Nortel ditches WiMax to focus on 4G

Telecommunications equipment maker Nortel Networks is dumping its WiMax business to focus on a more popular 4G wireless technology.

The company said earlier this week that it's focusing its money and development efforts on Long Term Evolution, or LTE. Even though LTE hasn't yet been standardized, it has more support from major carriers around the world than WiMax.

The two largest U.S. operators, AT&T and Verizon Wireless, have already announced they plan to use LTE to build their 4G wireless networks. Vodafone, the largest worldwide wireless operator, also plans to use LTE for its next generation network.

Sprint Nextel is the only major U.S. operator using WiMax. The company earlier this year joined forces with Clearwire and several other companies including Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Intel, in a $12 billion joint venture to build a nationwide WiMax network.

Sprint, which has already been testing its WiMax network in some places, did not choose Nortel as one of its major vendors to build the new network. This was a major blow for the telecommunications equipment maker, which instead has been forced to focus on carriers in emerging markets. Relative to LTE, this WiMax opportunity is much smaller, which likely contributed to the company's decision to ditch it.

Instead of sinking a lot of research and development into WiMax, Nortel plans to address this market through a relationship with Alvarion.

[hitman247]

do you mean 4G?

[whizkid454]

Haha, ZDNet messed up with 3G as well (they had it as G3). Must be pretty easy to switch the two?

[dmjossel]

Besides that, WiMax is just as much 4G as LTE is. They're both based on OFDM and offer significant increases over GSM/GPRS or CDMA/EDGE (2.5G) or 3G (EVDO or UMTS).

There is a difference, of course. One can order WiMax equipment. LTE... not so much.

[fgoldstein]

WiMAX is the better answer for unpaired spectrum (TDD); LTE applies most of the same technology (and then some) to paired spectrum (FDD). LTE is thus a better fit for the voice-oriented mobile networks; they have a lot of money, and are preparing for a big move to LTE starting with trials next year or so. WiMAX will remain a niche market, mostly for data applications, often fixed or nomadic rather than mobile. That's smaller and has less money behind it, so it is not worth Nortel's time being a small player. It doesn't mean that WiMAX is dead; it's just not going to be huge.

[bogowan]

Nortel "dumps" or "ditches" WiMAX is wrong. We are not ditching the WiMAX market, we are partnering with Alvarion for WiMAX base stations. Nortel is still dedicating resources to WiMAX, including joint R&D with Alvarion, as well as integration with our related products...not to mention a full slate of professional services (did I mention sales and marketing?).

Nortel isn't the only major telecom vendor to take this avenue either - Fujitsu last year announced that they would partner with Airspan, a WiMAX specialist, as their technology base.

The point isn't that Nortel is exiting WiMAX - it's that Nortel is partnering on WiMAX development so that it can focus R&D resources on LTE -- and we can now deliver solutions faster for both WiMAX and LTE instead of spreading R&D across both and risking not being able to deliver either very well or on time.

[Quemannn]

WiMAX and LTE are 4G cousins. The only diference is that mobile WiMAX has been successful in Korea, and fixed WiMAX is prevalent in mountainous Asian countries, while LTE seems to hit the market in 2012. There is no comparison between a baby born (WiMAX) and a fetus(LTE). Over 85% is overlapped in both technologies, and chances are LTE may be merged into WiMAX later on. That's why technology giants, like Nokia, Samsung, LG are supportive of both. Simply put, companies behind LTE are defering 4G until 2012 or looking for a timely chance to switch to WiMAX. Over 500 firms are behind WiMAX, while it is yet to be known how many are behind LTE.