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AT&T issued a statement in favor of FCC Chairman Genachowski’s speech outlining a open Internet. They are concerned when it extends to mobile broadband.

“We commend Chairman Genachowski for his speech today, which begins a public process of considering very important issues that will affect the Internet, and broadband investment, for many years to come.

“AT&T has long supported the principle of an open Internet and has conducted its business accordingly. We were also early supporters of the FCC’s current four broadband principles and their case-by-case application to wired networks. To the extent that the chairman seeks to bolster the FCC’s legal authority to enforce these principles, we would support him. We have also indicated publicly that, despite any compelling evidence of abuses that need correction, AT&T could also consider endorsing a fifth principle relating to actions that are unreasonably discriminatory and that cause material harm. Finally, we have never had concerns with disclosure or transparency regarding network management decisions so long as such requirements are reasonable”

Verizon Wireless, on Friday,  completed its first successful Long Term Evolution (LTE) fourth generation (4G) data call in Boston announced  that it had earlier completed the first LTE 4G data call  in Seattle.  They are expecting to launch their fast data network in 100 markets in 2010.

Sprint has announced their 4G WiMAX plans which mirror Clearwire. They will launch in major cities this year and more markets in 2010.  New devices such as tri-mode modems are planned. Sprint owns 51% of Clearwire and acts as a reseller of Clearwire WiMAX.

They claim, Sprint 4G offers turbo-charged mobile broadband - peak downlink speeds of up to 12 Mbps in Baltimore today and average downlink speeds of 2-4 Mbps - three to five times faster than today's 3G service from any carrier.

Sprint plans to deploy Sprint 4G service in many markets in 2009, including Atlanta, Honolulu, Charlotte, Las Vegas, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Portland, Fort Worth and Seattle.

Sprint also expects to launch service in multiple markets in 2010 including Boston, Houston, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

At the end of 2008, only 11% of worldwide wireless subscriptions were 3G. By the end of 2013, the percentage of 3G and 4G subscriptions will reach 30%, reports In-Stat (http://www.in-stat.com). This trend is reflected in fourth quarter 2008 wireless infrastructure contract awards.

Looking forward, WiMAX will have to prove itself over the next couple of years with the rise of HSPA and LTE. In-Stat expects mobile WiMAX to be attractive in developing countries and remote locations in which fixed broadband networks are not yet deployed. It is still unknown whether or not mobile WiMAX will be competitive in locations with existing 3G cellular and fixed broadband networks.

Recent research by In-Stat includes:

• 802.16e, the mobile standard for WiMAX, has been mainly deployed for fixed and nomadic services. Clearwire, Korea Telecom, and UQ of Japan are among a few notable exceptions that are embracing 802.16e for mobile data applications.
• There were 132 announced deployments in the fourth quarter of 2008, consisting of 95 HSPA, 18 WCDMA, 12 mobile WiMAX, six CDMA EV-DO, and one TD SCDMA.
• Based on the contract award activity over the past few quarters, In-Stat expects most of the deployments through new live networks to be WiMAX and HSPA. In-Stat has seen a significant slowdown in contracts for WCDMA and CDMA EV-DO equipment.

Nokia has confirmed that they will support LTE (Long-Term Evolution) not WiMAX for 4G data networking. Nokia will be making devices for LTE networks in 2010 according to James Harper, Nokia's senior manager of technology marketing.

He did not divulge what kind of devices Nokia would produce,but hinted that they would be highly data-intensive devices, during Portable Computer and Communications Association presentation held in Grapevine, Texas.

No carrier for the devices was revealed. U.S. carriers Verizon Wireless, and MetroPCS are already on the LTE bandwagon. Nokia nixed production of its N810 Internet Tablet WiMAX Edition in January.

At Mobile World Congress, Verizon's Dick Lynch, Verizon executive vice president and chief technology officer, detailed plans to build America's first next-generation Long Term Evolution (LTE) network for 4G.

Verizon Wireless selected Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent as primary network vendors for its initial LTE network deployments in the United States. Verizon Wireless should become the first wireless company to offer commercial LTE-based service in the United States, starting in 2010.

Lynch said, "Verizon Wireless' LTE network deployment will be driven by our vision of providing ubiquitous global wireless broadband connectivity and mobility. LTE enables us to continue to meet business customer demands for a higher bandwidth, low latency service that works broadly in the United States and globally, while helping us to meet consumer demand for mobilizing the many applications they frequently use when tethered to high bandwidth wired networks."

Verizon Wireless also announced that in addition to Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent, Starent Networks has been selected as a packet core vendor.

LG has developed the first handset (user equipment) modem chip based on 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE)technology standards.

Thechip can supports wireless download speeds of 100Mbps (megabits per second) and upload speeds of 50Mbps.

LG demonstrated the chip at its Mobile Communication Technology Research Lab in Anyang, Korea, achieving wireless download speeds of 60 Mbps and upload speeds of 20 Mbps. The fastest phones currently on the market use HSDPA technology and download at a maximum speed of 7.6 Mbps.

Motorola has completed the industry's first over-the-air Long-Term Evolution (LTE) data sessions in the 700MHz spectrum using its LTE Radio Access Test Network and LTE eNode-B platform with a prototype LTE device. This testing was achieved in Motorola labs and at an outdoor location in central Illinois.

The sessions included mobile video streaming and various high data rate applications. The demonstrations also included execution of applications priority which guarantees throughput using quality of service (QoS) aspects of the LTE standards.

Cox Communications announced its plan to add wireless offerings to its bundle of digital cable, high-speed Internet and telephone in 2009. Today, more than 64% of Cox customers buy multiple services from Cox and one-third subscribe to all three products.

