Clearwire has signed an agreement with Chinese network equipment company Huawei
to supply Mobile WiMAX radio access network (RAN) equipment for the CLEAR
nationwide network in the U.S. Under the three-year deal, Huawei will provide
WiMAX base stations, element management system (EMS) components, and related
network hardware and software. Clearwire also named several other strategic
suppliers for its WiMAX network: Motorola and Samsung for RAN equipment; Cisco
for the core Internet Protocol (IP) Next-Generation Network infrastructure;
DragonWave for the network’s microwave backhaul transport; and Ciena for base
station switching. All of these except Ciena had been previously announced.
DragonWave was the microwave backhaul vendor for both Sprint’s Xohm network in
Baltimore as well as the old Clearwire’s planned WiMAX network. Motorola also
provides additional microwave backhaul equipment. Clearwire has said that by the
end of 2010 it wants to cover 80 markets and 120 million people for its CLEAR
network in the U.S. However, the ultimate scope and timing of Clearwire’s
network build-out will largely be driven by the Clearwire’s market- by-market
success and the availability of additional capital for network expansion.

For Huawei, the Clearwire deals marks its first top-tier player in the
U.S., where it has struggled to gain a foothold (Leap Wireless is its only other
wireless customer). A previous joint venture with 3COM did not result in any
material U.S. carrier business. "We view this as a major milestone in our
overall strategy in North America," Charlie Chen, a Huawei marketing and product
management executive, told the WSJ. "Clearwire’s vision for connecting the
Internet to people, not just places, and their dedication to building the first
nationwide WiMAX network in the United States is an exciting opportunity for
Huawei," said Wan Biao, President of Huawei Wireless Product Line. "Today’s
announcement is an important milestone and represents a significant step toward
establishing Huawei’s presence in North America and further demonstrates our
commitment to delivering high-quality products and services to our customers."

Huawei’s equipment will allow Clearwire to deploy its network at lower cost.
During a conference call for reporters, Clearwire’s CTO John Saw said improved
receiver performance means fewer cell sites, leading to cost-savings of 20 to 30
percent. Clearwire plans to deploy about 20,000 base stations at a cost of
$150,000 each. Saw stated that Huawei was selected for Clearwire’s network
because it is the first vendor to make a multicarrier, four-transport base
station that will provide extra capacity and streamlined deployment. "The cost
savings will help," he said.

Overseas, Huawei has been very successful in selling all types of networking
equipment (especially optical and wireless) by undercutting the competition.
Huawei is a private Chinese company, founded by Ren Zhengfei in 1988. As a
result, they don’t have to report financial results to the public. With access
to a huge workforce, which accepts far lower rates of pay than its Western
counterparts, Huawei initially competed on price, picking up business in
emerging markets from carriers with less money to spend. But now, the company
serves 36 of the world’s top 50 operators, along with over one billion users
worldwide. While other network equipment companies have struggled and slashed
costs in a frantic bid for survival, Ren Zhengfei has kept Huawei’s R&D budget
at a relatively high level. Ten per cent of Huawei’s annual revenue is diverted
into R&D. Huawei Senior Vice President of Marketing and Product Management
Charlie Chen said the company has more than 2,000 engineers working on WiMAX
R&D, and has already shipped more than 1 million WiMAX base stations.

In 2008, Huawei’s revenues were up 46 per cent year on year to $23.3bn (with 75
per cent of those sales coming from outside of China). It’s said that half of
the firm’s workforce are engaged in research and development. Huawei states it
is "committed to providing innovative and customized products, services and
solutions to create long-term value and growth potential for its customers." We
don’t doubt that at all. For more information on Huawei, go to: www.huawei.com.

The newswires did not pick up the importance of Ciena’s selection as a Clearwire
infrastructure vendor. The optical network transport and switching company had
not previously won any significant business from a WiMAX network operator. We
think this is an important milestone for the company. Ciena recently announced
that it was providing Carrier Ethernet based backhaul for Clearwire’s mobile
WiMAX service (CLEAR) in Las Vegas, in addition to deployments in Baltimore,
Atlanta and Portland. But no details were announced by Clearwire on what role
Ciena would play in "Base Station switching." For more information on Ciena, go
to: www.ciena.com.

