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FCC Gives Thumbs-Up To First LTE Phone

Posted by Soulskill on from the wait-how-many-g-is-this-one dept.

eagledck tips news that the FCC has "finally approved the first 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) phone for sale in the US." The Samsung device will use MetroPCS as a carrier, but tech specs, software details and a launch timetable are still uncertain. Meanwhile, Verizon is ramping up testing of their own LTE infrastructure, hoping to launch in 25 to 30 markets by the end of the year. An anonymous reader notes that LTE rollouts could be hampered by a confused and conflicted patent situation. "It is impossible to know where all the patents are but we have identified more than 60 companies holding essential patents. It is a very large landscape and fragmented. If there was one major patent pool and a handful of individual companies to deal with, that would be possible. But signing license deals with 40 plus [entities] is not. A unified patent pool is best," said a representative for one of three patent pool organizations trying to accomplish that.

4 of 42 comments (clear)

  1. What is LTE? by Matt+Perry · · Score: 1, Interesting

    What is an "LTE" phone? Google is not helping me find an answer.

    Does it come with the bigger GBs?

    --
    Slashdot: Failed Car Analogies. Amateur Lawyering. Anecdote Battles.
    1. Re:What is LTE? by hitmark · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Another thing is that LTE, like wimax, uses TCP/IP rather then some custom package protocol (that then again carries TCP/IP if one use the mobile network to access the internet). This turns any phone into a voip device from day one. It also means that rather then using UMTS or EVDO to carry TCP/IP, one can use TCP/IP to carry UMTS or EVDO. This means that LTE is a potential upgrade path for either of the major global 3G networks (and why your seeing companies like verizon going LTE, even tho its a GSM related standard).

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      comment first, facts later. http://chem.tufts.edu/AnswersInScience/RelativityofWrong.htm
  2. Long-Term Evolution? by Xamindar · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Long-Term Evolution, so does that mean all carriers and phones are going to be using the same frequencies so that I can use my phone with whatever carrier I want?

  3. Re:4G Phone for white people? by stephanruby · · Score: 1, Interesting

    MetroPCS is the perfect company to start with, it doesn't have national coverage and it's located in only a few of the highly dense metropolitan areas (and surrounding vacation spots). 4G will probably much easier to roll out if they don't try to roll it out all at once nationwide.

    And no, MetroPCS is not just for low-income people that can't get credit. MetroPCS is one of the very few companies that doesn't try to rip off its customers (whether be it overages, roaming, or international calls). I highly recommend them if they're in your area. If anything, MetroPCS is in it for the long-haul, think of them like Southwest. Southwest does attract some of the most budget-conscious customers, and also Southwest is by no means perfect, but it still is one of the better airlines out there (that's assuming they cover your area and where you actually need to go).