The GSA (Global Suppliers Association) is reporting that over the past 8 months there has been a near 100% increase in the number of operators around the world committing to the LTE standard. There are now 51 network commitments in 24 countries, an increase of 96% over the past 8 months. Not all is rosy in terms of a frequencies however with the EU mainly sticking to 2.6 GHz for LTE, American operators using 700 MHz, and the Japanese using 800 MHz, 1.5 GHz or 1.7 GHz depending on operator. Why is LTE (Long Term Evolution) important? It’s going to be 10x faster than today’s networks, with less latency, and it can scale to support more users. It really is going to be the next generation of wireless. Here is a list of who is working on what:

• Verizon (NYSE: VZ) is deploying LTE in the 700 MHz band. Trial networks are set up in Boston and Seattle, each with 10 LTE sites. Verizon in planning to launch LTE in up to 30 commercial markets by the end 2010, giving coverage to roughly 100 million people, and to deploy a nationwide network by 2013.
• AT&T (NYSE: T) will deploy LTE in 700 MHz and plans to launch LTE in “key markets” during 2011.
• China Mobile is building their TD-SCDMA network so that cell sites and other elements can be upgraded seamlessly to support LTE. TD-LTE is estimate to be commercially available around 2012. China Telecom plans to migrate to LTE.
• Vodafone Germany is deploying an LTE system using digital dividend (790-862 MHz) spectrum. The government plans to auction 6 blocks of 2×5 MHz Digital Dividend spectrum in Q2 2010.
• In Japan the LTE operators will use 1.5 GHz (DoCoMo and Softbank Mobile), 1.5 GHz + 800 MHz (KDDI), and 1.7 GHz (eMobile). NTT DoCoMo plans to launch a commercial LTE launch in December 2010. They will initially focus on PC usage and will only begin offering dual-mode 3G/LTE handsets in 2011. By 2014 NTT DoCoMo plans to provide LTE service to 50% of the population from around 20,000 base stations at a cost of between $3 to 4 billion. eMobile says their LTE network will launchin September 2010.
• SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM), KTF and LG Telecom are deploying LTE networks in South Korea right now.
• Telstra will deploy LTE in hotspots in Australia, mainly in urban areas in 2.6GHz spectrum, and will fill rural broadband gaps using 700MHz. Neither of these bands has been auctioned yet though.
• Telecom Italia plans to deploy LTE and reported in December 2009 that a technical trial using 14 LTE cell sites on its existing mobile broadband infrastructure in Turin delivered 140 Mbps down.
• TeliaSonera Sweden is deploying LTE using nationwide 2 x 20 MHz 2.6 GHz spectrum. On May 25, 2009 TeliaSonera unveiled the world’s first commercial LTE site, part of the LTE network scheduled to launch in Stockholm in 2010.
• Tele2 Sweden and TeleNor Sweden are jointly building an LTE network. The joint venture includes spectrum sharing in the 900 MHz and 2.6 GHz bands. Launch of LTE services is targeted for end 2010, or when modems are available. By 2013 the operators expect 99% of the Swedish population to have access to mobile broadband at speeds up to 80 Mbps in rural areas and up to 150 Mbps in urban areas.
• TeliaSonera Norway is planning to launch an LTE commercial launch in Oslo in 2010.
• TeleNor has an LTE trial network in Oslo and has also committed to commercial deployment.
• France Telecom (Orange) is trailing LTE and deployment is planned for 2011, subject to availability of (2.6 GHz) spectrum.
• T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) Germany anticipates LTE deployment from 2011, with trials underway this year.
• MetroPCS (USA) plans an LTE launch in 2H 2010.
• Cox (USA) has made plans to deploy LTE in 700 MHz spectrum from 2011.
• Aircell will launch LTE in 2011 to boost capacity of their in-flight network.
• Bell Canada and Telus have deployed a joint HSPA network, which will later be upgraded to LTE. Rogers Wireless is conducting LTE trials right now.
• In Hong Kong 2 x 15 MHz blocks of 2.6 GHz FDD spectrum have been auctioned, and won each by China Mobile, Genius Brand (Hutchison Telecom/PCCW) and CSL Limited.
• SmarTone-Vodafone plans to deploy LTE re-using their GSM (900/1800) spectrum in Hong Kong.
• Smart Communications has conducted the first LTE trial in the Philippines. Piltel is reported to have applied for the remaining 3G licence in the country to deploy LTE services.
• Chunghwa Telecom is firmly committed to LTE, however the spectrum situation in Taiwan is unclear. Deployment is expected to start from around 2012.
• Speaking at the LTE Forum 2009 in Lisbon, Portugal, Telecom CEO Zeinal Bava announced LTE trials would be undertaken in Portugal and Brazil.
• Vodacom is testing LTE in its South Africa and reportedly has 1,000 LTE ready cell sites with launch planned “when handsets become available”.
• VivaCell-MTS in Armenia, is reported to have confirmed plans to deploy LTE in 2010.
• MTS, Uzbekistan will deploy LTE and is setting up a pilot LTE network in Tashkent for testing 2010-2012.
• T-Mobile Austria launched a 60 cell site trial LTE network in Innsbruck in July 2009.
• 3 Austria provided a live LTE demonstration at the European Forum in Alpbach, and on August 25, 2009 announced that upgrading of their entire network for LTE had begun, and that the company will have the technical capability to offer LTE to customers from 2011.
• In Denmark a public consultation on 2.6 GHz is underway. An auction is expected during Q1 2010.
• Telefonica has conducted LTE field tests at its Madrid Demonstrations Center, achieving download speeds over 140 Mbps, and plans to trial LTE on its mobile networks in Argentina, Brazil, Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, and the UK.
• Bouygues Telecom has selected an infrastructure partner for Europe’s first LTE trial in the 1800 MHz band. The trial is scheduled to begin in 2010 at a number of sites in the western part of France.
• An auction for 2.6 GHz spectrum recently closed in Finland and three operators (Elisa, TeliaSonera and DNA) won a piece of it; they all plan to deploy LTE.

