4G

Correction: The number of Sprint WiMax markets is now 27.

Sprint is denying that one of its execs told Forbes this week that the carrier will introduce WiMax phones by the summer. According to spokeswoman Michelle Mermelstein, Sprint will keep its earlier promise to deliver WiMax devices by the end of the year, but she would not set a specific time frame.

Even as AT&T and Verizon Wireless pursue LTE for their 4G networks, Sprint and its partners have planted their flag firmly in the WiMax camp. After annnouncing the 4G network in 2006, the carrier chose Baltimore … Read more

WiMax appears to be a hit around the world--except for the U.S., according to deployment data released by the WiMax Forum Monday.

WiMax, also known as 4G, now is offered on networks covering 620 million people in 147 countries, said the WiMax forum. By the end of 2010, 800 million people will be covered with 1 billion by the end of 2011. The 2011 time frame is notable because that's when Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks, a WiMax rival technology, will begin to ramp.

The data, however, indicates that WiMax is a global effort, but lags in North … Read more

Editors' note: Though T-Mobile is billing it as 4G technology, HSPA+ is a 3G technology based on existing 3G standards.

BARCELONA, Spain--On a chilly morning at Mobile World Congress, T-Mobile USA promised that it would phase in a nationwide HSPA+ network in 2010. Speaking at a press conference at the carrier's glass-fronted pavilion, T-Mobile USA CTO Cole Brodman said the service, which is currently live in Philadelphia, will start to roll out to other cities in the next few months. Though Brodman didn't reveal a specific cities or set a timetable, T-Mobile spokesman Peter Dobrow said the high-speed … Read more

BARCELONA, Spain--Verizon Wireless is on track to offer its 4G wireless service later this year, the company's chief technology officer said here Monday.

Dick Lynch, an executive vice president and CTO for Verizon Communications, said during a press conference here that Verizon Wireless is on track to launch its commercial LTE (long-term evolution) service this year. The gathering was hosted by the GSM Association, which puts on the Mobile World Congress.

Lynch said Verizon Wireless is in the final testing phase, or "Phase 4," of its LTE technology. Within 60 days he said he expects testing to … Read more

Juniper Networks on Monday will launch three products for mobile network providers to get a bigger slice of the 3G, 4G, and LTE upgrade revenue pie.

The big picture: Juniper, which primarily competes with Alcatel-Lucent and Cisco Systems for wireless business, sees networks converging. According to Mallik Tatipamula, vice president of service provider marketing at Juniper, the mobile network will look a lot like the fixed line broadband infrastructure.

These so-called converged networks are growing in clout overseas and are likely to catch on in the U.S. in a few years.

Read more of "Juniper aims for larger piece of wireless network upgrade pie&… Read more

Good old Wi-Fi could be the fix to an impending explosion of data on wireless networks.

Nearly three years after Apple introduced the game-changing iPhone, wireless operators around the globe are feeling the effects of the wireless data tsunami that is well under way. Even networks that don't support the iPhone are feeling the pinch as a generation of new wireless devices offering bandwidth-hungry Web applications are hitting networks.

The result, as many iPhone users in New York City and San Francisco will tell you, is a network that drops calls and offers wireless Net surfing at the speed of a turtle.… Read more

Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo is set to demonstrate a prototype handset based on high-speed wireless data technology LTE later this month, according to its handset partner, NEC.

NEC said on Monday that NTT will demonstrate the handset receiving streaming high-resolution video across an LTE network at Mobile World Congress, which kicks off February 15 in Barcelona. According to NEC, the handset uses an LTE chipset that was developed by Fujitsu, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, and Panasonic, and first sampled in October.

LTE, the "long-term evolution" of 3G, is the successor to HSDPA and is roughly 10 times faster, providing … Read more

AT&T said Thursday that it will invest an additional $2 billion in its network in 2010 to make sure it keeps up with the growing demand from new smartphones and other 3G data devices, such as the Apple iPad, on its network.

During its fourth quarter 2009 conference call, Chief Operating Officer John Stankey said AT&T plans to spend between $18 billion and $19 billion in 2010 upgrading its wireless and backhaul networks to handle the onslaught of new traffic. This is roughly $2 billion more than the company had invested in the previous year.

Specifically, … Read more

Smartphone customers and the bandwidth-hungry applications they're using have forced wireless carriers to accelerate their plans for big upgrades as they move toward the next iteration of their networks.

The biggest challenge these wireless operators will face is making sure they have enough capacity in a part of their networks known as backhaul to feed the hungry appetites of wireless data customers.

In short, this ongoing effort is meant to ensure smartphone customers, today and in the future, aren't as routinely annoyed as some iPhone customers say they have been over the past year.

"Backhaul is at … Read more