Just announced - Boston and Seattle are the first markets to go LTE. Congratulations to Verizon.
Verizon has announced that it will be launching its LTE (long term evolution) network in Boston and Seattle later this year. We got a fight and it ain’t with AT&T. The entire wireless telecom industry should be preparing for an industry impacting fight between LTE and WiMAX.
To say this is a fight between AT&T and Verizon is wrong. Keep in mind the USA market is made up of other carriers like T-Mobile and Sprint Nextel. Mainstream media and stock brokers cannot get you interested in a stock when you are talking technology but they can get you buying stock when you can point to two carriers and say “one is going to lose; let me recommend a stock”. AT&T versus Verizon – ain’t the fight.
The real fight is between LTE and WiMAX. The outcome of the fight that is going to be waged between Sprint Nextel and Verizon Wireless is going to have a global impact on the direction of technology.
Also note that WiMAX is not just supporting wireless in the cellular world. WiMAX is being used by the cable companies. The cable companies are seeking to enter the wireless world by becoming MVNOs (mobile virtual network operators). As MVNOs, cable companies will be able to support their customers’ media, real time communications, and Internet access needs. Verizon Corporation’s biggest worry is a new competitor called the cable company.
If Sprint Nextel, Clearwire, Comcast, Time Warner, and Bright House pull it off and successfully run their WiMAX networks, together they will raise the competitive bar in the entire wireless industry and landline industry. Sprint launches in Boston in 2010.
We are looking at the start of an exciting competitive technology and business war. If WiMAX succeeds it will enable the cable companies to compete in the wireless and the landline worlds. LTE will succeed because it is after all an evolution of UMTS (an existing commercial wireless technology). The real question is whether or not WiMAX will be able to enable a whole group of new wireless competitors who are also fierce landline competitors.