According to the company, the joint engineering trials with Vodafone for Long Term Evolution (LTE) network will begin in 2008. Vodafone had announced in September 2007 that it could offer LTE commercially in 2010. LTE is an upgrade to a GSM implementation known as High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), which can provide speeds of up to 10Mbps and global roaming. Recently, Verizon announced the compatibility of its 4G network with any device meeting its technology requirements.
Verizon Wireless currently operates on CDMA and EV-DO networks as one of the largest customers of Qualcomm in the US. It chose LTE over two other proposed 4G network standards, WiMax, backed by Intel and Ultra Mobile broadband offered by Qualcomm. Earlier this month, Sprint Nextel signed an agreement with Clearwire Communications to build a US national network.
Richard Lynch, executive vice president and chief technology officer at Verizon Communications said: While this next generation technology will be exciting to develop and deploy, it comes at a time when we are adding record numbers of customers to our existing CDMA2000 1x and EV-DO networks. We relish the challenge of preparing for the time when our customers start demanding such 4G capabilities, while continuing the expansion and operation of our existing technologies for many years to come.
According to the Financial Times, this move by Verizon is expected to affect Qualcomm. However, according to Reuters, Bill Davidson, marketing and investor relations executive at Qualcomm said that the company is best positioned to provide Verizon with multi-access radio technology as it builds its LTE network. Qualcomm acquired Flarion Technologies for $805m whose LTE patents could benefit the company in a changed scenario.
Source: ComputerWire daily updates
