Nortel accelerates 4G strategy

Nortel is aligning its 4G wireless broadband strategy to address early market opportunities

Nortel is aligning its 4G wireless broadband strategy to address early market opportunities that are emerging for WiMAX and LTE.

As part of this strategy, Nortel says that it is focusing its main wireless R&D resources on 4G LTE and wireless applications, with WiMAX development re-aligning around the strategic agreement announced with Alvarion.

This is expected to enable Nortel to achieve faster time-to-market with WiMAX, at a lower cost, while accelerating LTE development to meet a demand that is emerging faster than the industry originally predicted.

"The increasing demand for mobile data with the advent of USB dongles, embedded laptops, and smartphones built on the iPhone model is driving traffic far faster than operators had anticipated," says Dr. Phil Marshall, vice-president, Yankee Group.

"Operators have realised that they need to get to 4G faster than originally anticipated. Major players, such as China Mobile, NTT DoCoMo and Verizon, have announced aggressive plans to roll out LTE, which we believe is the tip of the iceberg. The WiMAX market also continues to be very dynamic, with the underserved broadband markets and disruptive wireless operators in mature markets rapidly emerging as key market segments for that technology."

"Nortel is targeting its 4G portfolio to capitalize on the rapidly growing market opportunities associated with wireless broadband - and to help operators to meet these needs quickly," says Richard Lowe, president, Carrier Networks, Nortel.

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