Vendors promoting LTE technology at CTIA 2009 included Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent, Motorola, Kyocera Communications, and others. Alcatel-Lucent introduced its Evolved Packet Core, a set of network components that will help to power the LTE network of Verizon Wireless and other mobile operators. Alcatel’s all-IP system is built around Alcatel’s 7750 Service Router, already used in wired broadband networks, and consists of two plug-in modules for that router, plus two separate devices to manage the network and services.

Motorola showcased its Wireless Broadband Radio (WBR) 500r Long-Term Evolution (LTE) eNodeB. eNodeB LTE base stations will support FDD or TDD and will be available in a range of frequencies from 700MHz to 2.6GHz with bandwidths from 1.4 MHz to 20MHz.

Powerwave Technologies announced a new family of 700/800 MHz and 2.5-2.7 GHz antennas, and two new digital remote radio head offerings for WiMAX and LTE. Kyocera Communications displayed a prototype of its all-in-one LTE base station, along with three iBurst terminal devices.

Various equipment vendors are in the process of developing LTE products both at the infrastructure and device levels. Although there are no commercial LTE deployments today, vendors have conducted many trials and started signing LTE deployment contracts with certain operators. In the following table we summarize some of the most notable LTE vendor progress that have occurred in Q4 2008 and Q1 2009.

Most infrastructure suppliers are engaged in many trials worldwide but only a handful were publicly announced, as described in the following exhibit:

The situation on the device and chipset side is much more complex and fluid, and we will address it in future issues. The race is on and we will be watching it closely.

Enjoy!
Adlane Fellah
Maravedis CEO & Founder