Source: ZDNet Asia
2009 will not be the year 4G technologies go mainstream, according to industry experts, who also mostly agree WiMax's lead over cellular broadband will be short-lived, eventually being edged out by LTE (long term evolution).
The industry debate over the competing 4G technologies--namely WiMax and LTE, broadly--has been going on for some time, now. On the cellular side of the fence is LTE, the planned successor to the current "3.5G" HSPA (high speed packet access) standard. On the other side is WiMax, a wireless broadband standard deployed to deliver last-mile access over long distances.
While WiMax has had a headstart in rolling out commercial products, having been ratified two years ahead of LTE, most industry experts ZDNet Asia spoke to agreed the mobile broadband landscape will eventually be dominated by the latter.
Nathan Burley, analyst, Asia-Pacific at Ovum, said mass market availability of these 4G technologies will not come this year. While mobile WiMax will be available in 2009, its use and reach will be "limited", he said.
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