A consortium of European technology companies and universities wants to identify the technologies beyond 4G. Given a broad mandate, METIS is investigating everything from super-dense small cell deployments to virtualizing the radio network in the cloud. In 30 months we’ll see its first recommendations. Read more »
Nokia Siemens Network just turned a big quarterly profit, all thanks to its recent LTE momentum. The infrastructure vendor is trying to build on that momentum by pushing into future LTE technologies like small cells and HetNet, which it claims will increase network capacity 1,000-fold. Read more »
Apple’s wholesale support for LTE across its devices means that 4G network deployment can really get rolling. As these new networks go online, carriers will be forced to start lowering the price of mobile data. It won’t happen immediately, but it will happen. Read more »
The Wi-Fi Alliance is now inviting vendors to submit their handsets and access points for Hotspot 2.0 certification. If they pass muster, they will receive the Alliance’s Passpoint stamp of approval, meaning they should be able to connect automatically to other Passpoint gear. Read more »
AT&T’s networks are getting an upgrade that will transform them from static cellular grids into a kind of network organism whose cells will grow and shrink as customers move through them. Ultimately these self-optimizing networks will be a critical component in providing cheap and ubiquitous mobile data. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The mobile industry is counting on future wireless networks being heterogeneous: complex multi-layered systems of overlapping big and small cells, pumping out cheap bandwidth. But to arrive at hetnet we first need to figure out how to link all of those small cells together. Read more »
Are fewer competitors better for mobile broadband customers? Yes, according to a new study, which seemingly ignores trends in mobile network architecture that intended to address the capacity crunch the author’s see, thus undermining the assumptions on which the theory is based. Read more »
At MWC, Nokia Siemens Networks plans its most ambitious mobile network design yet: a system of 100 small cells that behaves like a single cell site. This has huge implications for the heterogeneous networks of the future, which aim to create a sea of cheap bandwidth. Read more »
Networking silicon vendor Mindspeed aims to become a big player in wireless infrastructure in a very small way. It is purchasing femtocell system-on-a-chip (SoC) maker Picochip for $51.8 million, creating what Mindspeed hopes will be a powerhouse in the so-far disappointing miniature base station market. Read more »
Massive growth in data traffic driven by smartphone adoption and usage, coupled with more spectrally efficient air interfaces such as HSPA+ or LTE, have added increased pressure on backhaul requirements, turning a once boring business into an exciting space. More exacting requirements and greater competition will ultimately enable more growth prospects over the next few years. We also expect to see increased adoption of wireless backhaul worldwide, with PMP and E-band technologies delivering increasingly attractive and cost-effective solutions for the new LTE networks. Companies mentioned in this report include BLiNQ, Cambridge Broadband Networks and Siklu. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