In summing up the CLEAR network architecture and capabilities, CTO Saw stated,
"Our new network is specifically designed to deliver an unmatched combination of
4G speeds, capacity, and mobility to meet the growing demand for wireless
broadband services. As such, we have designed an all-IP network that is
efficient, low-cost and scalable using standards-based technology from
industry-leading providers. Our existing agreements with Motorola, Samsung,
Cisco, and DragonWave, plus today’s addition of Huawei, provide us with the
capabilities and support necessary to deliver super fast mobile Internet in more
ways for both our customers and strategic wholesalers."

In a press release and follow up conference call, Clearwire announced a second
quarter loss that was slightly less than a year ago. Clearwire had a quarterly
loss of $73.4 million, or 38 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of
$74.6 million, or 38 cents a share. Revenue rose 9% to $63.6 million. Average
revenue per user edged up to $39.47, helped by increased sales of service
bundles. Churn, or customer cancellations during the quarter, rose to 2.8% from
2.6%.

While that disappointed stockholders who sold off the firm’s stock, the company
hinted that its rapidly-accelerating rollout of Mobile WiMAX service will begin
showing positive results later this year.

Clearwire has seen growth slow in recent months. The total subscriber count rose
11%, to 511,000, but net additions were down a third from a year earlier, to
12,000. The company predicted in May that net additions would shrink in the
second quarter. However, Clearwire stated that there was strong subscriber
sign-ups in Portland, OR and late in the quarter in Atlanta, GA. More
importantly, CEO Bill Morrow stated that Clearwire expected more new net
subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2009 then in all other quarters combined.

"We are already seeing average daily WiMAX subscriber uptake in July outpacing
what we achieved in June by over 75%," Morrow said in a statement. "It is
important to keep in mind that at the same time we are posting strong subscriber
adds in our three CLEAR 4G markets we are also seeing the expected customer
attrition in Clearwire’s large base of 46 U.S. pre-WiMAX markets." Morrow added
that several new market debuts for its WiMAX service in 2009 should help
Clearwire achieve the "critical mass of coverage and customers that will help
propel the company forward in the next year."

Editors Note: In addition to mobile WiMAX, Clearwire offers a "pre-WiMAX" fixed
wireless broadband service in 46 U.S. markets. As the company concentrates more
on mobile WiMAX, customer defections and subscriber growth are likely to be
adversely affected.

Clearwire’s Mobile WiMAX Deployments and Network Build Out Plans

CLEAR WiMAX service is currently offered in four U.S. cities: Baltimore,
Portland, Atlanta and Las Vegas. CEO Morrow stated, "The next wave of CLEAR
launches in 2009 is on track to extend our 4G network to over 30 million people
in more than 25 markets by the end of 2009 bringing Clearwire’s total network
coverage in both legacy and 4G markets to over 40 million people."

Morrow continued. "With the 2009 addition of new markets like Chicago,
Dallas/Ft. Worth and Philadelphia, and the migration of pre-WiMAX markets like
Seattle, Charlotte and Honolulu, CLEAR’s super fast mobile Internet service is
poised to achieve a critical mass of coverage and customers that will help
propel the company forward into next year. And as I hope you’ve read, we have
announced plans to add San Antonio and Austin, Texas, [Milledgeville], Georgia,
Raleigh and Greensborough, North Carolina, and Salem, Oregon. All of these new
markets are progressing towards a fourth quarter launch. We continue to target
true broadband mobility, covering up to 120 million people in 80 markets by the
end of 2010."

"Some of the markets slated for 2010 include New York, Boston, Washington, D.C.,
Houston, and the San Francisco Bay area, among many others."

