April 5, 2010 – (VoN) LTE is about to go commercial as a real-world 4G mobile broadband technology, by the end of the year. And with that, the era of LTE v. WiMAX is coming to a close.

April 5, 2010 – (VoN) LTE is about to go commercial as a real-world 4G mobile broadband technology, by the end of the year. And with that, the era of LTE v. WiMAX is coming to a close. The question now is how these two complementary technologies will ultimately architect new business models, not which one will do it better.

“There is an explosion of demand for mobile broadband, of course, and the real challenge has been in deciding the best way to fill it, because we have two viable technologies,” said Bruce Brda, senior vice president and general manager of the networks segment of Motorola Inc.’s Enterprise Mobility Solutions division. “But the debate is now over. People have chosen their technology and are on a path for either WiMAX or LTE.”

WiMAX Will Remain
While most Tier 1 operators around the world have chosen LTE as their particular 4G poison, WiMAX clearly will remain a technology with critical mass. Aside from soon-to-be-eradicated differentiators like the spectrum it can operate in (LTE is somewhat constricted), or the fact that it can elegantly support VoIP, unlike LTE, WiMAX also enjoys an embedded base that’s not to be sniffed at.

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