4G Roundtable: New Business Models?

In Part II of three of vision2mobile's roundtable on defining 4G and its role in the mobile broadband marketplace, Elizabeth Montalbano talks with Todd Rowley, vice president of 4G, Sprint; Chris Kissel, industry analyst, Mobile Internet Group, In-Stat; Philip Solis, research director, Mobile Networks, ABI Research; and Dan Warren, senior director of technology, GSMA about spectrum, new business models and the hype surrounding the promise of 4G.

Be sure to check out Part I and Part III as well.

In-Stat's Chris Kissel: I think the problem for mobile operators is that being in “for a penny" is like being in “for a pound." For instance, if a mobile operator offers an unlimited data plan, there is a real expectation that the mobile operator will be able to deliver the services that they promise. The customer will not want to be troubled by a network that is taxed with too many concurrent users or problems from backhaul.

In a report published by Computerworld, Verizon acknowledged that it was having problems with its CDMA to LTE handoffs. When transferring from a 3G zone to an LTE zone, the modems in the USB dongles might take as many as two minutes to handoff. This isn’t meant to hammer or slight Verizon – all new networks will be buggy to begin with. The expectations of customers have to be addressed going into new service agreements.

Sprint's Todd Rowley: For consumers, Sprint is the only national carrier today offering unlimited 4G. This is a significant differentiator for Sprint. Regarding 4G for business, nobody knows business like Sprint. Sprint has brought to market a wide array of solutions that feature a host of devices ranging from connection cards, tablets, e-readers and digital signage to highly specialized devices and software such as video surveillance, medical and fitness apps. These capabilities benefit a variety of categories, such as healthcare and wellness, public safety, sustainability and connected transportation. And, Sprint has recently unveiled Network Vision, a blueprint to deploy a cost-effective, innovative network plan to further enhance voice quality and data speeds for customers across the United States. Sprint has awarded contracts to Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson and Samsung for purchases of hardware, software and services related to the deployment and implementation of the multi-year, multi-billion dollar Network Vision plan.

Sprint is committed to WiMAX deployment today, as the first national wireless carrier to make 4G a reality for our customers. Our multi-mode strategy allows us to continue delivering 4G via WiMAX and to consider additional technologies down the road if we choose. As a result, Sprint can be positioned to take advantage of alternatives, if and when they make sense. Sprint aims to continue its 4G leadership position, regardless of technology choice. Launching WiMAX has given Sprint an incredible speed-to-market advantage over the competition. The multi-mode base stations and technology simply affords Sprint the flexibility to deploy additional 4G technologies down the road.