A confident Qualcomm, hoping to knock the technical socks off both India and China, took the occasion of the 2010 Shanghai Expo to demonstrate the effectiveness of its TDD-LTE chipset products. Brandishing their Mobile Data Modem™ (MDM™) MDM9200™ solution with 2x2 MIMO in the 2.3GHz band, supporting both TDD and FDD modes of LTE, they've confidently announced that these products are on track for 2011 release.

This is good news for the company's interests in the aforementioned markets, as they have partnerships and projects of massive importance underway in both lands and are putting plenty of its eggs in those baskets.

Qualcomm has agreements with both Tulip Telecom and Global Holding Corp in India for a broadband wireless access joint venture that will utilize LTE technology. They've already secured key space within the population centers of Delhi, Mumbai, Haryana and Kerala on the 20MHz TDD spectrum in the 2.3 GHz band.

China Mobile has been a chief ally for the San Diego-based wireless telecommunications research and development company; As a proponent of the establishment of a TDD-LTE standard, they've played a huge role in working with Qualcomm on the chipset solutions.

With investments in two countries with a population of 2.5 billion between them, providing technology that could influence the establishment of TDD-LTE over WiMax as their national standard could prove to be a huge payoff for Qualcomm's investment. Can you say domino effect?

Crockett & Tubbs, Batman & Robin, Starsky & Hutch: What do all three of these duos have in common? If you guessed that all of them were fictional duos on outdated TV shows, you'd certainly be right; but the answer we were looking for is: all of them were dedicated to public safety.

Well, you can add Motorola & Ericsson to that illustrious list. True, the dynamic telecommunications duo isn't donning minimalist disguises or riding around in hot rides to chase the bad guys, but they're certainly chipping in to make the world a safer place with the gift of technological innovation for first responders. Stopping just short of forming their own "Justice League," Motorola and Ericsson are partnering to make communications a snap for Public Safety agencies via an LTE-based voice and data mobile broadband system.

The City of San Francisco may be the first to benefit from the partnership, as they have a contract with Motorola –for in excess of $72 million– to create a public safety network revolving around LTE technology on the 700MHz spectrum.

Regardless of where the network starts, Motorola will supply high-end devices including video security, in-vehicle terminals, hand-held devices and those required to run a control and command center; Meanwhile, Ericsson will take up the task of making sure that information gets funneled from point A to point B by providing the backbone of the operation in the form of its access points and parts of its packet core.

Basically, all of those things Jack Bauer used in a typical episode of "24" that you only thought existed at the highest levels of the CIA for only the most special of agents, will help you rest easy at night. Man, all of those guys in the first paragraph had it rough; they had to rely on scripted hunches instead of wireless LTE safety networks. We're just glad to be on the right side of the law.

The clichéd story of the school bully isn't as far off as the elementary school playground. The time-old story of the failing and yet powerful thug taking the smart kid's homework has evolved into a slightly more civilized business arrangement. Intel, the desperate underachiever, has been trying to cover its shortcomings by purchasing technologies from other companies. In its most recent purchase, it bought out German chip-maker Infineon's WSL (Wireless Solutions Business).

This 1.4 billion dollar deal gives Intel a chance at gaining a foothold in the ever-growing wireless market, which until now has been dominated by Intel's more successful rival, ARM. The WSL Business makes both 3G and 4G chips for wireless devices including smart phones, laptops and netbooks. Intel sees this deal, set to finalize in the first quarter of next year, as an opportunity to further its wireless market interests, particularly in smart phones, whose sales rose over 50% in the last year.

But while this may seem like a beneficial move for everyone involved, WSL made up about one third of Infineon's profit last year, and its profits are only rising. It seems like Infineon is losing out on its main breadwinner to the tune of 1.4 billion, but the smart kid always loses in these urban fairytales. Occasionally, however, the bully meets an even bigger bully as may be the case in the future because Intel has invested heavily in Clearwire, a WiMAX company, which may very well soon go under to alternative LTE technology-based companies. In the meanwhile, Intel is still the big kid on the block.

And while Infineon nurses its bruises, Intel slowly morphs into what is becoming a compilation of technologies bought off other companies. Its most recent acquisitions include Texas Instrument's cable modem unit, McAfee's antivirus, Infineon's WSL, and all this within the month of August. And so the world watches as their childhood nightmares recur, if not with different characters - and everyone waits for next quarter's report card.

There are currently 101 LTE network deployments in 41 countries either in progress or already operational and another 31 operators in 15 countries testing LTE technology. That’s an astounding 71% increase in the last six months, putting the number of LTE networks out there to 132. LTE was only developed in 2008 and wasn’t available publicly until December 2009. On average, that’s over twelve networks committing to LTE each month and LTE promises to burgeon at an even steeper rate.

Many of the networks hopping onto the 4G bandwagon are choosing to pick up LTE technology over WiMAX or the latest 3G standard, HSPA+. WiMAX has over 500 networks set up worldwide, but that number is an accumulation from the past five years, averaging out to about eight new networks per month. LTE is growing at a rate 50% higher, easily making it the faster developing technology between the two configurations.

