In its October meeting, ITU’s Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) Working Party 5D, which is responsible for defining the IMT-Advanced global 4G technologies, completed the assessment of six candidate submissions and reached a milestone by deciding on LTE-Advanced and WirelessMAN-Advanced for the first release of IMT-Advanced.<\/p>\n
Final ratification of the full IMT-Advanced technology family took place at the ITU-R Study Group meeting on November 22 and 23 in Geneva, Switzerland.<\/p>\n
The future is bright for LTE, with nine official commercial launches already in 2010, and an additional 11 expected before the end of the year.<\/p>\n
More than 250 companies have publicly expressed interest in deploying LTE networks, including Greenfield, CDMA, WiMAX and GSM operators. LTE is expected to be the leading choice for next-generation OFDMA networks over the next decade for all wireless carriers.<\/p>\n
As the future evolution of LTE, LTE-Advanced will be poised as a pre-eminent ITU-sanctioned 4G mobile broadband solution for information, communications and entertainment.<\/p>\n
By offering a full suite of integrated 3G (IMT-2000) and 4G (IMT-Advanced) ecosystems, the 3GPP technology family supports the evolving and expanding mobile broadband needs of the expansive international base of mobile operators and their customers.<\/p>\n
IMT-Advanced provides a global platform on which to build the next generations of interactive mobile services that will provide faster data access, enhanced roaming capabilities, unified messaging and broadband multimedia.<\/p>\n
“This day is a milestone to remember for mobile broadband connectivity,” said Chris Pearson, President of 4G Americas.<\/p>\n
“4G Americas is excited about this new era of wireless communications and extremely pleased that 3GPP Release 10 and beyond – LTE-Advanced – mobile broadband technology has been approved by the ITU. The future for mobile broadband technologies has never been brighter to help progress societies in the Americas and throughout the world.”<\/p>\n
LTE-Advanced technology will now move into the final stage of the IMT-Advanced process, which provides for the development in early 2012 of an ITU-R Recommendation specifying the in-depth technical standards for these radio technologies.<\/p>\n
Pearson added, “Congratulations to ITU, 4G Americas’ member companies and 3GPP for their great work efforts in making this moment a reality.”<\/p>\n