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speculation of: current wimax phone's niche

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dan330

Extreme Android User
ok.. this is just my stupid assumptions of what I have heard on these forums... so nothing really on facts.

assumptions:
1. sprint will be a combo network of wimax and lte
2. current wimax phones can be updated to lte with software
3. lte will impose a huge restriction on data and usage with extra charges.
4. all future phones will be lte
5. wimax will be used for backbone duty

so.. if these 5 rumors are true.

would that mean ... all the current wimax phones: evo, epic, evo shift (maybe a few more that get released in the next few months). can be used on both wimax and lte.

and if lte is used by carriers to extract more $$ for data use from customers. that would dictate that when lte is out on sprint... sprint will only release lte phones.

wimax will be used for backbones and trunks only.
and larger data movements.

so... current wimax phones will be special and most powerful data devices. will be highly in demand.. but have been discontinued.

what you think???? :p :confused:
 
^^ yes.. i know about that.. I posted it yesterday.

but that is still not fact and confirmed ...a commitment to wimax.

debate still goes on.... so.. that made me think of the OP i posted
 
dan330 said:
ok.. this is just my stupid assumptions of what I have heard on these forums... so nothing really on facts.
Click to expand...

Ok I'll play along :)

assumptions:
1. sprint will be a combo network of wimax and lte
Click to expand...

While discussed in the past, I just can't see it being practical.

2. current wimax phones can be updated to lte with software
Click to expand...

I was under the impression that software upgrades alone were not enough for our phones. I could be wrong but that is just what I remember reading.

3. lte will impose a huge restriction on data and usage with extra charges.
Click to expand...

LTE does give carriers more options to impose restrictions but I think Sprint will stick with Wimax

4. all future phones will be lte
Click to expand...

I don't think so but I guess we will find out on March 22nd when Sprint debuts some new high end devices.

5. wimax will be used for backbone duty
Click to expand...

What exactly do you mean by this?

so.. if these 5 rumors are true.

would that mean ... all the current wimax phones: evo, epic, evo shift (maybe a few more that get released in the next few months). can be used on both wimax and lte.
Click to expand...

Again, I didn't think a software upgrade was enough.

and if lte is used by carriers to extract more $$ for data use from customers. that would dictate that when lte is out on sprint... sprint will only release lte phones.
Click to expand...

That makes sense if Sprint went the route of LTE

wimax will be used for backbones and trunks only.
and larger data movements.

so... current wimax phones will be special and most powerful data devices. will be highly in demand.. but have been discontinued.
Click to expand...

If Sprint switched over to LTE and only sold LTE phones, they would set a deadline when the Wimax service would stop working and offer incentives for people to switch phones. They would not maintain an entire Wimax network indefinitely for 3 discontinued phones

what you think???? :p :confused:
Click to expand...

Like I said before, I think you are wrong. If Sprint is indeed committed to Clear/Wimax, they won't suddenly have another 4g network. Try telling a wife/girlfriend that you are committed to her...but that you also have another girlfriend on the side and see how well that works out :rolleyes:
 
read my first statement.. all assumptions are from rumors that I have read. using the assumptions.. i made more assumptions.

that lead to my final query...

just to start a conversation and more speculations and assumptions..
if you dont agree.. so be it. no problems. I respect your opinions too.
 
A friend who works in the back offices of Comcast told me they are teaming up with Sprint to offer a 4-play of Cable, Internet (Both wired and wireless via clearwire), Voip and Sprint service. Seems that they are getting ready to crank the 4G speeds up to 20MBits/sec as well. If this is true, Sprint will probably not pick up lte.

Discuss..
 
Let's just take a step back here...

1) Comcast is currently offering 4G mobile internet via Clear so that's nothing new.
2) WiMAX was ready now, not the best option going forward.
3) Most of Clear's partner companies have bailed - including Comcast/Xfinity - from providing any additional funding.
4) LTE is not more costly than WiMAX once it is up and running. The hardware is essentially the same and the cost per GB is determined by the actual cost of the hardware and maintenance. Overall, that would be a wash...

Now, if Clear is so dedicated to the WiMAX train, why are they testing LTE?

Clear bullish on LTE trial results, says WiMAX is 'best for the customer' right now -- Engadget

DailyTech - Clearwire LTE Test Network Hits 90 Mbit/sec

It sounds like Clear and Sprint both know that speed is king and they need to step it up in both power and coverage. Pretty sad that WiMAX can't shoot through a building, but I haven't tested LTE products yet - thanks for being so slow VZW!
 
I don't get 4g in my town but last weekend I was sitting in a building at the Tampa Fairgrounds pulling 5mb on it during a speed test... It's spotty and patchy, but when it's working it works great.
 
To be honest I think the only reason Sprint is talking about doing LTE is so they can get cash from an outside investor.
 
Bill Morrow, CEO of Clearwire, stepped down today:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/10/clearwire-ceo-bill-morrow-resigns/

Might be a precursor to some major changes at Clearwire.
 
JunBringer said:
Sprint said they're committed to Clear, but might be going Lte. Thus Clear is going Lte. :)
Click to expand...
I think everyone has known for a while, or at least strongly suspected, that Clear would be going LTE.

Not only have they been testing it, but before that they were making public statements about how it would only be a minor change that they could do at any time and they would look into it in the future.
 
zcarman said:
Let's just take a step back here...

