Cable Technology Feature Article
February 17, 2010
China Telecom, KDDI and Verizon Wireless Join GSMA as Part of their LTE Strategy
By Rajani Baburajan, TMCnet Contributor
China Telecom, KDDI and Verizon Wireless, three of the world’s leading Code Division Multiple Access or “CDMA” operators, have gained membership in GSMA following their commitment to deploy commercial services based on Long Term Evolution or “LTE (News - Alert).”
The three operators have announced plans to begin the commercial deployments of LTE as early as 2010.
According to the GSMA (News - Alert), the rapid rise in demand for mobile broadband devices, applications and services is driving both GSM and CDMA operators to evolve their network infrastructures and embrace new, cutting-edge technologies like LTE.
Qualcomm (News - Alert) has joined the GSMA as an associate member and will work with the operators to aid the smooth integration of LTE with existing Mobile Broadband technologies.
LTE is able to leverage the existing 3G mobile broadband ecosystem, which includes hundreds of successful operators, vendors and developers already achieving significant economies of scale, says Andrew Gilbert, executive vice president and president of Qualcomm Internet Services and Qualcomm Europe.
“These partnerships - and the collaborations they enable - greatly amplify LTE's benefits and clear the path for future Mobile Broadband growth,” Gilbert said.
The growing demand for broader bandwidth and richer multimedia applications also drove KDDI to move towards LTE, said Tadashi Onodera, president and chairman, KDDI. “We look forward to deploying LTE by the end of 2012 and the benefits a global ecosystem for Mobile Broadband will provide.”
In the beginning of 2009 TMCnet reported that Verizon (News - Alert) had announced its plans to deploy LTE in 20 to 30 markets in 2010. Since then, LTE has quickly become the global technology choice for 4G.
“We're proud of that global leadership, and believe our work will advance by aligning with the GSMA's mission and members to advance LTE throughout the globe,” said Dick Lynch (News - Alert), executive vice president and chief technology officer of Verizon.
The three operators have announced plans to begin the commercial deployments of LTE as early as 2010.
According to the GSMA (News - Alert), the rapid rise in demand for mobile broadband devices, applications and services is driving both GSM and CDMA operators to evolve their network infrastructures and embrace new, cutting-edge technologies like LTE.
Qualcomm (News - Alert) has joined the GSMA as an associate member and will work with the operators to aid the smooth integration of LTE with existing Mobile Broadband technologies.
LTE is able to leverage the existing 3G mobile broadband ecosystem, which includes hundreds of successful operators, vendors and developers already achieving significant economies of scale, says Andrew Gilbert, executive vice president and president of Qualcomm Internet Services and Qualcomm Europe.
“These partnerships - and the collaborations they enable - greatly amplify LTE's benefits and clear the path for future Mobile Broadband growth,” Gilbert said.
The growing demand for broader bandwidth and richer multimedia applications also drove KDDI to move towards LTE, said Tadashi Onodera, president and chairman, KDDI. “We look forward to deploying LTE by the end of 2012 and the benefits a global ecosystem for Mobile Broadband will provide.”
In the beginning of 2009 TMCnet reported that Verizon (News - Alert) had announced its plans to deploy LTE in 20 to 30 markets in 2010. Since then, LTE has quickly become the global technology choice for 4G.
“We're proud of that global leadership, and believe our work will advance by aligning with the GSMA's mission and members to advance LTE throughout the globe,” said Dick Lynch (News - Alert), executive vice president and chief technology officer of Verizon.
More than 74 mobile operators from around the world have committed to plans, trials or deployments for LTE, with many more commitments expected to be announced over the coming year.
Rajani Baburajan is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Rajani's articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi
