spectrum is concerned, AT&T and T-Mobile are in the same boat as Verizon (which recently merged with Alltel). So, realistically, unless there's spectrum that allows LTE to operate more efficiently than WiMAX, Verizon and the rest are screwed. However, there is a silver lining: WiMAX is being supported by Sprint. And when was the last time Sprint did anything right?!?
Terrille @ Nov 26th 2008 11:31PM
I cant wait for WiMax! I like the idea that not only will Wimax work with your cell phone, laptop, and desktop you will be able to use it on car stereos and gps systems even digital cameras and camcorders. There a lot more to wimax then Verizon and att want people to think. WiMax is the future! And its also already proven to work LTE is still a theory and will cost billions and billions of dollars to produce and will cost big bucks for the same service. Ill stick with WiMAX my moneys on Google everything they have ever touched has turned gold and Sprint has the support of a lot of big name companies.