Tag: Networks

Will WiMax or LTE win out?

wimax-vs-lte.jpg

EDGE, 3G and HSDPA are all very well, but what will the next jump in technology be for wireless internet? There are two competing technologies – WiMax and LTE. Which one is likely to win the race in the UK?

WiMax is based on Wi-Fi, and doesn’t require a SIM card for usage. Its benefits are that it’s an open standard – anyone can create the gear required to use the technology without paying license fees. That means the tech can be up to half as expensive as the equivalent LTE tech.

LTE, on the other hand, is based on the existing 3G network technology. In fact, LTE stands for “The Long Term Evolution of 3GPP”. Its advantages are that it’s well-understood by carriers, and when a device is out of range of an LTE signal, it can drop back to a 3G or 2G service. LTE’s currently a little faster, too, but that difference should be addressed by the ratification of a new WiMax standard later this year.

In the last year or so, Motorola’s been trialling an LTE service, but there are already commercial WiMax deployments out there. As a result, WiMax has an early lead. But given how entrenched many operators are in their love of 3GPP networks, we’ll soon be seeing more of that. In fact, Motorola’s already testing an LTE network.

What’s eventually likely to happen, however, is that laptops and netbooks will rely on WiMax (thanks to lower prices and enhanced compatibility) and LTE will take hold on mobile devices, just because it’s easier for operators to continue working how they do now.

So I reckon it’ll be a draw, and both technologies will have their own places in the next 5-10 years. Bit of a cop-out, perhaps, but there you go. What’s your opinion? Drop us a tweet at @techdigest letting us know exactly how wrong we are.

Duncan Geere Broadband, Wi-Fi

INQ1 heading to more networks

inq1-facebook-phone.jpg

The INQ1, which I loved just before Christmas, looks like it’s getting a release on other networks, as opposed to Three, which currently has it exclusively. INQ is in talks with “at least two major operators” about launching the ‘Facebook phone’ to a wider public.

INQ head honcho Frank Meehan said:

“Talks with operators are going very well, and we definitely expect it to be available on other networks this year. We’re privately owned and well funded though, so we’re not in too much of a rush. The important thing is to get the right business”.

Promisingly, there’s also more INQ phones planned, including one with a QWERTY keyboard, and one with a touchscreen. They’ll likely show up in the latter half of 2009.

(via Trusted Reviews)

Related posts: INQ1 Facebook phone available from 3 as of today | SHINY VIDEO REVIEW: INQ1 Facebook phone from 3

Duncan Geere Mobile phones

Phone problems on New Year's night? Cut the networks some slack…

o2-logo.jpg

O2 announced today that a record number – 166,000,000 – of text messages were sent over its network during the 24-hour period ending at 7.30am on New Year’s Day. That’s 1,900 a second, but obviously in the hour or so around the New Year, that will have been considerably higher.

Extrapolating out a bit, given three and a half other major phone networks, that means that something like half a billion messages were sent in the UK in a 24-hour period. I’m an O2 customer, and had a perfectly fine phone conversation just after midnight with no connection problems whatsoever. If you’ve got a system that can cope with that, and survive unscathed, then I salute you.

O2 Media Centre (via @O2UKOfficial)

Related posts: Textecution – an extremely clever mobile app that stops you texting while you’re driving | Textually challenged start petition to disable iPhone auto-correction feature

Duncan Geere Mobile phones

3 blasts other mobile networks: "The industry has completely and utterly lost touch"

3-kevin-russell.jpg

At a regulatory round table event this morning, 3 CEO, Kevin Russell, fumed at other UK mobile carriers, accusing them of “scaring consumers senseless” over roaming charges, and calling the current UK regulatory environment “farcical”, “a fundamental failure” and absurd”.

3, which has less than 10% of the market in the UK, has struggled over recent years to compete with the big boys – O2, Vodafone, Orange and T-Mobile. Kevin Russell, however, who joined the company in January last year, is tasked with changing the status quo. To say that he’s upset about the currently regulatory climate would be an understatement…

Duncan Geere Mobile phones