Next-generationmobile broadbandtechnologies will
transform the market, said analyst Frost &
Sullivan.
3G Long Term Evolution (LTE),
xMax and
Mobile Wimax will change the landscape of mobile connectivity,
said the analyst.
Frost & Sullivan said carriers were increasingly
investigating the potential of these emerging technologies as a
means to sustain their profitability and boost average revenue per
user (ARPU).
"European carriers' dependence on voice to increase ARPU can no
longer be a driving factor, given the prevailing saturated market
and various alternatives such as voice over internet protocol
(VoIP), and reduced local and roaming call charges due to
regulatory policies", said Frost & Sullivan analyst Luke
Thomas.
Frost & Sullivan said more than 62% of the current world
population of nearly 6.6 billion are not connected to a cellular
network. This situation is paving the way for various emerging
wireless technologies such as xMax via xG technology and Mobile
Wimax to make major inroads into the market.
Current Mobile Wimax standards are not yet optimised for mobile
VoIP at vehicular speeds. "Therefore, Mobile Wimax will initially
target the ultra mobile PC or
PC tablet market, rather than the mobile smartphone market",
said Thomas.
XMax technology will potentially enable service providers to
promote unlimited local and long distant voice calls as well as
unlimited text messages at very low monthly prices, using
smartphones.
XMax is a likely prospect to be the first
4G technology to be
commercially available in 2008, and once 3G LTE is a ratified
standard, its performance characteristics will be superior to
Mobile WiMAX, said the analyst.
Wimax: the expert view >>
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Wimax to overtake Wi-Fi in public networks by 2010 >>
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