Brian B

GOKOR

utube2007

The biggest thing this will do is put them on a more equal footing with the rest of the GSM carriers when it comes to getting newer phones. Assuming the phone offerings become roughly equal with its competitors then the biggest differentiating factor becomes the strength of the network (which has always been Verizon's biggest selling point to date.)

Ron-Mexico

WHY??

because not just Verizon is working on this..., A lot of major companies are!

but i my contract with verizon ends in june.., so i hope they will be set on whatever they will be doing before then...

skyline6

Sugadadee

The network topologies of each diverge significantly from the previous tech: there is no Radio Network Controller (aka Base Station Controller) to control mobility, so the Radio Access Network's topology flattens out considerably. The core network elements (your SGSN/PDSN, etc) also change pretty considerably to match. This means a radical change in your network no matter which one you choose, which makes Verizon picking LTE seem much less surprising.

UMB was looking pretty dead while Spring was in bed with Clearwire. Now that's not so certain. Either way, they're all OFDM technologies with some minor differences in the channel structure which will make them incompatible with each other, but from the end-user's standpoint the performance of each should be similar, so it's a big ol' "who cares". Trying to speculate right now on which tech will have the best handsets, etc, is silly, and can only be based on name recognition (I've heard of WiMax, so it must be better). Believe me, if LTE takes off as the successor to UMTS, Nokia, Sony Ericcson and all the rest will be rolling out devices like gangbusters.

As for the current GSM networks moving to LTE, they haven't even finished transitioning to UMTS yet, so don't get ahead of yourself! Just based on the ongoing investments needed in UMTS, and the snails pace that these developments *actually* occur at, don't read too much into the "Trial in 2008" thing. "Trial in 2008" almost certainly really means "4 base stations and two access terminals working in '08, with the real trial starting in '09". I'd be surprised if there were *real* commercial deployments (and not tiny little fake ones to tout network superiority) before late 2010 at the earliest. Everyone always over-promises on this junk.

The good news is, 3G is really starting to hit its stride, and its performance is actually pretty good. Enjoy the upcoming UTMS and EV-DO RevA handsets, they're only going to get cheaper, and they'll beat the hell out of EDGE and CDMA 1x Data. I bet Sprint supporting the Kindle is only the beginning of the movement to embed 3G in everything, and it's going to be awesome. (I can't wait for that UTMS iPhone!)

max_k

It might:
[www.wireless-weblog.com]
[www.electronista.com]

Carriers will obviously still have the ability to lock their phones. Also, US customers aren't used to the idea of paying 2 or 3 hundred bucks for a phone, let alone $500 for a PDA. The model of carrier subsidies will likely exist here for a long time, which is how carriers will distinguish themselves. It makes sense; we buy everything else on credit, why not cell phones?

analogs

Scaramanga

firesign

bmoctta

Razta

analogs

Razta

It is its destiny.

God made the pretty girls pretty because he likes them more

Razta

ChickenSangwich

Phineas J. Whoopie

It's that simple.

strider_mt2k

I want a free flashlight.

huygir

God made the pretty girls pretty because he likes them more