Summary
What some people call 4G networks, the Mobile Internet technologies LTE (Long-Term Evolution) and WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) are about providing broadband on-the-go. WiMAX is ideal for areas that lack a broadband infrastructure, because it gives a very good business case, as opposed to having to dig cables in the ground, which is what's required by the fiber technologies. LTE is very similar to WiMAX but with a larger bandwidth.
Analysis
Both WiMAX and LTE are currently on the move. WiMAX is already here, while LTE trials start in 2009, with roll outs occurring perhaps in 2010, 2011 or 2012. The underpinnings of all this are IP networks: regardless of when large-scale LTE adoption occurs, it's fair to say that end-to-end high performance IP architectures and solutions will drive the next wave of the Mobile Internet.
There is some confusion regarding the positioning of WiMAX and LTE, sometimes placing them in opposition to each other. The context for all of this is what's happening with the Mobile Internet. In the last 10 years, new Internet applications have driven the need for high performance data delivery. Mobile operators have gone well beyond mobile voice, offering various applications such as SMS that have become pervasive. But, as we go forward, the data and application-driven aspects of the Mobile Internet will increase even more profoundly, and will enable richer applications, both for productivity and collaboration on the business side, or infotainment on the consumer side. The radio networks, which were largely handling mobile voice are now in the process of adapting to these high performance applications. There is a mutual positive feedback between the two. New bandwidth-hungry applications force the development of new Radio Access Networks (RANs) and personalization, while additional bandwidth encourages its use. These new radio technologies such as LTE or WiMAX, or even the existing 3G technologies as HSPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) or EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized), are all enabling a new wave of applications which will call for exploiting the virtues of IP networks from end-to-end.
As the Mobile Internet data explosion will continue, there are obvious radio aggregation "choke points" that will be alleviated by Carrier Ethernet type services and high performance cell site routers that will become the norm. The many handsets and other devices are now pumping so much data into the network that the scalability and performance aspects of the technology has become extremely important, which can be a new opportunity for some providers and operatiors in the Mobile Internet world to exploit it successfully and make money. So in some sense we're talking about a market inflexion for how operators and service providers capitalize on this phenomena, adapt and build the appropriate infrastructure, intelligence and personalization. The segmentation will be so microsegmented that it will all become a matter of the network doing things for particular individuals, rather than similar groups. So there is the possibility of capturing "long-tail" markets in a nicely-architected end-to-end IP system if there is sufficient intelligence operating in the network.