As for LTE devices, LG is saying that the first LTE handsets should come to market. Samsung and Nokia (NYSE: NOK) have already demonstrated LTE modems that you’ll soon see sticking out the side of laptops in cafés all around the world.

Thirteen impressive new phones are coming down the pipe for Japanese service provider KDDI. Here’s the breakdown:

1. Casio Exilim Keitei CA003: 12 megapixel camera with 3x optical zoom, autofocus, image stablizer, and 20 images/second rapid shot
2. Sharp Aquos Shot SH003: 12 megapixel camera, FM transmitter, transfer and view Blu-Ray movies
3. Sharp Aquos Shot SH006:  12 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, GPS, transfer and view Blu-Ray movies
4. Casio Exilim Keitei CA004: 8 megapixel camera with face detection, autofocus, and VGA video recording
5. Sharp SH004: 8 megapixel camera with noise reduction and low-light filter; low-power mode and call noise-cancellation
6. Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) Bravia U1: 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and image stabilization; transfer and view Blu-Ray movies; waterproof
7. Kyocera (NYSE: KYO) SA001: 3.2 megapixel camera with image stabilization; 14.7mm thin closed
8. Toshiba (OTCPK: TOSBF) T003: 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus, face detection, and image stabilization; waterproof
9. Sharp SH005: 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and image stabilization; transfer and view Blu-Ray movies; waterproof
10. Sony Ericsson S002: 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus; GSM support
11. Sony Ericsson Urbano Barone: 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and image stabilization; large keys for the elderly; transfer and view Blu-Ray movies
12. Kyocera Mobile Easy K004: 2 megapixel camera with autofocus; easy-to-use UI
13. Kyocera Mamorino: Security-centric, helps parents keep tabs on kids; waterproof

Oh yeah, and the vast majority have WVGA displays and infrared support. Man, it’s a whole other universe over in Japan. The Bravia-branded phone is pretty slick, and the only other time we’ve seen optical zoom on a 12 megapixel cameraphone was on the Samsung W880. Overall, a solid winter lineup from KDDI – I just wish we had something comparable over here.

[KDDI via MobileCrunch]

Motorola (NYSE: MOT)’s handsets unit may be suffering heavily these days, but their infrastructure business is a different story. On that note, the American company announced that they will help KDDI develop and implement LTE network, including RAN/base stations.

The Japanese carrier will deploy its LTE network in both 1.5GHz and 800MHz bands, and plans to offer commercial LTE services by December 2012, following a series of trials scheduled to begin in mid 2010.

Commenting on the news, Motorola Wireless Networks’ Bruce Brda said: “We are honored to be selected by our long-time customer KDDI to team with them in developing an innovative solution for their networking needs. Motorola is committed to bringing LTE to the market and delivering flexible solutions that help customers like KDDI accelerate the delivery of next-generation wireless access services in the most cost-effective manner possible.”

For the record, KDDI and Motorola have been building networks together in Japan for 20 years, and have introduced Japan’s first CDMA network “back in the days”…

The au Design Project was created by Japanese operator KDDI in May 2001 because customers complained that they’re tired of seeing the same form factors, over and over again, with minor differences based on color and materials. They showed off three prototypes at launch, the info.bar, rotary, and wearable, and after much pressure they launched a device based on the info.bar concept in October 2003. Since then the au Design Project has been introducing more concepts and products. It’s been so successful that recently the infobar, talby, neon, and “media skin” designs have been added to a permanent exhibit at the New York Museum of Modern Art. Today three models have been added to the range, designed by Yayoi Kusuma, named “Happiness with Dots (pictured below),” “Doggie Ring-Ring (picture after the jump)” and “The groovy Hand Bag for Space Travel (pictured above).” You’ve got to love that. In Europe we’re still remembering 4 digit numbers, in America they have words with missing vowels such as RAZR, and in Japan they have whole phrases. The devices are going to go on sale July 30th and range in price from $1,000 to $10,000, with highly limited availability.