TeliaSonera, a leading telecommunications company in Scandinavia, is in the midst of deploying one of the world's largest LTE networks. They promise to blanket up to 218 Swedish cities with LTE by the end of 2011. This network is so revolutionary because it covers such a large area. Other countries may indeed have a sum total of more LTE networks, even covering more overall square miles. But these are small, isolated networks broadcasting over a condensed area, like one city. TeliaSonera is deploying a network that will cover many many square miles in one giant area, giving LTE the seemingly infinite range that we're familiar with in our 3G networks.

LTE technology is unique vis-á-vis the competition because it’s growing at the fastest rate. As of now, no other network is comparable to TeliaSonera in terms of widespread coverage over a singular area, but perhaps by the time Verizon rolls out nationally in the U.S. (set to cover most of the country by 2012) LTE will become the most available 4G technology.

Photo of what was believed to be the Samsung Craft until now (taken at CTIA show):

Photo of what this man claims is, in fact, the actual Samsung Craft that will be released by MetroPCS:

With the release of the Samsung Craft, MetroPCS will be the first cell phone carrier offering LTE technologies in the United States. Verizon will likely soon follow, as they intend to release LTE by 2011. Sprint is currently the only carrier claiming 4G technology, as they utilize WiMAX, not LTE, technology that is currently available. HTC created the first Sprint 4G phone, the EVO, but Samsung manufactured their second, the Epic.

“Implementation of this agreement represents a significant milestone in LightSquared’s plan to build the nation’s first wholesale only 4G-LTE wireless broadband network,” said Sanjiv Ahuja, chairman and chief executive officer of LightSquared. “Triggering this agreement will now give us the contiguous spectrum we need to support additional network capacity to meet the growing demand for wireless data.”

LightSquared is making a network that will allow smaller companies without their own network or that only have limited coverage to develop and market LightSquared’s service as their own, even with their own devices and plans. LightSquared is controlled by Harbinger Capital Partners, an investment banking firm. There is an option on when to implement the next phase of the plan (agreed upon in 2007) in which Inmarastat would make additional spectrum available for the lower cost of $115 million a year. The entire program is expected to take place within the next 3 years.

Being a step behind in the game isn’t usually considered a good strategy decision, but T-Mobile is standing firm. They believe that they can still be on top of the game with 3G. “‘With HSPA+ we are in a very good position. We still have plenty of capacity, so we are competitive,” said Obermann. They plan on upgrading their current version of HSPA+ in the upcoming year, which is renowned for its top 3G performance. They’re projecting top speeds of 42 mbps, still less than half of LTE’s projected 105 mbps capabilities.

T-Mobile’s competitors are already way ahead of them. Verizon is launching LTE test sites in 25 different locations by the end of this year, already projecting that their 4G map will somehow exceed their 3G span. AT&T plans on launching their 4G service sometime next year. Sprint remains the only phone carrier in the U.S. to have already tested and launched 4G technology (Wimax) successfully.

Robert Dotson, CEO of T-Mobile USA, is singing a different tune than the one Obermann picked. He’s telling the media that the company can’t get access to a spectrum to provide the 4G service. T-Mobile is in talks with cable providers to get a hold of a necessary spectrum. He mentions Clearwire as one of the companies that they are having discussions with. Sprint is the majority shareholder of Clearwire, and this could make for an interesting partnership between two major phone carriers in America.

In simple terms, this proposal would create a two-tiered Internet service, allow fee-based faster networks, and largely deregulate cellular-based Web services. For example, under the proposal companies could charge more for "additional, differentiated online services," such as YouTube video service or 3D movies in priority lanes. The proponents argue that this agreement would "provide certainty that allows both Web startups to bring their novel ideas to users, and broadband providers to invest in their network." Critics argue, among other things, that the proposal undermines the open and free Internet, that it discriminates among forms of Web traffic in contrast to the FCC’s recent net neutrality proposals that would prevent such preferential treatment of traffic. Critics also argue that this proposal encourages broadband providers to allocate more capacity to priority traffic at the expense of the more traditional Internet. FCC Commissioner Michael Copps wasn’t impressed with the agreement either, saying that “[i]t is time to move a decision forward—a decision to reassert FCC authority over broadband telecommunications . . . and to put the interests of consumers in front of the interests of giant corporations.”

So is this a good idea or not? Is it a well-crafted super toll road, or is it more like Jerry Harvey’s The Road to Abilene, going somewhere nobody wants to go? Clearly no broadband proposal will make everyone happy. Cellular broadband providers such as Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint would certainly benefit from the largely deregulatory proposal to exempt wireless services from net neutrality. The proposal would also be good for broadband providers because it allows them to recover their investment from the fee-based provision of priority broadband traffic. But would it foster the development of high speed video networks at the expense of traditional Internet service? Will it ultimately increase the cost of basic Internet service? Does it discriminate against traditional Internet service, in favor of high speed video broadband networks? Is creating a superhighway for video and other priority broadband traffic a good use of USF funds? Stated differently, should folks in slow traffic lanes help pay for those traveling in the fast lanes, or should fast lane users help pay the cost of those using the slower lanes? Time will tell, as the FCC continues to grapple with these and other issues in the wake of the recent Comcast decision that raised serious questions about the FCC’s ability to regulate broadband.