Editors Note: Clearwire groups it’s "4G" market expansion into two categories —
conversion markets, where it operate pre-WiMAX services, and the new mobile
WiMAX (CLEAR) markets. Last week Clearwire announced that it would complete its
first 10 conversion markets on September 1, 2009. These include Boise, Idaho,
[Bellingham], Washington, and eight Texas communities. In the fourth quarter,
Clearwire plans to convert Charlotte, Seattle, Honolulu, and Maui. For more
information, please see: Clearwire to Launch CLEAR Service in 10 Markets on
September 1, 2009
http://www.wimax360.com/profiles/blogs/clearwire-to-launch-clear

Key Operating Highlights:

• Atlanta and Las Vegas Markets Launch CLEAR? Adding nearly Five Million People
  and 1,800 Square Miles to Coverage Footprint
• Nationwide Roaming in CLEAR Markets Now Available via Clear 4G+ Mobile 4G/3G
  Service
• Now Targeting Over 40 Million Total Covered POPs for 2009; CLEAR 4G Network
  Set to Increase Five-Fold in 2H 2009 Reaching Over 30 Million People Across More
  Than 25 Markets by Year End
• Clearwire’s Wholesale Systems Platform Initialized; Sprint, Comcast and Time
  Warner Cable Announce 2009 4G Plans and Comcast Begins Launching Service
  Offerings

Key Performance Highlights – Q2 2009 vs. Pro Forma Q2 2008

• Portland and Late-Quarter Launch of Atlanta Generate Strong WiMAX Subscriber
  Additions Offsetting Higher Seasonal Churn in 46 US Pre-WiMAX Markets and Drive
  12,000 Net Adds During Q2 2009
• Revenues Increase 9 Percent Driven by 11 Percent Subscriber Growth and ARPU
  Stable at $39.47
• Network Covered POPs Increase Nearly 40 Percent to 23.1 Million
• Design and Development Pipeline Includes More Than 20,000 Cell Sites to Fuel
  First U.S. 4G Network Build Plans
• Ends Second Quarter with Cash and Short Term Investments of $2.5 Billion

For more information on Clearwire’s earnings report, please see: Clearwire
Reports Second Quarter 2009 Results
http://newsroom.clearwire.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=214419&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1319733&highlight=

The Clearwire Webcast is at:
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=198722&p=irol-EventDetails&EventId=2333436

About Clearwire:

Clearwire Communications, LLC, an operating subsidiary of Clearwire Corporation
(NASDAQ: CLWR), offers a robust suite of advanced high-speed Internet services
to consumers and businesses. As part of a multi-year network build-out plan,
Clearwire’s 4G service, called CLEAR™, will be available in major
metropolitan areas across the U.S., and bring together an unprecedented
combination of speed and mobility. Clearwire’s open all-IP network, combined
with significant spectrum holdings, provides unmatched network capacity to
deliver next generation broadband access. Strategic investors include Intel,
Comcast, Sprint, Google, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks. Clearwire
currently provides 4G service, utilizing WiMAX technology, in four markets and
provides pre-WiMAX communications services in 50 markets across the U.S. and
Europe. Headquartered in Kirkland, Wash., additional information about Clearwire
is available at www.clearwire.com.

Postscript: On the heels of Clearwire’s announcements, SPRINT said it’s
expanding its Mobile WiMAX (CLEAR reseller)service to 17 new cities by the end
of the year. The new additions for 2009 include Texas, Washington, Hawaii,
Idaho, North Carolina and Oregon joining the previously announced markets of
Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Portland, Philadelphia
and Seattle. The Overland Park, Kan.-based company also said it plans to sell
the service in Boston, Houston, New York City, San Francisco and Washington,
D.C., next year.

For Huawei, the Clearwire deals marks its first top-tier player in the
U.S., where it has struggled to gain a foothold (Leap Wireless is its only other
wireless customer).  A previous joint venture with 3COM did not result in
any material U.S.  carrier business.  "We view this as a major
milestone in our overall strategy in North America," Charlie Chen, a Huawei
marketing and product management executive, told the WSJ.  "Clearwire’s
vision for connecting the Internet to people, not just places, and their
dedication to building the first nationwide WiMAX network in the United States
is an exciting opportunity for Huawei," said Wan Biao, President of Huawei
Wireless Product Line.  "Today’s announcement is an important milestone and
represents a significant step toward establishing Huawei’s presence in North
America and further demonstrates our commitment to delivering high-quality
products and services to our customers."

