Are Device Manufacturers Ready for LTE?

At CES this year, Verizon Wireless launched a series of devices, including four Smartphones: the LG Revolution, the HTC Thunderbolt, the Motorola Droid Bionic and the Samsung SCH-I520. A few other devices, a couple of hotspots - job done.

Speaking to many device manufacturers over the years, usually they wait at least six months after a network has launched before they even start to think about developing devices on any kind of scale. A key difference between 3G and LTE deployments is the time between the first tests and network launch is much smaller, so there is much less time for testing the network, QoS and devices. Operators will still be finding protocol and interoperability issues and will continue lab testing of devices and services because everything is new. So if network maturity has always been key, then why rush to get so many devices out into the market so early?

There are a few possible reasons. Samsung LG and HTC have been the most agressive device manufacturers for LTE and are keen to gain a piece of the smartphone market in which Apple so far has dominated. Samsung has already launched the first LTE dual-SIM smartphone with MetroPCS, so are keen to develop devices and be seen as leaders in the industry.

The more likely reason is that Verizon Wireless is keen to close the gap on AT&T in the US smartphone market, where AT&T has built a sizable lead largely due to the iPhone. In fact in 3Q10 AT&T had more than twice as many smartphone subscriptions as Verizon, with 49 million compared to 20 million at Verizon, according to Informa Telecoms & Media data.

It is an interesting strategy from VZW, as they have always touted the fact that the quality of thier network is far superior to that of AT&T, although this is unlikely to be the case early on with thier LTE network. One would have expected the likes of VZW to take their time to get the network to a good standard before they launching lots of devices. Instead they seem to have taken a leaf out of AT&T's book. Perhaps they have realised that customers don't care about the network or which technology an operator uses - its all about the devices.

Will Huawei Make Any Headway in the US LTE Market?

It is clear that Huawei and Ericsson have been stumping the most contracts for LTE. Huawei recently teamed up with Vodafone Germany to test LTE in the digital dividend band and boasts contracts with TeliaSonera and Telenor. Rival to vofafone Germany, E-Plus also has a pilot, working with Ericsson, in the same digital dividend band.

Huawei's next target seems to be a tier 1 operator in te USA, which unlike Ericsson (with Verizon Wireless), Huawei doesn't have. It has already signed a deal with the cable company Cox Communications for a 3G network, but its the LTE contacts Huawei is after. Huawei recently opened an LTE lab in Plano, Texas and they are hoping to be in the running to become a supplier to AT&T for its LTE network although that deal is unlikely to materialize for at least another year.

Huawei's price competitieveness is putting pressure on vendors such as NSN and Alcatel-Lucent. Its seems as if its only a matter of time that before Huawei makes an impact on the US market.

LTE Americas Brochure Available to Download!

The LTE Americas conference is part of Informa's World Series of LTE events and will be taking place on the 4th and 5th Of November in Dallas. The brochure for this exciting event is now available to download at www.lteconference.com/americas.

The brochure includes information on the speakers, which include Anthony Melone, CTO of Verizon Wireless and Kris Rinne, VP Architecture & Planning at AT&T.

There are a limited number of free passes for carriers in the Americas region. To claim your free pass, please email sabah.hussain@informa.com

CTO of Verizon Wireless Speaking at LTE Americas

Anthony Melone, CTO of Verizon Wireless will kick start Informa’s 2nd Annual LTE Americas conference on the 4th and 5th of November at the Westin City Center, in Dallas. Verizon has been leading the operator community and will be the first to deploy LTE, the 4G technology of choice for the mobile telecommunications industry.

Verizon Wireless appears to be keeping their cards very close to their chest, but that just makes the industry want to hear what they have to say even more. The topic is being kept under wraps for now; people will have to come to the conference to find out what the Verizon Wireless message to the industry is.

The LTE Americas conference will also be featuring key speakers such as Kris Rinne, VP Architecture & Planning from AT&T, Egil Gronstad, VP Technology Planning from Cricket Communications and Solyman Ashrafi, Staff VP for LTE from MetroPCS as well as notable names from other key carriers, vendors, associations and device manufacturers in the region. This conference is about bring the ecosystem together and to discuss the way forward for LTE. The fact that this conference is specifically dedicated to LTE is what makes it unique and why people see our events as the place to learn, network and do business across the world.

The LTE Americas conference is part of Informa’s LTE World Series of conferences. Informa has been working exclusively in partnership with the 3GPP who will also have a keynote speaker Asok Chatterjee as well as Stephen Hayes participating in the conference.

For more information visit www.lteconference.com/americas. The brochure will be available early next week!