Greg Galitzine : Greg Galitzine's VoIP Authority Blog
Greg Galitzine

4G

TMC, Ex-VON Team Join Up for 4G Event, Web Site

October 30, 2008

TMC and Crossfire Media announced they were working together to produce 4G Wireless Evolution, comprising a Web site, an event, and other media to address a growing need for information regarding the next generation of wireless.   4G is the fourth generation of wireless communications, which is expected to be implemented globally in the next 2-5 years, and which will offer significantly faster speeds and broader applications than current wireless networks can allow. The result will be an influx of new technologies and a significant increase in the number of customers using wireless communications for a wide variety of uses.   The 4G Wireless Evolution Conference is the first event dedicated to 4G technologies, and will take place February 2-4, 2009 at the Miami Beach Convention Center.   Industry watchers will note that this collaboration brings together some familiar faces, working together for the first time. In fact, over the past several weeks, the TMC team of Dave Rodriguez, Michael Genaro and I have been meeting with our counterparts at Crossfire Media: Scott Kargman, Joann Varello and Carl Ford to hash out the details of the partnership and to build the conference program and the Web sites. It's amazing to see all that hard work come to fruition today with the official launch.   Of course, now the work truly begins to make 4G Wireless Evolution the industry's #1 resource for all things 4G.

4G Wireless: My Interview(s) With Carl Ford

November 3, 2008

They say that a fulfilling life includes learning something new every day.   Well, today I learned that being interviewed by Carl Ford is its own reward. And if you asked me six months ago if I would be interviewing Carl Ford or if Carl Ford would be interviewing me... (on video no less!) I would have had my doubts.   But it's true, and Carl was here at TMC last week, and we chatted it up on video here and here.   The conversation centered around the announcement last week of a collaboration between Carl and his team at Crossfire Media and our very own TMC. The collaboration, as readers of my blog no doubt well know by now, is the launch of a new brand -- including a Web portal and an event -- in the exciting 4G wireless space.

DragonWave Recognized for Wireless Backhaul Success

November 17, 2008

In case you haven't been paying attention, wireless backhaul is a hot space.   Tom Keating wrote about it here, among other places.   Rich Tehrani has been covering the space too, as evidenced by this blog entry.   And Richard Grigonis has covered the space -- in depth -- with a series of articles that can be found here, here, here, and here.   Today comes word that DragonWave Inc. a global supplier of high capacity, wireless native Ethernet backhaul solutions has come in at number 133 on Deloitte's 2008 Technology Fast 500,   According to the release, "rankings are based on percentage of fiscal year revenue growth over five years, from 2003-2007. DragonWave's growth rate over that period was 1400%."   1,400%!   As Adam Sandler would say... "not too shabby"...   According to Peter Allen, DragonWave's president and CEO:   "Our ability to develop products that meet our customer needs in a timely fashion has allowed us to penetrate new markets and expand our global footprint. Our microwave products are enabling telecommunications service providers to rapidly roll out new services in a cost-effective way.

14 Join Open Handset Alliance, Android Gains Momentum

December 10, 2008

So yesterday, the Open Handset Alliance announced that 14 additional companies were joining the Android alliance, demonstrating "their support for Android as an open mobile platform and their commitment to its commercial success."   The newest member companies are: ·         AKM Semiconductor Inc., ·         ARM ·         ASUSTek Computer Inc. ·         Atheros Communications ·         Borqs ·         Ericsson ·         Garmin International Inc. ·         Huawei Technologies ·         Omron Software Co. Ltd. ·         Softbank Mobile Corporation ·         Sony Ericsson ·         Teleca AB ·         Toshiba Corporation and ·         Vodafone   Adam Leach, principal analyst at Ovum believes the move will lead to a greater number of devices based on the Android operating system over the next year.   Said Leach, "This announcement signals greater confidence in the OHA and the Android platform within the mobile industry. The extended membership will lead to a greater number of Android devices in the market next year and could lead to much-needed consolidation in the mobile Linux space."   "Google and its OHA partners have the opportunity to build critical a mass of supporting handsets during 2009," Leach added. "If [Google] achieves this momentum in the handset market in 2009, then it has the potential to challenge Nokia and the Symbian Foundation for dominance in the handset software market."

Alcatel-Lucent to Trim Workforce, Tighten R&D Focus

December 12, 2008

Alcatel-Lucent CEO Ben Verwaayen spoke to media and analysts at a press conference today, announcing the company's strategic plan for 2009 and beyond. To read a full description of the company's plans, please read this article. The company will undergo a strategic reduction in workforce, eliminating approximately 1,000 management positions and lowering the number of contractor headcount by approximately 5,000. Plans call for reducing the company's break-even point by 1 Billion Euros a year in 2009 and 2010. Company officials also spoke of a renewed focus on research and development activities, targeting four key segments (Optical, IP, broadband and Applications enablement).

Praise for LTE, WiMAX' Bad Week

January 9, 2009

  Market researcher ABI Research has released a new study that points to continued enthusiasm for LTE deployment.   Coming on the heels of a turbulent week for WiMAX (see: Intel's $950 million investment write-down and Nokia ceasing production of its only WiMAX device) it's a positive sign indeed for this 4G technology.   Now before we get carried away with the premature burial of WiMAX, it's important to note that Clearwire did light up a new city this week (Portland, OR) and has plans to start service in up to nine other cities in 2009. Let's wait before we get out the shovels.   Still ABI's report Long Term Evolution (LTE) draws attention to the fact that Verizon, (possibly sensing some blood in the water?) has reportedly moved up their LTE deployment plans by a year, from 2010 to 2009.   ABI notes that globally, 18 operators have announced LTE rollout plans.   Writing in the recent report, ABI Research senior analyst Nadine Manjaro said,   ABI Research believes that NTT will also deploy LTE in Japan in 2009. We forecast that by 2013 operators will spend over $8.6 billion on LTE base station infrastructure alone. For operators that have already deployed 3G networks, LTE will be a key CAPEX driver over the next five years.   Manjaro also notes that LTE application development could be a major driver of investment as operators explore which services to deploy.   As an example, Manjaro looks to Sprint and Verizon and their plans to provide third-party access to their GPS data.   The resulting new applications will tie mobility and presence aspects together to create more compelling services than in the past.

Mobile Backhaul Certification

January 21, 2009

A new certification program, designed to act as a benchmark for mobile operators, backhaul providers and end users was launched by the IP/MPLS Forum today.

 

The Mobile Backhaul Certification program will initially focus on certifying standards-compliant implementations of Circuit Emulation services over MPLS as defined in the IP/MPLS Forum's MPLS Mobile Backhaul Initiative (MMBI), which defines how MPLS can be used to backhaul TDM traffic for mobile operators.

 

The certification program will lay out a set of guidelines and test procedures and will be administered by Iometrix, the Forum's certified lab partner.

 

According to Andrew G. Malis, Chairman and President of the IP/MPLS Forum:

 

The Mobile Backhaul Certification Program represents a needed step in the evolution of MPLS solutions which have already proven in lab trials to be ready to meet the needs of operators around the world.

 

The first group of certified vendors will be announced at the MPLS Ethernet World Congress in Paris this February.

Femtocells in the News

January 28, 2009

The femtocell is indicative of much in the technology world these days.   Analysts are generally in agreement that the market opportunity is large, and yet fits and starts - typical of early days in any sector -- abound. Verizon's newly released Network Extender has met with mixed results. T-Mobile's HotSpot@Home service was well received, but ran into a bit of a patent issue late last year. And Ars Technica is reporting today that AT&T slipped up and released details of their offering into the space:   The new offering will be called 3G MicroCell, supports voice and 3G data, and allows 4 simultaneous calls or data sessions.   The product details reported on a new AT&T page, since pulled, were discovered by Engadget and SlipperyBrick.   Adding to the femtocell conversation, IntelliNet Technologies today announced the development of a new integrated femtocell gateway, which combines a femtocell access point controller with a carrier grade security gateway in an industry standard AdvancedTCA platform.   The idea behind this offering is to give service providers and wireless operators the ability to manage thousands of femtocells at once.   Anjan Ghosal, president and CEO of IntelliNet Technologies said:   Cellular phone service is now in line with traditional wireline as a subscriber's primary mode of communication.

The Bell Has NOT Rung on WiMAX

January 30, 2009

So there's been quite a bit of buzz this past few weeks about the potential demise of WiMAX.   First Nokia stopped production of their WiMAX device, then there was some news about Intel writing off their entire investment in the venture with Clearwire... It was covered all over TMCnet, but Rich summed it up nicely in his post: The Trillion Dollar Question - Is WiMAX Dying?   Now, LTE has its proponents and WiMAX has its detractors, but Carl Ford, writing on the 4GWE blog points out the following:   While many want me to point to LTE as the clear winner, I don't think this would be a sign of WiMAX's apocalypse. I instead see this as a prudent move on Nortel's part to emphasize the pieces of the solutions they own. Partnerships in Telecom are pretty easily forced by the carriers, and the real story is that no carrier is forcing Nortel to support WiMAX.   This maybe proof that WiMAX is in trouble, but it's more likely proof that the legacy Nortel customers are not looking for Nortel to go into new areas with them.   So I asked Scenna Tabesh, director of marketing communications for the WiMAX Forum, for some insight into the Nortel situation as well as the future co-existence of the two 4G approaches, LTE and WiMAX.

In-Stat: WiMAX Market Strong, Yet Some Vendors Shrink from Opportunity

February 10, 2009

According to industry researcher In-Stat, "Broadband communications have become a crucial communications tool, so demand for mobile WiMAX technology remains strong."   But some vendors, especially those slow to migrate to the latest standards, might not be willing to wait around for that demand to translate into tangible sales.   "While the market for 802.16e will continue to grow, it does not mean happy days are here for every vendor," says Daryl Schoolar, In-Stat analyst. "In-Stat expects to see more infrastructure vendors pull back or leave the WiMAX market entirely. This is especially true for vendors that have been slow moving from 802.16d to the 802.16e standard."   According to the In-Stat research: ·         WiMAX base station revenues grew by 137.9% in 2008. ·         Global WiMAX subscriptions will be over 85 million by the end of 2013. ·         Deployments of 802.16e are contributing to the decline of sales in the fixed WiMAX standard, 802.16d.   Seems to me that this market opportunity is real and continues to evolve. With some vendors pulling out before the market matures, it appears that there will be more to go around for the remaining players that do hang in there.
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