Verizon Wireless recently released its 700 MHz C-Block LTE Specifications to the handset and applications development community. In addition, Verizon will hold a web conference to discuss the LTE specifications and the Verizon Open Development effort on May 13, 2009 (Click here for details).

The Verizon open development specification relies heavily on 3GPP Release 8 (March 2009) and requisite specifications governing aspects of the standard, e.g. MIMO capabilities. Verizon does not prescribe many of the features of a specific open device design, which encompasses anything from embedded modules to a variety of mobile devices, including various size handsets. 

Some Points in the Verizon Standard:

“The device shall be an LTE category 1, 2, or 3 device per 3GPP TS 36.306: Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); User Equipment (UE) radio access capabilities” (Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); User Equipment (UE) radio transmission and reception (Release 8)). Devices will use 10 MHz channel bandwidth FDD channel access mode. Support is to be SU-MIMO, single user MIMO is required for category 1& 2 3GPP E-UTRA devices and optional for category 1.

The standard also fits within the guidelines set by NGMN, the Next Generation Mobile Network group. This document mentions limitations implementing MIMO in sub 1 GHz spectrum, an issue we elaborate on in our upcoming report “Sizing up the Competitive Opportunities for Verizon and Clearwire.”

The Gist of What We’ve Heard thus Far:

Verizon has left much to the imagination in its scant strategic service profile, hosted services, or other information regarding its own detailed plans for deployment, devices and services beyond 3GPP-LTE and NGMN guideline specifications.

1 – Verizon must operate within the FCC open access and open device requirements for the AWS 700 C-Band. In response to questions raised following Verizon's comments about how open the company intends to make its network, the FCC said repeatedly – including at the OpenMobile Summit in San Francisco last winter – that it intends to enforce these requirements vigorously.

2 - This likely means that Verizon will not require but also cannot restrict VoIP. It seems to us that they could set out more details to assure good operation, but since they cannot control the revenue from VoIP on open devices, they might have little motivation to help out the competition with their own LTE-VoIP as well as IPTV, unified messaging, hosted services and partnered services.

3 - My understanding is that the handoff between LTE and CDMA, 2G, 3G, and even, heaven forsake, Verizon WiMAX networks, will be defined by the referenced 3GPP specifications. Since this is very important to the user experience, particularly if used in a mixed service offering, Verizon will probably test rigorously. But there how much does Verizon need to offer to the open developer community? It is certain that the company will work with their network and handset partners Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson, and major handset providers for Verizon-labeled devices and multiple mode service within the Verizon network. Verizon won't likely be motivated to enable developers to work out the details and kinks of their independent VoIP programs and services and hand-off capabilities, as these simply enable other operators to roam more freely away from their LTE network.

4 – Verizon does not require VoIP or Video/IPTV or other classes of service, which makes sense in light of the open access and device requirements. Neither the specifications nor the Verizon openDevelopment.com portal describe how the network will be deployed or what devices and services Verizon is developing internally and amongst their partners. Much less is known at this point than is known about Verizon’s 3G network developments. While much of that is due to the early stage of Verizon’s LTE network development, it is also due to open access and device requirements; Verizon is simply not at liberty to prescribe required device capabilities or services. 
That is the nature of open access networks – to let developers create new applications, new devices, new services that can run within the parameters of a given network.

What is Not Being Mentioned:

In its standards and on its web portal, Verizon is not saying exactly how it intends to use the network and develop its own unique mix of services. We are gathering information through interviews and analysis. By piecing together the bits and pieces one can see that Verizon intends to use the LTE network partly for what we have described as the ‘purpose use of spectrum:’ that is for applications where long range and penetration can fill usage requirements competitively. These include promising areas such as Smart Power Grid power meters, embedded machine applications, traffic monitoring and control, and many similar applications that spring to mind. A sketchy vision of this can be glimpsed from the choice for graphics on Verizon’s home page:

Source: Verizon OpenDevelopment web site

Notice there are no handsets, laptops, or other common devices depicted – perhaps a picture is worth a thousand words.

The Bottom Line:

Verizon has provided a core specification but has few details beyond what has been disclosed previously regarding how this plays into strategic plans for deployment, or creative development for new devices and services. More information is expected to come out over the next few months and we are conducting further research as Verizon firms up its plans and requirements; we see confirmation of expectations but not much else. We are looking forward to the upcoming Verizon Wireless web conference on May 13th, 2009.

More background information can be found HERE

For more information you can contact the author at robert@maravedis-bwa.com

Copyright © 2009 by Maravedis Inc. All Rights Reserved.
No reproduction without consent.



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