We welcome your thoughts.

ERRATA: Last week we noted in our “Broadband: A Prescription for Better Healthcare?” article, 8/4/10, goingLTE.com that comments on the FCC’s Rural Healthcare Support Notice are due August 16, 2010. As now published in the Federal Register, comments on the FCC’s proposed rural healthcare support rules are due September 8, 2010; replies are due September 23, 2010.  

© 2010 Technology Law Group. Craig Dingwall is an attorney with the Technology Law Group, a Washington, D.C.-based law firm specializing in telecommunications transactional matters, complex litigation and intellectual property issues. Craig can be reached at cdingwall@tlgdc.com, at 202-895-1707, or at our website: www.tlgdc.com. The views in this article are those of the author, and do not necessary represent those of the Technology Law Group

Before I started working for Quantum Networks, a Clear network partner, I didn’t. 4G was just tech talk to me; I didn’t need anyone to explain that dialect of geek to me. So what if it’s the speed of your internet connection? As long as I had the best and fastest, it’s all good. If you told me that these new Sprint products and Clear service was 4G and therefore the fastest around, I would have believed you. But, like I said, that was before I started working for Quantum Networks. I’m proud to say that not only do I now know what 4G is, but I also understand it well enough to explain it to you.

The first thing you need to know about 4G is that it’s the 4th generation of cellular wireless standards. It refers to speed, usually. With 3G it referred to speed and the capability to simultaneously use voice and data services. So, just in case you haven’t already figured out that your smartphone can make calls and get e-mails at the same, now you know. Your cellular service provider just made a nice commercial advertising that they are 3G which is “so much better and faster” than whatever you thought you had. It’s amazing how these companies can get away with advertising old news as something impressive. What’s really amazing is how most consumers don’t know any better.

Another thing you should probably be aware of is that the labeling of anything this year as 4G is a misnomer. There is no 4G available to the public yet. The only two technologies capable of providing 4G services are WiMAX and LTE. Differences between them include the facts that they run on different frequencies and are used by different companies. But, right now a big similarity is the fact that neither of them is even equipped to the ITU’s standardization of 4G.

The simplest way to understand the ITU’s classification of 4G is speed. Enhanced peak data rates must be 100 Mbps for mobile users and 1 Gbps for stationary reception, or in simpler words, they need to be a lot faster than what you have now, which is something more like 1 Mbps for mobile use if you’re lucky. It doesn’t take any math skills to figure out that the requirements for 4G are impressive. It’s a pity no one is offering real 4G service yet.

What they do is market faster peak rates as 4G while in actuality they are still more similar to 3G in speed. Clearwire, which offers WiMAX, is the fastest internet you can get right now with a peak mobile rate of 10 Mbps. WiMAX currently runs on IEEE 802.16e, a wireless broadband standard that didn’t qualify with the ITU’s standard of 4G. Their more updated version, IEEE 802.16m, which will be marketed as WiMAX 2, was approved by the ITU in June, but won’t be available to upgrade their current model until later this year. So, short story is that no one has the technology to provide legitimate 4G service. The good news is that it’s upgradable, so by the time that real 4G service is available, which they approximate at 6 months, you’ll have it. Until then, I hope you enjoy your advanced “4G” service.

Well, if you are one of those annoyed Clearwire customers, regardless if it’s out of faithfulness or convenience, you might as well know now that it isn’t going to get better anytime soon. As BusinessWeek reported just yesterday, you are going to keep suffering through poorly equipped billing systems. That’s a paraphrase, of course. Unfortunately, most business columns aren’t allowed to be frank with you anymore, they call it “bias”. Lucky for you, I’m biased to tell it like it is and let me tell you, if you are a Clearwire customer then you are very unfortunate.

Their software, the one that tracks customer purchases and is their key source to their customer care, is in desperate need of an update. A much needed update, as any Clearwire customer can tell you because their customer care was and will continue to be horrible. Remember those bad numbers I mentioned earlier? Well, where did their $125.9 million net loss stem from? It doesn’t look like it should be there when they are making almost as much as that in revenue. It will, though, when you take into account that they have spent $47.7 million in order to help recreate their software that does everything but properly manage their information. This software isn’t for them; it’s for you and the ability for Clearwire to provide you with the services that any business should be required to provide, like timely and accurate billing services and customer care. Amdocs, their software manufacturer, whose duty is to provide them with an accurate billing system, is a little bit behind schedule. A few months behind schedule, actually. And by the time they get around to pleasing their customers, LTE technology just might be consumer-ready and will have been launched. Oops, guess they misjudged that one.