Conventional wisdom says that Clearwire Corp. has a “clear” time-to-market advantage when it comes to 4G mobile broadband, having several WiMAX-based commercial deployments planned for the rest of the year. It’s also somewhat dominated the business model discussions, touting the value of an open network. But during CTIA, Clearwire’s main rival in the 4G game, Verizon Wireless, made it known that it too has big plans for its LTE-based 4G mobile broadband network, hinging on applications development and consumer electronics.
Verizon Communications Inc. CEO Ivan Seidenberg said at CTIA that Verizon’s enterprise business and landline phone businesses are feeling pressure, but there’s growth in video, Internet and wireless. He noted that Nielsen Research found that consumers spend five hours per day watching television, one hour surfing the Web and 26 minutes using their mobile phones. All of that translates into a nice opportunity for next-generation wireless, since LTE is capable of supporting a range of video and Internet-capable consumer electronics with wireless embedded. "If we can get even a modest amount more of that use to mobile, we have more than enough room to grow," Seidenberg said.
In fact, Verizon envisions a probable “500 percent penetration,” Seidenberg said. Essentially, every person would own or use multiple connected devices, everything from smart health monitors to automobiles. “There will be no limit on the number of connections as part of the mobile grid,” Seidenberg said. “Everything has the potential to be connected to the Web.”
For more details on Verizon’s specific strategy, click here or on the source link below.
