4G is envisioned to support a fully IP-based technology platform that is capable of providing 100 Mbps and 1 Gbps speeds both indoors and outdoors, with premium quality and high security. 4G will offer all types of services at an affordable cost. 4G is also being developed to accommodate the quality of service (QoS) and rate requirements set by forthcoming applications like wireless broadband access, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), video chat, mobile TV, High definition TV content, Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB), minimal service like voice and data, and other streaming services for “anytime-anywhere”.

Key Issues

There is a raging battle between WiMAX and LTE vendors over their future in the deploying of 4G technologies. Who will win this fight? How will vendors decide what to sell and to whom?

This report’s goal is to provide a sufficient basis of understanding of the issues to facilitate a vendor’s and a carrier’s decision making process on wireless broadband.

Sprint Nextel, a provider of wireline and wireless solutions, and Samsung Mobile have announced the immediate availability of the M520 by Samsung. This unique slider phone makes it easy for customers to access the web, find local restaurants, watch live television, download their favorite songs, send text messages or use GPS to find their way home.

Via: CBR 

For Vodafone Hungary, Swisscom, Telecom Italia and Vodacom of South Africa, the long-awaited arrival of the mobile Internet and wireless video - so-called third-generation technologies - could not have come sooner. Rising use is helping the operators finally repay the millions they invested in high-speed networks and licenses, money spent in some cases nearly a decade ago.But success, according to network equipment makers, is bringing strains on many operators, who are being required to invest more to soup up their networks and unclog the data bottlenecks caused by the high-volume Internet surfing and streaming video.

Via: IHT

The phone comes with all the standard features in handsets these days: a camera, compatibility with Bluetooth cordless headsets, a Web browser, and messaging capabilities. The speakerphone is superb, and the camera takes pretty good pictures. Because it comes with 60MB of internal memory, there’s room to store dozens of photos.

ZTE isn’t exactly a household name in the U.S., but the Chinese company’s cell phones are well known in its home country and India. Now ZTE is giving the U.S. market a try with a phone called the C88. Though a pretty basic flip phone, the C88 may provide insight into ZTE’s design and market philosophy for other handsets to come.

Via: NewsFactor 

Verizon Wireless (VZ) Tuesday will unveil a plan that offers unlimited domestic calling for a flat fee of $99.99 to $139.99 a month.

Unlimited plans for BlackBerry devices and other smartphones will start at $129.99 a month. The pricier plans offer extra features, such as unlimited messaging, global e-mail and video.

The new “Nationwide Unlimited Anytime Minutes Plan” could rewrite the competitive rules of the wireless industry, which has long embraced the idea of selling “buckets” of minutes for a set monthly price. Verizon, which claims 66 million customers, now offers a bucket of 2,000 minutes for $99 a month.

Via: USA Today 

Only mobile gamers will have the ability to be a virtual Ethan Hunt when mobile game giant Gameloft unleashes “Mission: Impossible 3″ across 150 carriers in May, coinciding with the worldwide rollout of the Tom Cruise thriller.

This marks the second consecutive summer that distributor Paramount Pictures’ sister company Viacom Consumer Products has bypassed consoles and opted instead to work with the French firm.

Via: Reuters

Telecommunications executives are banking on big revenue increases during the next few years from new mobile phone services, but getting customers to pay more may not be so easy, according to a report released on Monday.

More than half of global telecoms executives said they see revenue increases coming from services such as music and video downloads, but more than a third of North American consumers said they would not pay a premium for them, according to the report by audit, tax and advisory firm KPMG LLP.

VIa: Reuters

Vodafone has 170,000 3G customers in Ireland, according to executives at the Irish operator. This is 8.5 per cent of its total Irish subscriber base, which is estimated at 2 million.

The figures will surprise some Irish telecoms watchers, as migration to 3G mobile technology was thought to be struggling.

Via: The Post

Orange is trying to simplify its corporate mobile data tariffs by merging charges for international roaming calls, data and text into a single monthly pricing plan. Meanwhile, rival operator 3 has launched its first 3G data card for notebook PCs.

The Orange Business Advance plan contains six different tariffs, ranging from £400 to £10,000 per month. The tariffs can be shared among up to 200 employees on the same contract. The cost of voice calls varies from 5p to 27p per minute but the operator remained vague about data prices.

Via: IT Week

Russia could start issuing licenses for 3G standard mobile communication services in 2006, Information Technologies & Communications Minister Leonid Reyman said at a press conference on Monday. “Since the number of telephones is comparable to the number of people, operators need to think about increasing revenue through new services,” he said.

The mechanisms and principles for introducing 3G technology in Russia will depend on recommendations from the 3G Association, Reyman said.

Via: Interfax