| reply to benc
Re: Converting to GSM? Verizon will not be commiting to GSM at all. LTE is the next generation (4G) in the evolutionary path of GSM (2G->3G->GPRS->EDGE->HSDPA->HSUPA->LTE). Verizon's current network is based on Qualcomm's CDMA air interface and is different than GSM. Going forward pretty much all of the 4G networks will be using OFDMA as the air interface modulation/access type. Qualcomm being qualcomm decided that the next generation of it's 1xEV-DO revA/B network will also be OFDMA but did not want to be part of the LTE group and created their own standard UMB. Verizon choosing LTE is a HUGE deal since Sprint (the other major Qualcomm CDMA network) has already jumped ship and chose WiMAX as their 4G offering leaving Qualcomm's UMB standard on shakey ground. Vodafone owns 45% of Verizon and has something like 600 million subsribers world wide vs verizon's 60 million. I'm pretty sure that this move was more of Vodafone wanting to have a reliable upgrade path for their customer base that will at the same time allow the verizon users access to their international markets and services.
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Westley: Give us the gate key.
Yellin: I have no gate key.
Inigo Montoya: Fezzik, tear his arms off.
Yellin: Oh, you mean *this* gate key. |
 bencPremium
join:2007-06-17
Glen Carbon, IL
 ·Charter
| Heh heh...I just realized that I wrote my last post quite hastily. I intended to say "convert" instead of "commit." Although, in a sense it is a commitment.
I already knew that Verizon uses CDMA; that's one of the reasons why I don't like them. It's not the actual CDMA, but the implementation, since Verizon chose not to use RUIM cards.
When I asked about Verizon converting to GSM, I meant any variant of GSM, whether it be GPRS or HSOPA. And I get the impression that LTE is a newer version of GSM. Is that correct?
But if this means that Verizon is going to start using the technology that nearly everyone else uses, then great. I don't always say "follow the leader," but I really do think that all mobile phone networks should use the same technology, especially since it's so easy to carry a phone from one country to another. |
