First commercial LTE networks deployed in Sweden, Norway

TeliaSonera works with Ericsson and Huawei to establish 4G services ahead of schedule;
Sweden's TeliaSonera today announced that it has rolled out the world's first 4G mobile service, partnering with wireless provider Ericsson to offer commercial services in Stockholm. The carrier also this week deployed the first commercial LTE network in Oslo, Norway, partnering with Huawei for the task.

So-called '4G' or fourth-generation networks, built on technologies such as LTE or WiMAX, allow customers to use network services such as advanced Web TV broadcasting, extensive online gaming and web conferences on their laptops with high transmission speed and capacity.

Carl-Henric Svanberg, President and CEO of Ericsson comments, "The new era of mobile broadband has just begun today. With LTE, so-called 4G, your mobile broadband experience is moving to unequalled levels. The LTE speed gives you an absolutely effortless feeling of broadband access."

"The use of mobile broadband in the Nordic countries is exploding and customers need higher speeds and capacity. This is why we launched 4G services in both Stockholm and Oslo, Norway," says Kenneth Karlberg, President and Head of Mobility Services. "Being first out with new technology gives us unique experience that we can use on all our markets. We will continue the roll-out to offer our customers new communication services for the future."

Yu Chengdong, President of Huawei Europe said, "In partnership with TeliaSonera, Huawei began this journey eleven months ago to introduce the world’s most advanced mobile broadband technology to the residents of Oslo. This milestone, which was achieved in a short period of time, reflects Huawei’s unwavering commitment towards accelerating the commercialization of LTE/SAE solutions. Operators such as TeliaSonera, are now able to fully realize economic benefits from the many new applications that can only be made possible with ultra broadband services."

TeliaSonera’s two 4G city networks cover the city areas of Stockholm and Oslo and will be used for mobile data. TeliaSonera has three nationwide 4G/LTE licenses: Sweden, Norway and Finland. The network rollout is in progress to offer 4G to Sweden's and Norway's largest cities.

The Stockholm 4G city network is supplied by Ericsson. The Oslo 4G city network is supplied by Huawei. The modems at launch come from Samsung. Evaluation of suppliers for TeliaSonera's common 4G core network and radio networks in the Nordic and Baltic countries is in progress and vendors will be selected in the beginning of 2010.
(by TelecomEngine Newsdesk)

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Rumors of a Gphone refuse to die

Is Google really thinking about making a substantial change to its business model by releasing the fabled Gphone?

TechCrunch sparked the latest round of Gphone rumors Wednesday, reporting that its sources indicate Google is working on releasing a Google-branded Android phone sometime in early 2010 that will be sold directly to consumers at retail, presumably bypassing wireless carriers. Such a phone is supposedly being built by a manufacturing partner with the intent that Google's brand will dominate the phone; TechCrunch compares the strategy to what Microsoft did with Toshiba and the Zune music player.

Well before Google unveiled its Android mobile operating system project two years ago, and almost ever since, persistent rumors have circulated that Google's mobile phone ambitions go beyond software development. Just as consistently, Google executives have downplayed such rumors with statements that the company is most interested in seeding Android far and wide across multiple carriers and hardware manufacturers, rather than following Apple's strategy of designing and building the entire product itself.

Just a few weeks ago, Google's Andy Rubin, vice president of engineering for Android and the head of the project, told CNET that Google had no interest in "competing with its customers" by releasing a Google-developed phone, echoing comments he made earlier in the year that "I'd much rather be the guy that does a platform that's capable of running on multiple companies' phones than just focusing on a single product."

Now, there was some wiggle room in Rubin's statements. Most smartphone hardware brands--even Apple--don't actually build their own phones, they contract with companies in China or Taiwan that assemble the parts. Therefore, Google's statement that "we're not making hardware" doesn't preclude the company from designing hardware.

On Wednesday, Google refused to comment on what it termed "market rumor or speculation." But why would Google build its own phone? What would it have to gain to offset what it could potentially lose?

