Wi-Fi, WiMAX and LTE: the next generation of mobile broadband

Employees want anywhere, anytime access and IT departments now have more wireless choices than ever to give them just that. Which should you choose? We gathered representatives of each of the three major mobile broadband technologies into a live chat room and asked. Our shoot-out panel was led by Network World Wireless Alert Newsletter writer and analyst Joanie Wexler. The participants were Edgar Figueroa, executive director of the Wi-Fi Alliance; Dan Warren, director of technology of the GSM Association; and Dr. Mohammad Shakouri, vice president of marketing of the WiMAX Forum.

Participants were questioned about true per-user bandwidth (versus basic connect rates and theoretical rates achieved the lab). They were asked about support for smartphones and the type of applications their technologies were best suited to serve. Plus, they were queried on billing rates and killer roaming charges. Each explained under what circumstances his respective technology was the best choice for the user.

Moderator-Julie: Hello and welcome to the chat. Let’s lay some groundwork first about the pervasiveness of Wi-Fi, WiMAX and Long-Term Evolution (LTE) services. Specifically, approximately how many Wi-Fi hotspots are available globally? When will mobile WiMAX service be pervasively available in the U.S.? Globally? When will LTE service be pervasively available in the U.S.? Globally?

Edgar Figueroa - Wi-Fi: The 250,000 worldwide hotspots represent only one data point in Wi-Fi's strong industry footprint. Last year our industry grew at over 40%. Wi-Fi is already the preferred wireless LAN technology across the globe, and yet industry Wi-Fi shipments are expected to quadruple between now and 2013 according to ABI Research. There are also over 500 million Wi-Fi users and the Wi-Fi Alliance has certified over 5,000 Wi-Fi products. All in all, Wi-Fi momentum continues into the foreseeable future.

Joanie Wexler: Edgar, you say Wi-Fi is "already the preferred wireless LAN technology." What other kinds of WLANs are there?

Edgar Figueroa - Wi-Fi: None

Joanie Wexler: OK, thanks for clarifying!

Edgar Figueroa - Wi-Fi: I like easy questions.

Mohammad Shakouri - WiMAX: WiMAX is getting deployed in 50+ commercial roll outs, city by city. U.S. deployment in Jackson Hole, WY, and then Baltimore has started. We expect, by the end of '09, expanded coverage.

Dan Warren - GSM: LTE will be commercially available in some markets from 2010, of which we expect North America to be one.

Joanie Wexler: Will LTE be backward compatible with the CDMA-based technologies (e.g., EV-DO), Dan?

Dan Warren - GSM: There will be a handover to CDMA technologies for sure. Verizon in particular and other CDMA operators have been very active in 3GPP to make sure that their interests have been maintained and certainly the specs are in place. You can judge for yourself on what Verizon thinks about products based on their statements on LTE

Moderator-Julie: What's the expected per-user bandwidth (both upstream and downstream) for Mobile WiMAX and LTE? How do these speeds compare with Wi-Fi? With today's 3G speeds offered by HSPA/UMTS and EV-DO?

Joanie Wexler: Note: this might depend on how the carrier chooses to divvy up the bandwidth among subscribers. Hoping the GSM and WiMAX folks might know how carriers could be planning to do that.

Dan Warren - GSM: Target speeds for 'Next Gen' technology are 100Mbps downlink (DL) and 50 Mbps uplink (UL). Current tests performed by LSTI have demonstrated lab condition peak rates of 172Mbps DL and 50Mbps UL. This is based on a 20MHz spectrum and is in lab conditions, so deployed rates will be considerably lower but will still be in the tens of Mbps range.

Joanie Wexler: So "tens of Mbps" per-subscriber?

Dan Warren - GSM: In terms of real experienced throughput, yes, tens ... there are too many factors that affect all radio interfaces to be too precise. Theoretical and lab based maximums grab the headlines but there needs to be a degree of pragmatism. As for HSPA [GSM-based High-Speed Packet Access], currently HSPA-deployed services in some markets are offering peak rates of 14.4Mbps, with 76 operators supporting 3.6Mbps and [another] 43 supporting rates up to 7.2Mbps. 43 network operators are supporting HSUPA [uplink]. HSPA evolved will deliver up to 42Mbps, and will start to be deployed commercially next year - enhancements include QAM64 and 2x2 MIMO.

Mohammad Shakouri - WiMAX: For WiMAX release 1, we achieve 45Mbps DL and 13Mbps UL for the 10MHz channel today. By the end of '09, release 1.5 speed goes up to 144Mbps DL and 69M UL for the 20MHz channel. Broadband!

Joanie Wexler: I'm trying to ascertain what a given subscriber might be able to expect from WiMAX, LTE or other mobile WAN technology. "Broadband" unfortunately, has different meanings depending on who's using the term. Mohammad, are those rates per-subscriber?