Fourth-generation wireless telecom networks have long occupied researchers in the telecom capital that is San Diego.
The rest of us get to hop on the 4G network in early 2011.
New Jersey-based Verizon Wireless said it will be the first company to provide San Diego customers with wireless data service that is significantly faster than existing service when it launches a 4G network late this year.
Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Vodafone and the big East Coast telecom company Verizon, has yet to announce what models of smart phones it will sell to run on the new network. The phones will be available in the first half of 2011, said Luis Cruz, Southern California regional president for Verizon.
The industry buzz is that Verizon will soon offer Apple Inc.’s iPhone. Cruz reported being peppered with questions about iPhone at social events and Little League practices.
While he withheld comment on the iPhone, Cruz said his company is “very excited” about the Apple iPad tablet computer appearing at Verizon stores for the first time. Verizon was scheduled to start selling iPads at 2,000 stores Oct. 28.
If Verizon does indeed get the iPhone, that would be a blow to AT&T, which has been the sole reseller of the popular device.
Nevertheless, AT&T has been “really successful” in locking its customers into two-year contracts, said Steve Clement, an analyst with Portland, Ore.-based Pacific Crest Securities, which provides banking services to technology investors and companies. The two-year contract is an industry standard. While Clement said he’s not sure about “mass defections” from AT&T, he does see AT&T losing its share of new customers if Verizon Wireless starts selling the iPhone.
Powered By Qualcomm
Initially, Verizon will roll out its local 4G network in central San Diego. Coverage will extend as far north as Del Mar and Poway, as far east as Lakeside and as far south as Imperial Beach. A network upgrade to technology called 4G Long Term Evolution, aka LTE, makes this possible. Verizon Wireless is installing LTE equipment in 38 major metropolitan areas. In many other cities, it is installing the technology in airports.
Some, but not all, of LTE technology was developed by San Diego-based Qualcomm Inc. The corporation has announced nine royalty-bearing license deals for a closely related technology called OFDMA, including long-term deals with handset makers Nokia, Samsung and LG Electronics. Qualcomm also makes chips for LTE.
Executives of Verizon Wireless, which has more than 79,000 employees, hope to make 4G service available in all of its markets by 2013.
Meanwhile, Verizon’s competitors are working to bring faster networks to San Diego. AT&T expects to start deploying LTE in mid-2011, said a spokeswoman, adding that it has steadily been upgrading its previous generation technology, called 3G. The carrier is also improving the land-based phone lines that support cell phone service. After all, there is always a landline component to a wireless call.
“Our customers have the best path to LTE,” an AT&T spokeswoman said.
Sprint already has a 4G network running in Las Vegas and other selected markets, and has not announced when it will upgrade its San Diego network to 4G. Sprint uses a competing radio technology called WiMax.
Faster, Smarter Connections
The availability of a high-speed network will mean big changes for San Diego.
Verizon Wireless officials said users will be able to download songs in seconds and high-definition movies in minutes. “We look at videoconferencing as a key opportunity,” said Cruz.
They also said people who play popular video games will find the 4G network four times as responsive as a 3G network. The technical term for lag time in a network is latency, and in 4G, that amounts to 30 milliseconds. Latency is “very, very important” to game enthusiasts, Cruz said.
The network might also be able to carry data for utilities’ “smart meter” projects, Cruz said, or carry high-definition video for the news media.
In an e-mail, Rory Moore, chief executive officer of CommNexus San Diego, said, “4G will connect more wireless devices from more industry sectors than in the combined history of wireless connectivity to date.”
In addition to serving as CEO of CommNexus, a locally based nonprofit trade association of high-tech companies, Moore is a co-founder of Peregrine Semiconductor Corp. and Silicon Wave Inc.
A technology called “augmented reality” might let a traveler or executive hold up his smart phone, point it in a certain direction and get information on the restaurants in that direction. That is according to Ramesh Rao, a UC San Diego professor. Rao is also director of the local division of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology. The institute, housed jointly at UCSD and UC Irvine, is responsible for some of California’s most cutting-edge telecom research and innovation.
Doing Business More Efficiently
Fourth-generation technology might help businesses operate more efficiently or support larger sales forces, said Rao. High-bandwidth networks may also bring about a new era in medical treatment. People with conditions such as heart disease may be able to stream medical data to their doctors.
Rao noted that San Diego is a leader in wireless communications and biotechnology, and there are possibilities in combining those two areas of emphasis. “I’d love to see leading-edge new applications emerge from San Diego,” said the professor.
As for the future, Rao said the passage of time may give San Diegans an even faster, fifth-generation network. “I don’t think we’re going to hit a wall anytime soon.”
Crucial to the success of a 4G network are devices. Apple products may be good candidates to run on 4G networks since they combine connectivity with processing power and “a nice display,” Rao said.
Technophiles and people who follow big business will be watching Verizon’s budding relationship with Apple.
Initially at least, Verizon will sell iPad models equipped with Wi-Fi connections only. These will access the Internet via another device, a mobile hot spot that connects with Verizon’s 3G network.
Like Verizon, AT&T set Oct. 28 as the day it was to begin selling iPads.
Sales of iPads and other media tablets are expected to mushroom during the next few years. Analysts with Gartner Inc. estimate that worldwide tablet sales will grow from 19.5 million units in 2010 to 54.8 million in 2011, 103.4 million in 2012 and 154.2 million in 2013. By 2014, sales will exceed 208 million units. Average selling prices are expected to drop below $300 in the next two years, Gartner reported.