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WiMAX "hype premature" says GSMA as anti-Qualcomm sentiment continues

The Qualcomm backlash may be stronger, worldwide, than previously acknowledged. "I think HSPA is one of the few recent technologies to not be overhyped," said David Pringle, the spokesman for the GSMA, a trade association that represents 700 GSM mobile phone operators. "Its effect on performance has been dramatic. It's offering wireless broadband, and it's here today."

But the main thing about wideband CDMA, which Pringle doesn't mention, is that the intellectual property involved is all Qualcomm owned. And despite all the obvious flaws in WiMAX, it is Qualcomm free.

The quote above was posted by Brad Reed of ARN, an Australian reseller newsletter, as the established 3G world begins to realise - too late? - that the Intel-led WiMAX innovation is gaining traction.

According to a report from Philip Solis of ABI Research "The global telecommunications industry is on the cusp of major change, and operators are approaching critical decisions about their 4G strategies, as mobile WiMAX (802.16e) starts to move from trials and pilots to the first real-world WiMAX network deployments."

The ABI report compares technologies which are part of standard 3G's "long term evolution" or LTE, with potential 4G alternatives, and suggests that the orthodox 3G package is falling behind.

Solis said: "While WiMAX equipment interoperability certification timelines have slipped somewhat, and LTE benefits from having evolved out of the widely-deployed GSM technology, WiMAX has at least a two year head start in reaching the market."

The ABI report continues: "The major semiconductor and equipment makers, with the exception of Qualcomm and Ericsson, are staking out their positions for this emerging sector, while operators’ enthusiasm, led by Sprint’s and Clearwire’s firm commitments in the United States, is rising sharply."

It says that Vodafone is looking to WiMAX for some of its newer markets such as the Middle East and Eastern Europe; BT and Telecom Italia Mobile are also showing interest. And ABI Research "understands that another as yet unnamed 'major European mobile operator' is 'seriously considering WiMAX'."

As to whether the WiMAX technology can offer any technical advantages over LTE, the report doesn't appear to say. Most WiMAX rollouts are likely to be at 2.5 GHz and 3.5 GHz band spectrum. The main technical challenge facing LTE is the in-building penetration problem. At the standard 2.1 GHz frequency, many WCDMA networks are finding that 3G phones work OK in the streets, but poorly indoors.

That problem is highly unlikely to be solved by moving up to 2.5 or 3.5 GHz.

Strong lobbyist pressure is developing to open up the old analogue cellphone wavebands to LTE, especially in Europe. However, there is competition in that area, especially from high definition TV (HDTV) proponents anxious to avoid handing a monopoly of high definition to Sky.

The anti-Qualcomm effect was a primary factor in the explosion of GSM outside America. ABI points out that both Qualcomm and Ericsson are still determinedly anti-WiMAX. But Qualcomm's intransigence in its management of its intellectual property portfolio continues to alienate others, and technical issues may turn out to be less critical in this market, than the ability to free the comms world from reliance on Qualcomm patents.