sprint and 4g.
 

i saw today while being bored on their site that their "USB Modem U300" is both a 3g/4g model. it will also work on non 3g(EVDO) network (like their uber slow 1xrtt old old network.

so what does this mean for cellphones? will the newest sprint phones have radios for the clearwire/4g signals?? and how about the blackberries?

do you think this could pull sprint out of the hole?


BTW Mods, i had no idea the correct forum to put it in, because it isnt blackberry, but not really a "phone" either and we have no network specific forums.

WiMax (which is not a ratified 4G mobile standard) will not pull Sprint out of the hole.

Sprint needs to go LTE, and merge with another LTE-bound carrier.

Wirelessly posted (My Curve)

I've been reading mixed about the two technologies. I noticed that both ATT and Verizon are going to LTE. Does this mean that LTE will be a GSM or CDMA? Or is it an entirely different "standard"? Its really confusing cuz its not really wi-fi, but its not a radio thing if verizon and att will both use it. Either way, it will be interesting.

And btw, I referred to it as 4G because I was clearwire referred to that on sprints site as well as Cnet. It was also mentioned like that in wikipedia

LTE is a different standard, but it was developed mainly for GSM carriers, and is the one chosen by the GSMA. The competing standard for CDMA carriers, UMB, has been dropped, and is no longer being developed by Qualcomm. Almost all carriers in the world are going LTE.

As far as the 4G indicator, LTE is really the only one that can use it because it is ratified by a mobile telecom standards body. WiMax is ratified by IEEE, but it is more like WiFi than cellular, and isn't designated as a 4G technology by any of the mobile telecom standards bodies.

okie dokie. so LTE is basically like an open New Cellular network persay. it will use different frequencies im assuming than the current phones. this will allow CDMA and GSM on it.

its kind of confusing, but i think i got it now. either way, thanks for shining light on it. i was lost at first, and cnet isnt very descriptive on how the put things.

Yes, it will operate on different frequencies, but it doesn't have to. It will simply depend on what frequencies are available at the time.

so you are saying we are gonna have poor battery life then some phones have now due to the phone bouncing from frequency to frequency....by the way the "4g" has already been launched in baltimore and is going to be almost everywhere else by the end of the year.....hopefully

no.. each carrier will use 4G on its own frequency....

for example. most 3G Networks are on 2100 and 1900 (i believe)

Tmobile's 3G will be on 1700( i think). still 3g different frequency.

however, 4g will technically on the same bandwith, just different carriers, so all carriers will access it, but with different frequencies. should be interesting either way

thanks for the info dan. It's really interesting what the 4g could do to many carriers.

i thought wimax was wireless internet access not a cell phone protocol.

on the flip side, lte, for vz will work with current cdma freq,

also, i really think att/vz 4g or 4.5g or w/e the next gen is gonna be 700 mhz band due to them buying out the tv spectrum. which in terms gives better coverage.

Wimax is a loser. If Sprint insists on going down that route instead of LTE, like everyone else, then they are truly doomed to failure.

I firmly believe Sprint will be out of business or merged with another carrier (most likely T-Mobile) by the time 4G really heats up.

I hope not. Less competition means higher prices for us all.

Honestly, we need more consolidation. We need truly national service, and consolidation is really the only way to do it. There would still be a fair amount of competition with three majors (Vodafone/Verizon, at&t Mobility, T-Mobile USA) instead of the four we have now.

Totally agree with you dc. More consolidation for fair competition.

Well see what Sprint pulls out, they are pushing fast and hard on this 4G thing by the end of the year 2010 suppose to have 100 major cities 4G

AT&T is moving forward with LTE lately, but this economy is slowing everything down...