Sprint Nextel is widely expected to make encouraging announcements over its 4G plans this summer
While most major US mobile phone carriers struggle to implement 3G wireless networks, Sprint has already made statements with regard to its next generation infrastructure. Fourth generation or
4G is the successor to 3G wireless access technology. 4G will be based primarily
on packet switching unlike 3G which is a mixture of circuit switched and packet
switched networks. Packet switching allows for low latency data transmissions, but when implemented correctly can still burst to very high transmission rates. Japanese company
NTT
DoCoMo has already achieved 1Gbps real-time packet transmission downlink while moving in a field experiment on 4G radio access last year. NTT
DoCoMo plans on commercializing its 4G services in Japan
by 2010.
“Sprint Nextel plans to make its long-awaited decision on a
4G (fourth-generation) mobile communications technology by the end of August
and start deploying the system in 2008”, said Sprint Chief Operating Officer Len
Lauer recently. These speculations
are also being fueled by the upcoming spectrum auction that Sprint Nextel is expected to use to leverage
its position at the forefront of this emerging technology. The company holds
licenses for radio spectrum in the 2.5GHz band that covers about 85 percent of the US
population.
Analysts claim Sprint's 2.5GHz network will likely cost about $4B USD to roll out
nationwide, but with carriers like Verizon and Cingular using 3G services as ISP replacements, the cost may be easily justifiable. Sprint Nextel has actively tested and publicly
explored both WiMax and Flash-OFDM as technologies to supplement its current 3G
network with a higher speed mobile data service.
"Young lady, in this house we obey the laws of thermodynamics!" -- Homer Simpson
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