“LTE is a natural evolution of NextWave’s TD-CDMA R&D,” notes Peter Jarich, Research Director with Current Analysis. “As always, operators are looking for wireless solutions that leverage existing platforms and existing R&D. To this end, NextWave’s V5 platform and TDD/FDD assets should help to create a compelling solution.”

NextWave’s high-performance mobile broadband platform is currently being utilized by operators such as T-Mobile in the Czech Republic, who is using it to offer high-speed, mobile Internet and residential broadband access to more than 60 percent of the Czech population. One of the largest next-generation mobile broadband networks in the world, T-Mobile’s “Internet 4G” network delivers more than 10 terabytes of data each day, which translates into each subscriber downloading several gigabytes of data per month - an amount several orders of magnitude greater than subscribers of conventional 3G data networks.

“Operators that want to provide customers an unmatched mobile multimedia experience and get a head start in implementing WiMAX or LTE can begin by deploying our advanced 4G-ready multi-technology V5 base stations today. Once a range of WiMAX or LTE devices become commercially available, upgrading their V5 platforms to support these new standards will be a simple and cost-effective upgrade,” Dr. Jones added.

3GPP LTE is an evolution of the GSM/UMTS systems family and is optimized to enhance wireless network performance by enabling new, high-capacity mobile broadband applications and services, while providing cost-efficient, ubiquitous mobile coverage. LTE is also scalable to allow operation in a wide range of spectrum bandwidths, from 1.4 - 20 MHz, using both Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex (TDD) modes of operation, thus providing flexibility to suit virtually any operator’s existing or future frequency allocation. LTE Terrestrial Radio Access Network technology specifications have been approved and will be included in the forthcoming 3GPP Release 8.