Huawei’s equipment will allow Clearwire to deploy its network at lower cost. 
During a conference call for reporters, Clearwire’s CTO John Saw said improved
receiver performance means fewer cell sites, leading to cost-savings of 20 to 30
percent.  Clearwire plans to deploy about 20,000 base stations at a cost of
$150,000 each.  Saw stated that Huawei was selected for Clearwire’s network
because it is the first vendor to make a multicarrier, four-transport base
station that will provide extra capacity and streamlined deployment.  "The
cost savings will help," he said.

Overseas, Huawei has been very successful in selling all types of networking
equipment (especially optical and wireless) by undercutting the competition. 
Huawei is a private Chinese company, founded by Ren Zhengfei in 1988.  As a
result, they don’t have to report financial results to the public.  With
access to a huge workforce, which accepts far lower rates of pay than its
Western counterparts, Huawei initially competed on price, picking up business in
emerging markets from carriers with less money to spend.  But now, the
company serves 36 of the world’s top 50 operators, along with over one billion
users worldwide.  While other network equipment companies have struggled
and slashed costs in a frantic bid for survival, Ren Zhengfei has kept Huawei’s
R&D budget at a relatively high level.  Ten per cent of Huawei’s annual
revenue is diverted into R&D.  Huawei Senior Vice President of Marketing
and Product Management Charlie Chen said the company has more than 2,000
engineers working on WiMAX R&D, and has already shipped more than 1 million
WiMAX base stations.

In 2008, Huawei’s revenues were up 46 per cent year on year to $23.3bn (with 75
per cent of those sales coming from outside of China).  It’s said that half
of the firm’s workforce are engaged in research and development.  Huawei
states it is "committed to providing innovative and customized products,
services and solutions to create long-term value and growth potential for its
customers." We don’t doubt that at all. 

The newswires did not pick up the importance of Ciena’s selection as a
Clearwire infrastructure vendor.  The optical network transport and
switching company had not previously won any significant business from a WiMAX
network operator.  We think this is an important milestone for the company. 
Ciena recently announced that it was providing Carrier Ethernet based backhaul
for Clearwire’s mobile WiMAX service (CLEAR) in Las Vegas, in addition to
deployments in Baltimore, Atlanta and Portland.  But no details were
announced by Clearwire on what role Ciena would play in "Base Station
switching."

In summing up the CLEAR network architecture and capabilities, CTO Saw stated,
"Our new network is specifically designed to deliver an unmatched combination of
4G speeds, capacity, and mobility to meet the growing demand for wireless
broadband services.  As such, we have designed an all-IP network that is
efficient, low-cost and scalable using standards-based technology from
industry-leading providers.  Our existing agreements with Motorola,
Samsung, Cisco, and DragonWave, plus today’s addition of Huawei, provide us with
the capabilities and support necessary to deliver super fast mobile Internet in
more ways for both our customers and strategic wholesalers."

Clearwire’s Earnings Report and Subscriber Growth

In a press release and follow up conference call, Clearwire announced a second
quarter loss that was slightly less than a year ago.  Clearwire had a
quarterly loss of $73.4 million, or 38 cents a share, compared with a
year-earlier loss of $74.6 million, or 38 cents a share.  Revenue rose 9%
to $63.6 million.  Average revenue per user edged up to $39.47, helped by
increased sales of service bundles.  Churn, or customer cancellations
during the quarter, rose to 2.8% from 2.6%. 

While that disappointed stockholders who sold off the firm’s stock, the company
hinted that its rapidly-accelerating rollout of Mobile WiMAX service will begin
showing positive results later this year. 

Clearwire has seen growth slow in recent months.  The total subscriber
count rose 11%, to 511,000, but net additions were down a third from a year
earlier, to 12,000.  The company predicted in May that net additions would
shrink in the second quarter.  However, Clearwire stated that there was
strong subscriber sign-ups in Portland, OR and late in the quarter in Atlanta,
GA.  More importantly, CEO Bill Morrow stated that Clearwire expected more
new net subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2009 then in all other quarters
combined.

