Sprint mulling LTE for 4G network

Interestingly enough, when we were speaking to Sprint about the EVO 4G and mentioned “WiMax,” the third-largest carrier was quick to make sure we knew it was referring to it as “4G.” Now, we’re hearing rumblings that the company is evaluating switching from WiMax to Long-Term Evolution technology for its 4G network.

According to Light Reading, the company is sending out a request for proposal that evaluates LTE for its next-generation network.

“There’s nothing that prevents us from … moving to LTE,” said Kevin Packingham, senior VP of product and technology development at Sprint. “We’re doing a technology evaluation and making a decision on our core network and how we want to evolve that going forward.”

This doesn’t mean it will ditch WiMax, as Packingham said the two don’t necessarily have to be mutually exclusive. It is a strong indicator that Sprint will move to LTE though, as that technology is quickly becoming the de-facto standard for 4G networks around the world. Verizon Wireless is making a big push for a 4G network based on LTE and it plans to have up to five 4G handsets by this time next year. AT&T, T-Mobile and multiple other carriers around the world have already committed to this tech, too.

It’s smart for Sprint to evaluate this technology, as its 4G infrastructure could be transitioned over relatively easily. Clearwire, which builds out Sprint’s 4G network, has said the switch to LTE would essentially be a software upgrade because the technologies are similar. Clearwire’s WiMax service currently covers about 120 million people and it has about only one million subscribers, so that could also ease some of the transition pains.

For consumers, this could be another case of early tech adopters getting burned because devices like the Evo 4G probably don’t have the radios to handle LTE. Any transition would take years though, so you’ll probably still get your money’s worth from that device.

[Via Light Reading, hat tip to PhoneScoop]

About The Author

Marin Perez

Marin Perez has torture tested cell phones and smartphones for industry leaders like CNET and InformationWeek. He remembers when 4G was just a screen on PowerPoint presentations and is fascinated with the amount of innovation out there. Marin has spent a lot of time with BlackBerry and Android but he finally broke down a bought an iPhone to see what all the hype's about. He also has too many tablets.

Sprint or not Sprint

That's nice, I wish money grew on trees? If I buy an EVO now, I would expect it to work on WIMAX for quite a few years? If LTE is just around the corner, say,… in the next year or two, that would mean i have to spend more hard earned dollars for another EVO that works on LTE?

I guess the good thing for me being a premier customer with sprint is, I can buy a new phone every year. I better start looking for that money tree!

Kevin
Sprint or not Sprint

That's nice, I wish money grew on trees? If I buy an EVO now, I would expect it to work on WIMAX for quite a few years? If LTE is just around the corner, say,… in the next year or two, that would mean i have to spend more hard-earned dollars for another EVO that works on LTE?
marinperez

I get your point but I'd say this is five years out at the least and they also said they could keep the WiMax lit up while LTE is going.

And yes, I wish money grew on trees as well.
mike

Well I just spoke to Sprint tech support as a premier customer for over ten years with 5 phones. They said the extra 10 bucks in for the extra bandwidth you will have with 4g, but here in Pittsburgh 4 g will not be installed until minimum the end of 2010 and later i was told. So then why should i pay the 10 for a product that I wont be offered.
John Thacker

“It is a strong indicator that Sprint will move to LTE though, as that technology is quickly becoming the de-facto standard for 4G networks around the world.”

Except that WiMAX is considerably more deployed throughout the world and in more places. They’re really very different standards– WiMAX is a IEEE standard that’s used for just providing data access by ISPs in a manner similar to WiFi or your home Internet services, while LTE is a standard created by cellular providers for the benefit of cellular providers. LTE has a lot more backwards compatibility for voice calls, whereas WiMAX is just a way to provide a data service. (Calls for Sprint will be over their CDMA network, unless at some point they move to Voice over WiMAX, which would really be just Voice over IP with WiMAX as the data network.)

If you’re excited about phones that support WiFi, then you should be excited about WiMAX support for phones. In any case, as data services move towards open networks and all IP services, all the services can coexist. It’s not like WiFi support in phones is tremendously expensive simply because WiFi isn’t a 2G, 3G, or 4G cellular standard officially adopted by any provider.
Bill

Big thing to consider as well is that LTE as far as i know does not exisit in the real world – only in tests – WiMAX is deployed here and in China and is growing –

I really hope this does not turn into Beta vs VHS. . . .
Jonas

Ummm…LTE is in use in the real world.