Skip to main content

Most 4G Wireless Networks Arrive in 2012 to 2014

Yet another market study has uncovered delays in the planned migration to forth-generation wireless networks. Infonetics Research recently published their 4G Strategies: Global Service Provider Survey.

Senior Infonetics analysts asked operators about their 4G network build-out plans, deployment strategies, challenges, technical and commercial drivers -- plus, the 4G services, applications, and devices they plan to offer.

"Better spectral efficiency tops the list of technical drivers for service providers upgrading to 4G," notes Richard Webb, directing analyst for WiMAX, microwave, and mobile devices at Infonetics.

"We asked service providers around the world when they anticipate their 4G networks will be complete with commercial services running. Two-thirds said 2012 to 2014, which is a realistic timeframe when an equipment and device ecosystem based upon an IMT-Advanced definition of 4G seems likely," adds Stéphane Téral, Infonetics Research's principal analyst for mobile and FMC infrastructure.

Infonetics surveyed knowledgeable purchase decision-makers at wireless service providers in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (52 percent), North America (24 percent), Asia Pacific (24 percent), and Central and Latin America (5 percent) that operate a wireless network and have plans to deploy 4G.

Infonetics 4G Survey Summary Results Follow:

- 82 percent of service provider respondents plan to follow the W-CDMA to LTE deployment scenario, and of those, 53 percent plan to deploy HSPA+ before LTE.

- Half of the service providers believe 4G downlink speed will be between 25Mbps and 50Mbps at service launch, while 42 percent believe downlink speeds will be in excess of 50Mbps, suggesting that operators are getting more ambitious.

- 82 percent of service providers say they plan to launch mobile VPN services, showing the growing importance of the mobile enterprise business.

- Service providers appear to have sorted out their voice migration strategy (which was unclear in a similar Infonetics survey conducted last year), with IMS identified as the key architecture.

- Over half of the service providers surveyed plan to offer voice services over 4G one year after commercial launch.

Popular posts from this blog

AI-Driven Data Center Liquid Cooling Demand

The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) and hyperscale cloud computing is fundamentally reshaping data center infrastructure, and liquid cooling is emerging as an indispensable solution. As traditional air-cooled systems reach their physical limits, the IT industry is under pressure to adopt more efficient thermal management strategies to meet growing demands, while complying with stringent environmental regulations. Liquid Cooling Market Development The latest ABI Research analysis reveals momentum in liquid cooling adoption. Installations are forecast to quadruple between 2023 and 2030. The market will reach $3.7 billion in value by the decade's end, with a CAGR of 22 percent. The urgency behind these numbers becomes clear when examining energy metrics: liquid cooling systems demonstrate 40 percent greater energy efficiency when compared to conventional air-cooling architectures, while simultaneously enabling ~300-500 percent increases in computational density per rac...