"We are already seeing average daily WiMAX subscriber uptake in July outpacing
what we achieved in June by over 75%," Morrow said in a statement.  "It is
important to keep in mind that at the same time we are posting strong subscriber
adds in our three CLEAR 4G markets we are also seeing the expected customer
attrition in Clearwire’s large base of 46 U.S.  pre-WiMAX markets." Morrow
added that several new market debuts for its WiMAX service in 2009 should help
Clearwire achieve the "critical mass of coverage and customers that will help
propel the company forward in the next year."

Editors Note:  In addition to mobile WiMAX, Clearwire offers a
"pre-WiMAX" fixed wireless broadband service in 46 U.S.  markets.  As
the company concentrates more on mobile WiMAX, customer defections and
subscriber growth are likely to be adversely affected.

Clearwire’s Mobile WiMAX Deployments and Network Build Out Plans

CLEAR WiMAX service is currently offered in four U.S.  cities: Baltimore,
Portland, Atlanta and Las Vegas.  CEO Morrow stated, "The next wave of
CLEAR launches in 2009 is on track to extend our 4G network to over 30 million
people in more than 25 markets by the end of 2009 bringing Clearwire’s total
network coverage in both legacy and 4G markets to over 40 million people."

Morrow continued.  "With the 2009 addition of new markets like Chicago,
Dallas/Ft.  Worth and Philadelphia, and the migration of pre-WiMAX markets
like Seattle, Charlotte and Honolulu, CLEAR’s super fast mobile Internet service
is poised to achieve a critical mass of coverage and customers that will help
propel the company forward into next year.  And as I hope you’ve read, we
have announced plans to add San Antonio and Austin, Texas, Milledgeville,
Georgia, Raleigh and Greensborough, North Carolina, and Salem, Oregon.  All
of these new markets are progressing towards a fourth quarter launch.  We
continue to target true broadband mobility, covering up to 120 million people in
80 markets by the end of 2010."

"Some of the markets slated for 2010 include New York, Boston, Washington, D.C.,
Houston, and the San Francisco Bay area, among many others."

Editors Note:  Clearwire groups it’s "4G" market expansion into two
categories — conversion markets, where it operate pre-WiMAX services, and the
new mobile WiMAX (CLEAR) markets.  Last week Clearwire announced that it
would complete its first 10 conversion markets on September 1, 2009.  These
include Boise, Idaho, [Bellingham], Washington, and eight Texas communities. 
In the fourth quarter, Clearwire plans to convert Charlotte, Seattle, Honolulu,
and Maui.  For more information, please see:  

Clearwire to Launch CLEAR Service in 10 Markets on September 1, 2009.

Key Operating Highlights:

- Atlanta and Las Vegas Markets Launch CLEAR? Adding nearly Five Million People
and 1,800 Square Miles to Coverage Footprint
- Nationwide Roaming in CLEAR Markets Now Available via Clear 4G+ Mobile 4G/3G
Service
- Now Targeting Over 40 Million Total Covered POPs for 2009;  CLEAR 4G
Network Set to Increase Five-Fold in 2H 2009 Reaching Over 30 Million People
Across More Than 25 Markets by Year End
- Clearwire’s Wholesale Systems Platform Initialized; Sprint, Comcast and Time
Warner Cable Announce 2009 4G Plans and Comcast Begins Launching Service
Offerings

Key Performance Highlights – Q2 2009 vs.  Pro Forma Q2 2008

- Portland and Late-Quarter Launch of Atlanta Generate Strong WiMAX Subscriber
Additions Offsetting Higher Seasonal Churn in 46 US Pre-WiMAX Markets and Drive
12,000 Net Adds During Q2 2009
- Revenues Increase 9 Percent Driven by 11 Percent Subscriber Growth and ARPU
Stable at $39.47
- Network Covered POPs Increase Nearly 40 Percent to 23.1 Million
- Design and Development Pipeline Includes More Than 20,000 Cell Sites to Fuel
First U.S.  4G Network Build Plans
- Ends Second Quarter with Cash and Short Term Investments of $2.5 Billion

For more information on Clearwire’s earnings report, please see: 

Clearwire Reports Second Quarter 2009 Results
 

Sprint Announces Additional Markets

On the heels of Clearwire’s announcements, SPRINT said it’s expanding its Mobile
WiMAX (CLEAR reseller)service to 17 new cities by the end of the year.  The
new additions for 2009 include Texas, Washington, Hawaii, Idaho, North Carolina
and Oregon joining the previously announced markets of Atlanta, Chicago,
Dallas-Fort Worth, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Portland, Philadelphia and Seattle. 
The Overland Park, Kan.-based company also said it plans to sell the service in
Boston, Houston, New York City, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., next year.
 

