Moto makes hay while WiMAX shines
02-04-2010
Even so, it has engineered its equipment to support both WiMax and LTE
WiMax is growing and Motorola is one of its primary beneficiaries, Tom Gruba, senior director, Motorola wi4 Marketing, told ConnectedPlanetOnline. Motorola shipped 5000 WiMax access points (base stations) over the last two quarters, bringing its total units shipments to 15,000. Motorola now has 40 contracts globally. Moto recently announced it had shipped 2 million WiMax home gateways and laptop dongles, doubling its shipments in just five months.
However, Motorola is prepared for the possibility that some of its WiMax customers may eventually transition to LTE. Clearwire, for instance, hasn't ruled out the possibility it might deploy TD-LTE over its 2.5 GHz spectrum in the future if the technology proves to be superior to WiMax. Rather than fight such decisions, Motorola is adapting, Gruba said, preparing its WiMax infrastructure to support LTE in the future.
Just as the other vendors tout their base stations' capabilities to support both 3G technologies and LTE, Motorola has engineered its equipment to support both WiMax and LTE, Gruba said. Motorola's radio heads are already interchangeable between LTE and WiMax networks, and new software-defined radio capabilities will allow operators to use many of the same base station capabilities for either technology, Gruba added.
Moto is also hoping to leverage its expertise in time-division duplexing (TDD) 4G technologies, garnered from dozens of TDD WiMax deployments, to carve a niche for itself in the time-division-LTE (TD-LTE) market. Motorola has already deployed an indoor TD-LTE network for China Mobile to showcase the new technology. While initially targeted at China, TD-LTE could become a significant technology globally, as operators with unpaired licenses decide what do with their spectrum.
Inputs from ConnectedPlanetOnline
WiMax is growing and Motorola is one of its primary beneficiaries, Tom Gruba, senior director, Motorola wi4 Marketing, told ConnectedPlanetOnline. Motorola shipped 5000 WiMax access points (base stations) over the last two quarters, bringing its total units shipments to 15,000. Motorola now has 40 contracts globally. Moto recently announced it had shipped 2 million WiMax home gateways and laptop dongles, doubling its shipments in just five months.
However, Motorola is prepared for the possibility that some of its WiMax customers may eventually transition to LTE. Clearwire, for instance, hasn't ruled out the possibility it might deploy TD-LTE over its 2.5 GHz spectrum in the future if the technology proves to be superior to WiMax. Rather than fight such decisions, Motorola is adapting, Gruba said, preparing its WiMax infrastructure to support LTE in the future.
Just as the other vendors tout their base stations' capabilities to support both 3G technologies and LTE, Motorola has engineered its equipment to support both WiMax and LTE, Gruba said. Motorola's radio heads are already interchangeable between LTE and WiMax networks, and new software-defined radio capabilities will allow operators to use many of the same base station capabilities for either technology, Gruba added.
Moto is also hoping to leverage its expertise in time-division duplexing (TDD) 4G technologies, garnered from dozens of TDD WiMax deployments, to carve a niche for itself in the time-division-LTE (TD-LTE) market. Motorola has already deployed an indoor TD-LTE network for China Mobile to showcase the new technology. While initially targeted at China, TD-LTE could become a significant technology globally, as operators with unpaired licenses decide what do with their spectrum.
Inputs from ConnectedPlanetOnline
