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FCC Gives Thumbs-Up To First LTE Phone
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.
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.
LTE means a new infrastructure. I would expect a lot of carriers that don't have yet a 3G network to just skip 3G and do LTE.
Interestingly, I'm typing this out on an uncapped 4G WiMAX connection in Nagasaki, Japan. I download hundreds of gigabytes a month while paying $50/month. It's quite fun actually. I get approximately 5/.5 mbps international and 110 ms ping.
Actually China Telecom is pouring billions of yuan into expanding their 3G network across as much as China as possible. 4G equipment is currently much more expensive than 3G. Not to mention LTE's ecosystem must still develop before smaller carriers will make the jump.
Another problem is that providing backhaul for 4G can be difficult. For example over 90% of AT&T's towers are still currently served by T1s. I foresee several smaller carriers remaining on 3G for at least a few more years.
as long as I control it."
LTE or no LTE doesn't matter as long as the data plans in US are as horrible as they are now. LTE can be useful if the operator somehow enables tethering, secondary data line, or other ways to use the fast data connection. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you have to pay close to $50/month to get LTE/3G data connection with restricted data usage via tethering, or $10-30/month if you want to use data just on your mobile phone, or both if you want LTE/3G usb data stick + data on your mobile.
This obscene pricing for data is holding back any real breakthrough in wireless data market in US. When comparing that to current prices in Finland the difference is huge. Currently operators are offering up to 14.4mbit/sec 3.5G (HSPA) data line for 14€/month. The plan includes data for your mobile phone + USB data stick for your computer with secondary SIM without data usage restrictions. Both data connections will work simultaneously and use the same phone number, secondary SIM doesn't receive text messages otherwise it's identical to primary SIM.
The result of such pricing scheme in Finland is that many families have several high speed internet connections at their disposal. Surprisingly telcos are quite profitable and have been able to offset the declining revenue in fixed line business with new wireless services.
That statement would of been far more civil if you replaced black or white with a blank character.
And pretending that racist and or bigot did not type that above statement, Metro PCS is a much more friendly company than any of the major carriers, and is probably a superior product if you have no need to travel.
I wonder how many taxpayer-funded subsidies were given to the telecom companies to develop LTE, just so we can get soaked again on our monthly bill to pay the patent royalties on technology we already paid once to develop.
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?
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).
(1) No doubt this is why Verizon ATT and others want to kill-off TV channels 25 through 51 --- so they can expand that 10 megahertz to 170 megahertz worth of cellphone spectrum.
(2) $50 a month sounds like a ripoff, especially considering I'm only paying $15 here in the US. Of course my connection is wired not wireless, but I'm okay with that. It's not a limitation for me.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
I'd rather have an long term infrastructure with intelligent design.
There's only so much a user would want to do with a phone, even with the extra bandwidth. You can stream a movie perhaps but the inevitable trend towards usage caps all but eliminates that fantasy. What's more interesting here is the infrastructure. More bandwidth means more devices can be supported, such as laptops as TFA mentions. Bona fide ISPs can be built on LTE, so the possible availability of alternate internet services is something to look forward to.
Wake me up when they approve an FTL phone!
No, ablution of patents is best. Many proponents of patents have stated how important patents are to innovation, but where are the economics studies supporting this? While a number of economics studies have concluded there are negative impacts of patents, where are those that claim there are positive impacts? As noted in Ars technica's article Study: free markets superior to patent monopolies the debate has made it's way to Science magazine. To cite one example, in The Patent Paradox Revisited: An Empirical Study of Patenting in the U.S. Semiconductor Industry, 1979-1995, in "Rand Journal of Economics, Vol. 32, 2001", based on studies by Yale and Carnegie Mellon "R&D managers in semiconductors consistently reported that patents were among the least effective mechanisms for appropriating returns to R&D investments".
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
Really 5/.5 mbps for $15? Which ISP is that? I would switch in a heartbeat if it were available in my city!
I worked for a local metroPCS retailer in the Philadelphia market about a year ago. I know the landscape has changed drastically(they got their first 2 "smartphones" right before i quit) in such a short time, but i really dont see how they could be a player in the 4G market at all. The infrastructure here could barely support the EDGE service. Voice quality was hit and miss most of the time, let alone trying to use any sort of data. I do have to give it up to them for having cheap "all you can eat" plans though. You get what you pay for though
I would MOVE to that city!
Balderdash!
>>>Really 5/.5 mbps for $15?
I assume that's down/up speed. That level costs $35. My current $15 service only gives 1 Mbit/s (and I'm okay with that). I've never paid more than $19 for internet and see no reason to start now.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
Hmm... seems that Japan is not that advanced after all. Most of Finland has HSPA 3G network with 14.4mbps theoretical maximum for 14€/month uncapped for your phone with secondary data SIM and extra included USB data stick. Realistic rate is 6mbps/1mbps and 100+ms ping. I'm typing this using exactly that HSPA 3G connection, closest shop is 10 miles away and nearest city is 20 miles away. No wired or cable services available at all, only electricity line is coming to the edge of the property.
Here are speedtests for Helsinki (200 miles away in fact), London and San Diego... taken at 6pm, which is heavy usage time here.
http://www.speedtest.net/result/898400861.png
http://www.speedtest.net/result/898402115.png
http://www.speedtest.net/result/898409197.png
Read up on the wholesale LTE network LightSquared is contracting Nokia Siemens to build ($7 Billion contract). This is the main reason Nokia Siemens is in the process of buying the Motorola infrastructure division.
I'm surprised this hasn't been on Slashdot already.
HSPA+ that T-Mobile USA has launched 21 megabits/sec today. I have seen 10meg peaks on it myself