Before we dive deeper, let’s consider what 4G actually means and network
operator challenges that are driving them to deploy 4G networks.

Backgrounder: 4G definitions and challenges ahead

• To the standards purist (like this author) 4G networks will be based on ITU-R
  IMT Advanced recommendations, which are not yet completed. It is expected that
  LTE Advanced (3GPP version 10?) and the 4G version of WiMAX (IEEE 802.16m) will
  meet the LTE Advanced requirements and will be accepted as 4G standards. For
  more on the purist’s view of 4G, please see reference 3. below.
• Many others believe that the initial version of LTE (3GPP release and
  Mobile WiMAX (IEEE 802.16e) are 4G network technologies, because they already
  have the key building blocks required by 4G: OFDMA, flat- all IP- network, fixed
  or mobile operation, MIMO, hybrid ARQ (Automatic Repeat reQuest- for repeat
  transmission of mis-received packets) at the PHY layer, multi-megabit speeds
  delivered to users, etc. Those folks say that only incremental advancements will
  be made in future ("official 4G") versions of the respective standard.
• China may have its own 4G standards as well, making for a very confused 4G
  world. For example, China Mobile is said to be planning for a TDD version of LTE
  that will be backward compatible with TD-SCDMA and GSM.
• Whatever you think 4G really is, the wireless network operators will be forced
  to move forward with their 4G deployments in the next two to four years. Why?
  The amount of mobile data and video traffic continues to explode and 3G networks
  (which are packet over TDM overlays) will not be able to handle the speed
  requirements of many simultaneous mobile data/video users. Data caps (e.g.
  bandwidth metering) will have to be instituted which will frustrate and annoy
  users.

Let’s take a look at some of the challenges mobile network operators face on
their evolution from 3G to 4G networks. We have previously written that smart
phones and "all-in-one" gadgets are driving the need for more bandwidth and QOS.
This past week, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson stated that networks were becoming
choked by increased smart phone data traffic. This dynamic is already
accelerating the movement to 3.5G mobile data networks and will eventually push
operators to 4G. Reason: 4G networks offer more bandwidth per user, are more
bandwidth efficient (e.g. OFDMA and MIMO), and are "all IP" packet based (vs.
TDM overlays). For more on how network operators might deal with the mobile data
explosion, please see reference 4. below.

Notebooks and netbooks will be heavy user 4G clients, because they are capable
of much higher sustained throughput when uploading or downloading large
(multimedia, video or zip) files. Multiple concurrent PC users will likely
stress test a 4G network’s performance guarantees. In particular, 4G networks
will need to provide large amounts of bandwidth to multiple simultaneous users
along with QOS for differentiated services and applications.

But what are those new services and applications? A huge problem for wireless
operators is that their revenues are not keeping pace with the great increase in
network bandwidth consumed and the need for QOS to support multimedia and "rich
media" applications. Hence, revenue producing services must be developed and
come to market quickly for operators to get a decent ROI on their investments in
next generation mobile broadband networks.

Mobile video, gaming, music streaming, smart grid sensors, location based
services/ advertising, and other applications have been hyped for years, but no
sustainable business model(s) has yet been developed for them. Eventually, the
market will determine the apps and revenue models (charging vs. advertising)
that succeed or fail.

Session Presentation Highlights:

Lars Johnsson of Beceem expressed what seemed to be a consensus view of the four
semiconductor company panelists: "Wireless is the hard part, silicon is the easy
part." The basic premise is that the algorithms needed to achieve good
performance on an OFDMA based wireless broadband link is more difficult then
designing the silicon for that same link- especially when the end point is in
motion. The broadband wireless design challenge starts with constantly changing
signal strength and it gets more difficult once the terminal starts moving. Some
of the wireless design issues Lars identified were: signal tracking (to improve
performance under all conditions), channel estimation (allows for better
decoding), high-speed mobility, hand-off (from one base station to another),
maximum likelihood receiver (improves receiver sensitivity), interference
detection, and noise cancellation.

