What is LTE?
LTE, or 'Long Term Evolution' , is the latest wireless mobile broadband technology that will power future 4G, or fourth generation, networks designed primarily for data transmission at unprecedented speeds. It uses spectrum to carry data traffic, just as we need roads to carry vehicular traffic. Spectrum may be likened to a highway of airwaves on which mobile signals travel.
Since LTE uses wider chunks of spectrum, data speeds on LTEbased 4G networks are nearly four times faster than on 3G. An iPad user, for instance, will be able to watch videos at LTE speeds of 300 Mbps while a laptop user will be able to download a chunky 25MB file in seconds if adequate spectrum is available. LTE is also a scalable bandwidth technology that works alongside 2G and 3G. So a 3G operator can easily upgrade his network to LTE.
WHEN WAS IT DEVELOPED?
LTE's genesis goes back to November 2004, when a workshop was held by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) in Toronto to define 'Long Term Evolution' . The 3GPP was a global alliance of top telecom associations who tried to identify the next wave of mobile tech after UMTS, the 3G technology based on GSM.
IS LTE BETTER THAN WiMAX?
Wireless communication happens over paired or unpaired spectrum. Paired spectrum is two equal chunks of airwaves for sending and receiving information while unpaired spectrum is a single strip of airwaves meant to either receive or send information.
Voice signals travel over paired spectrum while data communications works better on unpaired spectrum as people download more than upload. WiMAXhad an edge as long as it was the sole wireless technology working commercially over unpaired spectrum . But the WiMAXparty crashed when an LTE variant, TDD-LTE — which also worked over unpaired spectrum — arrived.
What's more, leading vendors unveiled compatible gear commercially in 2010. This LTE variant was heralded by the world's top telcos as the coolest technology for highspeed data communications on the go. WiMAXsuffered a body blow when big telcos across China, India and the US also embraced TDD-LTE . Commercialisation of TDD-LTE devices hit fast-track after Qualcomm pitched for wireless broadband spectrum in the 2010 auction and won 20MHz of BWA airwaves in four circles. Even WiMAXbackers like Clearwire in the US and Yota in Russia warmed up to LTE. Ditto with WiMAXgear vendors like Nokia and Cisco.
IS TDD-LTE CATCHING ON IN INDIA?
Not as yet. But that said, the first seeds of an LTE ecosystem were sown when Bharti Airtel joined some of the world's top LTE backers at Mobile World Congress 2011 in Barcelona to launch the Global TD-LTE Initiative (GTI). Global deployment of this technology was in fact at the heart of last year's auction of BWA airwaves in India.
But the big challenge to fast-track deployment of TD-LTE in India is the paucity of compatible devices and smartphones. Only Qualcomm has launched TDD-LTE multi-mode devices. NSN is slated to unveil 4G devices by the time LTE network rollouts start happening in India by December '11 to early-2012 .
LTE, or 'Long Term Evolution' , is the latest wireless mobile broadband technology that will power future 4G, or fourth generation, networks designed primarily for data transmission at unprecedented speeds. It uses spectrum to carry data traffic, just as we need roads to carry vehicular traffic. Spectrum may be likened to a highway of airwaves on which mobile signals travel.
Since LTE uses wider chunks of spectrum, data speeds on LTEbased 4G networks are nearly four times faster than on 3G. An iPad user, for instance, will be able to watch videos at LTE speeds of 300 Mbps while a laptop user will be able to download a chunky 25MB file in seconds if adequate spectrum is available. LTE is also a scalable bandwidth technology that works alongside 2G and 3G. So a 3G operator can easily upgrade his network to LTE.
WHEN WAS IT DEVELOPED?
LTE's genesis goes back to November 2004, when a workshop was held by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) in Toronto to define 'Long Term Evolution' . The 3GPP was a global alliance of top telecom associations who tried to identify the next wave of mobile tech after UMTS, the 3G technology based on GSM.
IS LTE BETTER THAN WiMAX?
Wireless communication happens over paired or unpaired spectrum. Paired spectrum is two equal chunks of airwaves for sending and receiving information while unpaired spectrum is a single strip of airwaves meant to either receive or send information.
Voice signals travel over paired spectrum while data communications works better on unpaired spectrum as people download more than upload. WiMAXhad an edge as long as it was the sole wireless technology working commercially over unpaired spectrum . But the WiMAXparty crashed when an LTE variant, TDD-LTE — which also worked over unpaired spectrum — arrived.
What's more, leading vendors unveiled compatible gear commercially in 2010. This LTE variant was heralded by the world's top telcos as the coolest technology for highspeed data communications on the go. WiMAXsuffered a body blow when big telcos across China, India and the US also embraced TDD-LTE . Commercialisation of TDD-LTE devices hit fast-track after Qualcomm pitched for wireless broadband spectrum in the 2010 auction and won 20MHz of BWA airwaves in four circles. Even WiMAXbackers like Clearwire in the US and Yota in Russia warmed up to LTE. Ditto with WiMAXgear vendors like Nokia and Cisco.
IS TDD-LTE CATCHING ON IN INDIA?
Not as yet. But that said, the first seeds of an LTE ecosystem were sown when Bharti Airtel joined some of the world's top LTE backers at Mobile World Congress 2011 in Barcelona to launch the Global TD-LTE Initiative (GTI). Global deployment of this technology was in fact at the heart of last year's auction of BWA airwaves in India.
But the big challenge to fast-track deployment of TD-LTE in India is the paucity of compatible devices and smartphones. Only Qualcomm has launched TDD-LTE multi-mode devices. NSN is slated to unveil 4G devices by the time LTE network rollouts start happening in India by December '11 to early-2012 .
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