1) Comcast is currently offering 4G mobile internet via Clear so that's nothing new.
2) WiMAX was ready now, not the best option going forward.
3) Most of Clear's partner companies have bailed - including Comcast/Xfinity - from providing any additional funding.
4) LTE is not more costly than WiMAX once it is up and running. The hardware is essentially the same and the cost per GB is determined by the actual cost of the hardware and maintenance. Overall, that would be a wash...

Now, if Clear is so dedicated to the WiMAX train, why are they testing LTE?

Clear bullish on LTE trial results, says WiMAX is 'best for the customer' right now -- Engadget

DailyTech - Clearwire LTE Test Network Hits 90 Mbit/sec

It sounds like Clear and Sprint both know that speed is king and they need to step it up in both power and coverage. Pretty sad that WiMAX can't shoot through a building, but I haven't tested LTE products yet - thanks for being so slow VZW!
Click to expand...

Please stop talking. Please?

Starting from the bottom working up.
1.)LTE is not fast then wimax, as currently deployed. LTE has some serous interference problems right now. And does not have the protocols to fix it. Wimax does not have a pentration issue when fully developed.

2.) LTE testing is easier for single tower operations. It is just easier to test. Secondly, lte needs to be supported in usa and other markets to work with wimax. LTE to wimax connections will become the standard in near feature. Wimax to wimax also needs to be tested. IF you read the whole report instead of just mindlessly posting. LTE hit 90mbps, WIMAX hit 119mbps in the same test.

3.) "The hardware is essentially the same and the cost per GB is determined by the actual cost of the hardware and maintenance." Just wrong. Besides lte costing $110,000 dollar per station, compared to wimax $15,000 dollars per station, lte has to but manually maintained twice per year regardless of where it actually needs anything done, Wimax will maintain a report log on usage and only require maintenance when it falls out of maximal range, about 12-18 months, it will tell you where you need to fix it.

4.)"Most of Clear's partner companies have bailed -" Once again bull. The wimax forum has picked up 32 members in the last 2 years. Most of the major companies are still running with clear. Even a few companies that want to offer lte on clears network.

You guys understand the difference between lte and wimax right? Because you guys seem to treat them like baseball/football teams. They are only tools and software. They only run as well as the network.

Now I am not a fan of clear network, because I think the best way to describe that build out was bat s&!t stupid. But it is software + network.

So please do some reading before you just mindless regurgitation stuff you get of the internet.
 
riverofice... like aways.. good info. interesting.

sounds like it is very heavily weighted towards wimax being the better solution. but carriers are pushing for lte.
makes you wonder why... only thing i can think of: ability to control data and fees.

but there are other threads that discuss this.
here is just a whimsical discussion of possibilities (how ever impossible)
 
dan330 said:
but carriers are pushing for lte.
makes you wonder why... only thing i can think of: ability to control data and fees.
Click to expand...

I should have said up to $110,000 dollars. Some cost more and some cost less.

LTE is licensed technology and wimax is open source. To have, install, and run LTE, you need to pay the LTE group fees, a lot of them. If you are a member of the LTE group, you don't get to pay the fees, or at least a lot of money comes back to you.

The main point of anything in this country is profit. We need to look at efficiency over cost.

Right now, 3g cost about 40 dollars per 15mhz, give or take. It brings in about 70 dollars per 15mhz.

Which means per 15mhz of spectrum, you will achieve about 30 dollars of profit.

LTE cost, for verizon, about 4 dollars per 30mhz of spectrum. It will cost about 60 dollars per 5mhz per spectrum. Total profit about $59.50 per 5mhz of specturm or $178.50 per 15mhz of spectrum.

Which means, verizion not only gets 100% of control over it network, ti can also make very little go a long way.


WIMAX on the other hand cost about 2 dollars per 30mhz of spectrum, (actually a lot less). But is only making 10 dollars per 5mhz of spectrum. So per 15mhz of spectrum, you get $29 dollars of profit, which is about the same as 3g. Why less, because you get less control.

Which sounds better $178.50 per 15mhz or $29 dollars per 15mhz.
(numbers are completely made up, but should reflect the differences in profit over time of the two technologies. Higher cost, higher profit. Lower cost, lower profit. But no noticeable difference for the user. )
 
RiverOfIce said:
(numbers are completely made up, but should reflect the differences in profit over time of the two technologies. Higher cost, higher profit. Lower cost, lower profit. But no noticeable difference for the user. )
Click to expand...


other than the much higher cost for customers ...to pay for the much higher profit for carriers.
 
dan330 said:
other than the much higher cost for customers ...to pay for the much higher profit for carriers.
Click to expand...
Well not really, because with lte you only need 5mhz, not 15mhz.

More like you are paying the same but cost verizon less. Voice, text, and data is about 15mhz of spectrum right now, which with lte/wimax will be compressed to 5mhz of spectrum. Instead of 1 person at 15mhz, they have 3 people at 5mhz. Wireless industry is still adding about 1 million new smartphone users per quarter (I really dont think that is true but I have in front of me a marketing slogan that says it is.) After verizon locks up the 4g market, assuming they can kill off wimax, they will really start to cost customers. As long as wimax is still around, the customer wins.
 
"Now I am not a fan of clear network, because I think the best way to describe that build out was bat s&!t stupid. But it is software + network."

Dear RiverofIce; you really need not be polite, please do not "beat about the bush":rolleyes:
 
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