Google just signed a multiyear collaboration deal with Verizon Wireless, pledging to help develop a family of Android-based products running on Verizon's network. Any attempt on Google's part to bypass Verizon and sell its own branded handset would likely raise a few eyebrows in New Jersey, no matter how close of friends Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam have supposedly become.

So maybe Google wants to completely bypass carrier networks and release the ultimate IP phone, with Google Voice and the technologies it just acquired from Gizmo5. Such a phone would be free of the two-year contracts imposed by the wireless industry, but would it really be compelling without some kind of wide-area networking technology?

In the same conversation in which he denied Google was working on its own hardware, Rubin implied that Google doesn't think there's much of a future for WiMax, which Intel and others have long billed as a way around the wireless carriers. The company sat out a recent funding round for WiMax start-up Clearwire after investing around $500 million in the company in 2008, and Rubin said it was planning future Android development around the LTE standard, which is the path that AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon plan to take to 4G networks. LTE carriers will likely insist on the now-familiar two-year contract to offset the costs of building out that network, unless federal regulators tell them they can't.

But assuming Google really is planning on releasing a completely Google-branded phone at retail, such a plan could derail the momentum enjoyed by Google and its Android partners this year.

The Microsoft/Zune strategy alluded to by TechCrunch was a disaster for Microsoft's PlaysForSure hardware partners, who had been working with the company on MP3 players that hooked into Microsoft's media software. It effectively cut them out of that market, and almost certainly created distrust and outright resentment that could come back to hurt Microsoft one day.

Any Google-branded phone would immediately compete with phones that Google partners like Verizon and Motorola are placing huge bets around, namely the Droid. What incentive would those companies have to work with Google in the future should it throw a huge wrench into their product development strategy?

And even putting all that aside, smartphones in the U.S. are only attractive to consumers because no one actually pays what a smartphone is worth. Heavy carrier subsidies knock the price of the average smartphone from around $500 or $600 to around $200, because time and time again most people have shown that even if they will save money in the long run by avoiding a two-year contract, they get sticker shock at the sight of a $599 phone. Just ask Apple: the iPhone would not be the iPhone if it was still selling for $599.

If Google were to release its own phone at retail, would it have to subsidize it itself to get the price down to about $200? Would the federal government look favorably on such a plan, knowing that virtually no other company could afford to sell such a smartphone at a loss?

TechCrunch later reported that Google could be working on a "data-only" device that would ostensibly use AT&T's network for data services, with calls being placed using VoIP technology. That's a bit puzzling as well, since that would allow Google to annoy new best friend Verizon and AT&T to annoy longtime steady Apple, so at this point, it's hard to know exactly what's going on here.

Few businesspeople directly answer questions about major strategy shifts they might be planning, for the obvious reason that surprise is a competitive advantage. But it's hard to imagine why Google would risk stunting Android momentum just as the software is rounding into the best chance for hardware manufacturers and wireless carriers to compete with Apple and AT&T.

That is, unless somebody at Google has decided that they are the ones with the best chance of competing with Apple.
(by Tom Krazit)

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China chosen TD-LTE for 4G mobile

However, to predict in 2013, subscribers using LTE technology in China is no more than 500,000 subscribers.
China has chosen technology TD-LTE (long-term evolution) for its 4G mobile networks. LTD and TD-LTE-FDD is the technology of the TD-LTE LTE receive more support than in China compared with LTE-FDD.

In 2010, Group Telecom China Mobile will use TD-LTE to build first commercial LTE network.

According to some analysts, China Mobile is the mobile operator's first commercial operation of technology LTE. China Telecom and China Unicom hopes that companies follow.

According to the market research company In-Stat (USA), to the 2012 China Telecom and China Unicom to build a new 4G network.

2009 will be the first year in China's 3G era with three main 3G technologies (WCDMA, CDMA2000 and TD-SCDMA). In-Stat also predicted to 2013, subscribers using LTE technology in China over no more than 500,000 subscribers, of which 80% of subscribers is China Mobile.

According to VnExpress

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