Ambroise Popper of Sequans stated that many core silicon functional blocks, now
used in WiMAX (IEEE 802.16e-2005) can be leveraged for 4G: the OFDM
modulator/demodulator, FEC, Channel estimation, and MIMO processing. Sequans
plans to facilitate a smooth evolution to 4G for
WiMAX network operators. They plan to develop and offer converged dual-mode IC’s
for backwards compatibility with Mobile WiMAX devices. Those components will
fully support the existing 802.16e and either 802.16m or LTE (dependent on
market demand). They see efficient low-power implementation and radio
performance as key differentiators between 4G and Mobile WiMAX/802.16e.

Sequans CEO Georges Karam believes WiMAX/802.16e is providing economies of scale
to network operators that plan to offer both fixed broadband wireless and mobile
services. Of course, the big semiconductor growth opportunity is in the mobile
space, since all the smart terminal devices and gadgets would contain 4G chips
and radios. Georges believes that LTE is the future, but the issue is when will
it be commercially realizable to large number of customers? He predicts that LTE
won’t happen till 2012. Nonetheless, Sequans plans to sample an LTE chip set
(baseband and RF) sometime next year. It will evolve over the next three to five
years to meet network operator requirements and have backward compatibility via
dual modes.

Alex Sum of GCT presented a very pragmatic assessment of the WiMAX vs LTE
debates. He first highlighted the cellular, WiMAX, and Wireless LAN paths, which
all converge to 4G.

 
Alex believes that most WiMAX operators are ‘green field’ operators, while
legacy cellcos are generally looking to LTE. The Greenfield WiMAX carriers are
characterized by the following attributes:

• They do NOT own existing cellular networks (with a few exceptions ), but in large #s
• They provide low cost alternatives to higher cost DSL, and high cost 3G services
• They provide data speed much better than current 3G, and even 3.5G cellular
• They are serving developed, as well as under-developed countries
• They are meeting the ‘market hunger’ for high, uninterrupted data speed
• With mobile dual mode devices available, it levels the wireless playing field
• IEEE 802.16m, if it is released in time, will match those higher performances of LTE

Alex correctly observes that most 3G cellular operators are committed to LTE
deployments. The LTE line-up includes an awesome bunch of cellco’s: Verizon and
Verizon Wireless, Vodafone, KDDI, DoCoMo, CMCC (China Mobile is planning TDD-LTE).
Here are some of Alex’s observations and expectations for LTE:

• LTE FDD development is ahead of TDD by at least six months (FDD needs two
  transmit/receive chains and is hence more expensive to implement than a TDD
  component)
• Just like UMTS and WiMAX, initial LTE device introduction will follow a maturation trend, but of course there will be some surprises
• LTE will be data-centric with PC data cards, USB dongles, and smart phones
• Femto APs will be developed and installed within homes and buildings (for better indoor penetration and to take traffic off cellular networks)
• Finally, embedded devices and handsets will become available

From GCT’s perspective, WiMAX is and continues to be a very viable market. It is
a growing into a very large world market, certainly not a niche. It will pay off
handsomely for all those who have invested and persisted. The strong eco-system
being built-up by WiMAX will enable IEEE 802.16m to prove itself to be a strong
competitor for LTE. WiMAX and LTE are both OFDMA based, so they could be
complimentary offerings, and could even converge. GCT is keeping a close eye on
the industrial trend and commercial developments.

Editors Note: GCT’s Mobile WiMAX Wave 2 single-chip GDM7205, which supports both
2.3GHz and 2.5GHz, has been integrated into LG Innotek’s new M-WiMAX SIP module.
This module is said to be the smallest Mobile WiMAX module available today.

