You Can Use Up Your Entire Monthly Verizon Wireless LTE Data Allotment In Just 32 Minutes
from the broadband-caps dept
We always find it amusing when people point to various wireless data networks as real "competition" to wired broadband offerings, in part because the various 3G offerings out there all have ridiculously low data caps -- usually 5 gigs per month -- that a large percentage of users are likely to bump up against if they used the connection as their primary connection. The one exception -- for now -- is Sprint's WiMax offering which has no cap, but may eventually. The issue, of course, is capacity. These networks simply weren't built to handle the type of capacity that people would use it for if they could. But as the data speeds get faster, it leads to ridiculous situations like the realization that with Verizon Wireless' new LTE offering, you can use up the monthly allotment of 5 gigs in just 32 minutes (of course, that's assuming you've got 5 gigs to download, and you're getting pretty damn good speeds on that network). I'm somewhat surprised that Verizon Wireless isn't following Sprint in dumping the cap for the next generation network. Maybe, instead of just focusing on more speed for press releases, they should focus on building capacity so that people could actually use these next generation networks.
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Filed Under: broadband caps, lte, wireless
Companies: verizon wireless
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Re: Apples to Oranges
The 802.16 dreamers' ship has already set sail...and run aground. After an 8 year window of opportunity, WiMAX is not what it was promised to be. There is a reason "all those devices" aren't becoming 802.16 compatible: it doesn't work well enough.
Sprint and Clear have been trying it, SK Telecom and KT Freetel have been trying it, Taiwan has been trying it, UQ Communications (KDDI, Willcom) in Japan has been trying it, Pipex/Freedom4 in the UK has tried it, Yota in Russia has tried it, and they've had the support of MAJOR equipment vendors (Motorola, Huawei, etc), and funding from Intel...and what became of that? Bankruptcies, poor performances, poor coverage, and roadmap changes to LTE instead. WiMAX isn't dead, but it's falling way out of favor.
And, to correct another point you made, we SHOULD be comparing Sprint's WiMAX network to VZW's LTE. Both are basically marketed as 4G, both use OFDM in a cellular configuration for mobile devices. Both are intended to be used on phones and modems. Why the F should we not compare apples with other apples? You say WiMAX is meant to compete with DSL. I think you are mixing up two different WiMAXes, fixed 802.16d and mobile 802.16e. For example, how would you explain the Sprint EVO, a smartphone that uses their WiMAX network? Is that DSL?!
References:
http://www.betanews.com/article/Clears-way-forward-may-be-with-LTE-not-WiMAX/1 281012840
http://moconews.net/article/419-intel-capital-invests-43-million-into-japanese-wimax-fi rm-uq-communicat/
http://www.compassnewspaper.com/NG/index.php?option=com_content&view=articl e&id=70120:mobile-operators-to-invest-1b-on-lte-equipment-next-year-&catid=37:info-tech& Itemid=709
http://www.telegeography.com/cu/article.php?article_id=35225&email=html
http:// www.telegeography.com/cu/article.php?article_id=35323&email=html
http://www.muniwireless.com/ 2010/06/21/is-wimax-a-failure-in-the-uk/
http://www.muniwireless.com/2010/06/21/is-wimax-a-failur e-in-the-uk/
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9179460/Intel_runs_into_major_WiMax_snafu_in_ Taiwan
http://www.telegeography.com/cu/article.php?article_id=35303&email=html
http://ltew orld.org/blog/taiwan-weighs-wimax-its-eye-lte
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080410/225950819 .shtml
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