[Via: Wireless Watch Japan]

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Porn. Go anywhere in the world and you’ll find porn going strong. Go to Japan, however, and you you’ll find that mobile porn consumption is straining wireless data networks to the max. With more and more Japanese mobile subscribers opting for unlimited data plans, the mobile phone is starting to replace the desktop PC in porn consumption. In fact, the demand for mobile porn over 3G data networks has become so extreme that Japan’s top two wireless carriers, DoCoMo and KDDI, are looking to limit heavy data users in a bid to manage the load on their 3G networks.

It’s fitting that porn is forcing carriers to deal with data traffic surges. Porn was the deciding factor in the VHS vs. BetaMax format wars. Porn recently helped decide the Bluray vs HD DVD format war. Now, it seems porn is going to be the driving force behind wireless carriers’ management of unlimited data plans. “Pornography will eventually open a debate about how carriers should modify their business model as data traffic swells,” said Yusuke Tsunoda, telecommunications analyst for Tokai Tokyo Securities Co. “It may prompt even tighter access restrictions.”

As handsets become more advanced and wireless data networks get faster speeds, the mobile porn problem is only going to get worse. As it stands, some wireless subscribers have complained of slow or dropped data connections around midnight (hmm, why would that be?) on KDDI’s network. The surge in data traffic is simply too much for the Japanese carrier’s network to handle, despite the fact that Japanese wireless operators spent approximately $74 billion in infrastructure build-out costs since 2000.

It should be interesting to see how carriers react to porno-fueled traffic spikes and over-consumption on unlimited data plans. That “unlimited” data plan of yours is already capped to a handful of GB’s, we wouldn’t be surprised to see that carriers imposing more drastic caps in the near future. Let’s hope 4G LTE networks help alleviate the porno-bandwidth problem to some extent.

[Via: Bloomberg]

Four Japanese mobile operators will spend 1 trillion yen ($10 billion) during the next five years to build a next-gen mobile network with faster Internet speeds.

According to Nikkei – NTT DoCoMo (NYSE: DCM), KDDI, Softbank (OTCPK: SFTBF) and Emobile will apply to the government for licenses for the new standard (LTE?) by May 7. DoCoMo plans to launch the new network during next year, while three other players will do the same between 2011 and 2012.

As for the rest of the world, we can only hope carriers elsewhere will follow the Japanese example and at least start planning their networks during the next year.

[Via: Bloomberg]

Japan’s KDDI is getting on the eco-bandwagon by introducing a solar-powered, waterproof handset manufactured by Sharp. With only 10 minutes in the sun, you can squeeze out one minute of talk time and two hours of standby. KDDI beats Samsung’s Blue Earth to the market, but not ZTE’s Coral. Still, it’s a slick-looking handset, and combined with waterproofing, it’s potentially a great choice for the outdoorsy types, although some extra ruggedization would make it even more ideal for self-sufficiency. Expect more eco-friendly phones from KDDI’s Green Road Project lineup this summer.

[KDDI via CrunchGear]

Cry if you’re not in Japan. KDDI scored exclusive deal with Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) to carry the company’s Japan-only S001 Cyber-shot handset. The super powerful slider looks great, and among other things comes with a large 3.3-inch WVGA (480×800) OLED screen ensuring beautiful colors, 8.1 megapixel camera with auto-focus, flash, smile shutter and protective lens cover. In addition, there’s 3G radio on board, Bluetooth, as well as GPS receiver. We couldn’t find WiFi on the list, but I guess that doesn’t mean much when you’re connected via cellular towers, like all the time.

As I said, it’s a Japan only device, which they [Japanese] can grab in either black, pink or green. All versions rock as you can see from the gallery bellow. I wonder when will Sony Ericsson figure we want such devices in the Western hemisphere, too…

[Via: Unwired View]

Hitachi’s got some nifty dual-hinged, TV-enabled handset called the Wooo Ketai H001 now available, supporting 3D video viewing. You’ll probably need some big goofy glasses to make that work, but hey, you can pull off anything in Japan. KDDI is also showing off a bunch of other new handsets for their spring ‘09 collection , but this looks like the most interesting. Full specs include:

• 51 mm x 111 mm x 18.6 mm, 145 G
• 220 minutes talk time
• 260 hours standby
• 3.1 inch, 3D TFT display
• 5 megapixel camera with autofocus, flash and 8X zoom
• 30 FPS VGA video recording
• 500 MB internal memory with microSD support
• Bluetooth, Infrared
• 1SEG TV tuner

[via The Register]

Usually we see ultra hi-end handsets hitting portfolios of Japanese mobile operators and seeing the tiny Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) Walkman Xmini hitting KDDI’s offering came as a surprise. It’s far from being a Japan-only ultimate handset with 8 megapixel camera and WVGA screen. Rather it’s a simplistic music-centric phone that seems designed for those that want to combine their Walkman MP3 player with a regular feature phone, but don’t like the bulkiness factor. That being said, the tiny Walkman Xmini sports a QVGA (320×240 pixels) screen, 4GB of on-board memory and dedicated music control keys. It measures 75×44x18 mm and it’s available in multiple colors to appeal to broader audience…

And that’s about all we can tell about the Xmini. We like it – in one sense, it’s like the Nintendo Wii of mobile phones. It’s not the features where the Xmini competes, but the overall concept. Any thoughts?

[Via: Engadget Mobile]