Raj Singh, CEO of Wavesat- an innovator in multimode 4G baseband chipsets –
touted the company’s Odyssey architecture, where a single vendor programmable
chipset can be used to support WiMAX/802.16e, LTE and XGP in different versions/
part numbers. A vendor programmable Air-Interface chip architecture was said to
offer flexibility and "uncompromised" performance. The following Odyssey
attributes were highlighted:

• Programmable 4G PHY layer
• WiMAX Wave 2 (MIMO Matrix A & B, beam-forming and Hybrid-ARQ), LTE Cat 3, XG-P 1.0 (Japanese version of 4G)
• TDD & FDD with channelization of up to 20 MHz
• Adaptive modulation schemes (up to QAM-256 in DL and UL), up to 1K FFT, multi-zone support per frame and advanced FEC techniques
• Enhanced Security Protocol (EAP, AES and PKMv2)
• OTA In-field programmable

1. Fixed Data Access: Last Mile backhaul, DSL replacement, Femotcells
2. Data Mobility: Notebook, MID, UMPC, Handset
3. Embedded: Security Cameras, Game consoles, Wireless HDMI, Digital cameras
4. Voice: VoIP, GSM, CDMA

There might be several 4G Wireless Standards in different parts of the world,
with some countries going with WiMAX, others with LTE, or their own home grown
versions of 4G (e.g. Japan and China). [Author's Note: If there were too many 4G
variants, the worldwide 4G market could be fractured, with insufficient volumes
to drive prices down. Further, there would be serious interworking and roaming
problems for users that traveled.]

Advances in semiconductor technology were seen as an enabler of 4G network and
device capabilities. In particular:

• Very dense process geometry
• Very low power (needed for long battery life)
• Mixed signal availability on bulk CMOS
• CMOS volume drives pricing
• Dense geometries allow significant integration

4G Discussion Topics:

The consensus belief of the four participants was that WiMAX/ 802.16e is a very
credible competitor to 3G networks and it will be a commercial success – even if
true mobility doesn’t happen on a large scale. The networking technology just
"won’t be as sexy." While all of the companies mentioned are offering WiMAX
components, only Sequans and Wavesat stated they were also developing LTE chips/
chip sets.

During the panel session, Ambroise Popper of Sequans said it was not likely for
a semiconductor company to combine 3G and Mobile WiMAX on the same chip/ chip
set, because those two wireless networks would generally not be built out by the
same network operator. (Again, the one exception we know of is SPRINT, which has
its EVDO based 3G network and will be a MVNO for Clearwire’s Mobile WiMAX
service.),

Jose P. Puthenkulam- Intel’s WiMAX Standards Director and 4G visionary- recently
commented on the MVNO model and shared network approach to offering 4G services:
"I feel the model where every operator goes out and builds a nationwide wireless
network is broken. It creates an entire duplicate network infrastructure and
results in more costs being passed on to the end user. With network sharing and
MVNO models, there is more scale and also better capital efficiency and overall
end users will get more affordable services."

Jose also has a strong opinion on mobile VoIP: "I see Mobile VoIP happening on
WiMAX first even before LTE. The reason is that today 3G networks have been
designed to also support Circuit Switched (CS) voice. So as 3G voice is
primarily still going to be circuit switched, there will be a push to continue
CS voice over LTE networks to maintain seamless behavior.

One huge advantage for WiMAX is that it has no legacy (backward compatible
network) and therefore will be able to always use Mobile VoIP. That allows for
rich augmentation of voice services. However LTE networks with CS voice will be
the same old cellular voice (to be backward compatible with 2G and 3G) for some
time to come."

More from Jose in a two-part wimax.com interview, to be published in the very
near future.

References:
1. The May 13th ComSoc session presentations and speaker bios can be accessed
from:
http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r6/scv/comsoc/ComSoc_2009_Presentations.php

2. At our March 25th meeting, Intel presented a Mobile WiMAX Update and IEEE
802.16m (the 4G version of WiMAX). Presentation is at:
http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r6/scv/comsoc/Talk_032509_WiMAXUpdate.pdf

3. Are LTE and mobile WiMAX really 4G networks? A look at ITU-R IMT Advanced
Requirements
http://viodi.com/2008/12/30/itu-r-imt/

4. How will wireless network operators cope with the coming bandwidth
bottlenecks of the ‘Zettabyte Era?’
http://wimaxcommunity.ning.com/profiles/blogs/how-will-wireless-network