Cox will use the Nationwide Sprint Network to quickly enter the market in 2009. At the same time, Cox is concurrently building its own 3G wireless network for additional market launches in 2009. Cox will also test 4G technology utilizing LTE (long term evolution). Earlier this year, Cox joined CTIA (the international association for the wireless telecommunications industry), the Rural Cellular Association and CDMA Development Group (CDG).

Qualcomm has completed the world’s first data call using High-Speed Packet Access Plus (HSPA+) network technology.  The call achieved a data transfer rate of more than 20 Mbps in a 5 MHz channel.  HSPA+ will allow operators to double the data and triple the voice capacity of their networks compared to current HSPA deployments.  The successful data throughput was achieved on Qualcomm’s MDM8200(TM) product, the industry’s first chipset solution for HSPA+. 

Virgin Media has teamed with Nortel and Juniper Networks to prepare to meet ongoing network demands from its customers for ever-increasing speed and bandwidth.

The 40G North-South trial, on Virgin Media’s existing 10G network, shows how Virgin Media is ready to respond to the growing customer appetite for bandwidth-hungry entertainment services such as catch-up TV, video-on-demand, advanced multimedia communications and high speed Internet with up to 20Mb and 50Mb now in trials.

The successful 40G trial, conducted over a 350km (217 mile) span of Virgin Media’s current UK 10G network, demonstrated the economic feasibility of optimizing existing optical network assets and scaling the network to achieve market-leading transmission rates.

Infineon Technologies AG  announced that Samsung Electronics, Inc., Seoul, Korea, has chosen Infineon’s HSDPA Platform XMM 6080 for their new family of HEDGE (HSDPA/EDGE) mobile handsets. Samsung is introducing a comprehensive family using the Infineon XMM 6080 platform. The platform includes the HSDPA/EDGE baseband, power management, single chip 3.5G RF transceiver and is complemented by Infineon’s protocol stack for HEDGE phones.

This  solution enables customers to significantly reduce their component count, footprint, complexity and cost of designs. The XMM 6080 platform will enable Samsung to introduce a wide range of new HEDGE (HSDPA/EDGE) phones reusing the proven Infineon core architecture.

Infineon has already started volume shipments of its platform. The Samsung HEDGE phones with the XMM 6080 are expected to be available in the second quarter of calendar year 2008.

RIM is developing a HSDPA enabled BlackBerry, confirmed in a Financial Times interview when the paper queried  CEO  Mike Lazaridis.

"One of our prototypes - a 3.5G BlackBerry. It's very fast over third-generation networks that have HSDPA," said Lazadaris.

Verizon today announced plans to develop and deploy its fourth generation mobile broadband network using LTE - Long Term Evolution - the technology developed within the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards organization.

The selection of LTE provides Verizon and Vodafone joint owners of Verizon Wireless an opportunity to adopt a common global access platform with compatibility to existing technologies of both companies. Trials will begin in 2008.

“Today’s 4G announcement, coupled with our Open Development initiative announced earlier this week present a major growth opportunity for Verizon Wireless,” said Doreen Toben, chief financial officer of Verizon. “Fourth generation’s higher data speeds will usher in a new era of wireless applications and appliances, all of which can benefit from connecting to the nation’s premier wireless network.”

WiMAX World attendees were treated to uninterrupted connections on the "WiMAX Love Boat" that cruised the Chicago River.The seamless service of web browsing, VoIP)calls, video streaming and MobiTV while moving past access point sites along the route of the cruise was provided by Motorola and Sprint. The system also worked on the streets and trains of Chicago.

Sprint plans on launching their Xohm mobile Internet in Chicago and D.C. markets by the end of this year.

According to a Rueters story AT&T plans to speed up it's data speeds when it upgrades to it network increasing upload speeds to a range of 500 to 800 kilobits per second from its current speed of about 120 kbps. AT&T is comparatively slow to its rivals when it comes to data causing iPhone users to unlock their phones for better data speeds on other carriers.

AT&T's recent study, proves that small business needs its wireless---four in 10 (42 percent) of small business owners surveyed said they could not survive -- or it would be a major challenge to survive -- without wireless technology.

Motorola today announced it will be showcasing its mobile WiMAX chipset modem solution at WiMAX World USA. The chipset is part of Motorola's new "controlled application centric architecture" that will support 3G and 4G mobile devices.

Dsigned to deliver ultra-high-speed functionality through thin devices, this WiMAX chipset modem solution is optimized for both size and low power consumption to further connect consumers around the globe with mobile wireless broadband. It is scheduled to be released in early 2008.

Giorgio Armani is working with Samsung to design a series of consumer electronics devices, beginning with a classy credit-card sized mobile phone that has a touch-sensitive screen, 3 megapixel camera and Bluetooth. An added feature is a haptical UI, where users can feel an immediate mild vibration when they touch icons on the display.

The phone will be available first in Europe for 650 Euros, about US $915, In addition to working together on the phone, the two companies will design an LCD TV, to be unveiled in January.

2008 promises to be a breakout year for WiMAX, according to presentations scheduled for the upcoming 2007 WiMAX World USA Conference & Expo in Chicago. Top executives from key industry players such as Intel, Sprint Nextel, Motorola, Samsung Electronics, and Nokia Siemens Networks will be joining leading market analysts to discuss how and why WiMAX is poised to revolutionize the mobile wireless sector.

"WiMAX for mobile broadband is coming of age," says Berge Ayvazian, conference co-chair and chief strategy officer at Yankee Group.