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3.9G TD-LTE rollout in 2012 with integrated 2G, 3G and 4G?

July 19, 2010 9:08 am / 8 Comments on 3.9G TD-LTE rollout in 2012 with integrated 2G, 3G and 4G?

See also: Mobile Internet (Aug’11) which is a total update on Aug 26, 2011 with a lot of additions to the original July 19, 2010 content on the following subjects:
– LTE and LTE Advanced — HSPA Evolved (parallel to LTE and LTE Advanced) — Heterogeneous networks or HetNets — Femtocells and Picocells — Qualcomm innovations in all that — Ericsson’s LTE Advanced demo — Current roadmaps on evolutions of current 3G+ broadband mobile networks

A small news item on DigiTimes last week has gone around the technical web quite fast: China Mobile to expand 4G network trial operations [16 July]

China Mobile Communications will expand the trial operation of its 4G networks in the fourth quarter of 2010 and a successful run of the trials may push China Mobile to start rolling out its 4G infrastructure in 2012, 2-3 years ahead of its original schedule, according to industry sources.

China Mobile Communications has reached a consensus with Apple under which the next-generation of iPhones to be sold in China will adopt TD-LTE technology developed by China Mobile, the Chinese-language Commercial Times quoted the China-based carrier’s chairman Wang Jianzhou as saying.

China Mobile has begun voice testing on its TD-LTE experimental networks in Shanghai and commercial operations of the 4G networks in China are expected to begin in 2012, the paper said.

By 2012, China Mobile also plans to set up over 40 experimental networks, 10 commercial networks and 20,000 base stations globally to promote the adoption of the TD-LTE technology, the paper added.

More information has become available from TMC, last week as well: China Mobile, Huawei roll out China’s first 3G/4G-integrated trial network [July 16]

China Mobile (CHL.NYSE; 00941.HK) and Chinese mobile equipment and network solutions provider Huawei Technologies have finished the first TD-SCDMA/TD-LTE outfield test and completed a series of tests and verifications in Wuxi, Jiangsu province.

The tests show that the 3G/4G-integrated network and smooth evolution are completely feasible.

… the technology will be tested in three Chinese mainland cities in the final quarter of the year, with 100 base stations constructed and 5,000 people invited to use the service.

At the beginning of the trial operation, China Mobile will offer data cards to the users and provide them with smartphones.

Results drew from such tests may facilitate China Mobile to offer 4G services in 2012, earlier than previously expected 2014 to 2015.

An insider at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology revealed that China Mobile will select three coastal cities to pilot the TD-LTE networks, and Qingdao, Xiamen, Zhuhai, and Wuxi are all candidates.

The insider believes that 2G, 3G and 4G services will all be available to Chinese telecom service subscribers at the same time in future [emphasis mine], rather than high-grade technology substituting the lower-grade options.

A UK report from a day earlier has indicated foreign operator and supplier interest as well: TD-LTE 4G Sweeping the Wireless Broadband Markets in China [July 15]

… a variety of wireless operator companies have actually started shifting to TD-LTE, inside and outside China. Two of the main users recorded are Qualcomm and Yota. … This new technology is expected to hit the markets within two years, after a series of field tests.

Ulf Ewaldsson, Ericsson VP, said, “The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and China Mobile will start large-scale field tests in the fourth quarter of this year. Ericsson will also take part”.

Ericsson’s strong commitment and technical readiness has already been demonstrated a week ago indeed: First complete TD-LTE solution showcased [July 12]

At a China Mobile event in Shanghai, China today, Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) showcased its complete end-to-end TD-LTE solution for the first time. Together with ST-Ericsson devices, the system successfully showcased super-fast mobile broadband applications such as video on demand (VOD) and video streaming using a live camera.

… ST-Ericsson, a leader in wireless platforms and semiconductors, was the first in the world to demonstrate a handheld LTE device and to achieve LTE and HSPA mobility with a multimode device [emphasis mine]. Available next year, ST-Ericsson’s next generation modem will support both versions of LTE, in addition to TD-SCDMA and HSPA+/EDGE [emphasis mine]. With ST-Ericsson’s products, Ericsson is now the only player with complete end-to-end TD-LTE capabilities in the industry.

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Ericsson in its claim has shortened the time period for availability of TDD (time division duplex)-LTE equipment from 2013 end to first quarter of 2011.

Per Thorzell, head, radio Access Network, Ericsson India added that Ericsson also did a TDD-LTE trial run in India using 20 Mhz spectrum and achieved a download speed of 71 mbps per second. … “There are approximately 95 per cent functional similarity between TDD and FDD-LTE. Therefore chipsets that support FDD-LTE will also support TDD-LTE,” … to support TDD-LTE, Ericsson feels there will be dongles as access devices in the first half of 2011 and later handheld devices.

Of the two companies mentioned in the above UK article Yota is a Russia-based mobile operator expanding to other countries worldwide, while Qualcomm is the most influential wireless telecommunications research and development company, as well as the largest fabless chip supplier in the world.

Qualcomm has a unique role in the possible 2-3 years acceleration of the TD-LTE technology. The Casino Royale: The story of Qualcomm [July 12] article from July 16 issue of Forbes India, republished on-line by moneycontrol.com, “India’s No. 1 financial portal” has been summarized on the cover as:

Qualcomm is one of the great technology companies of our times. Its products drive large parts of telecom networks everywhere. Everywhere, except India. Now after almost a decade of trying to open up the Indian market, Qualcomm’s time might finally be here. And it will all because of what Qualcomm learnt in China.

Going into the article one can see what made Rohin Dharmakumar, the author of the article to arrive to such a conclusion. Some excerpts from the point of view of our subject:

They [Qualcomm] had invented a proprietary technology that became the seed for the wireless standard CDMA … CDMA began to be adopted by the world’s mobile operators from the mid-90s after years of relentless hard-selling … , backed up by equally relentless patenting by … engineers in the R&D department. … Today, the company … sits on a pile of over USD 18 billion in cash while generating another USD 2-3 billion in free cash flows every year!

Qualcomm’s model as it exists is simple. Be inventive, file as many patents as possible in wireless communication, and then build products around those or wait for people to queue up to use those patents and pay a nice royalty to the company.

… Qualcomm’s patents are critical to almost all major wireless standards on the GSM, CDMA and even LTE (Long Term Evolution) sides, helping it squeeze a royalty out of quite literally anyone and everyone. An army of its lawyers and patent experts go after any company that dares touch its wireless IP without paying for it.

… The first star that heralded its new fortune was the successful completion of India’s 3G auctions. Because Qualcomm’s IP is embedded in all 3G technologies, it will make a 4-5% cut off every 3G phone that will now be sold in India.

… The second omen was on March 11, at a press conference in New Delhi’s Oberoi hotel, when Kanwalinder Singh, its India head said, “Today I’m very proud to announce that Qualcomm has invested one billion US dollars into India.”

Singh did not spend that money in building offices, hiring thousands of new employees or buying local businesses. He spent it to buy 20 megahertz (MHz) of spectrum in the cities of Mumbai and New Delhi and the states of Haryana and Kerala. Qualcomm was one of the six companies that won precious spectrum to offer high speed “4G” wireless broadband to Indians. The $1 billion spent in India was its single largest bet anywhere around the world.

The funny thing though is that Qualcomm is betting on deploying a technology that it didn’t think much of to begin with, a commercially unproven technology called TD-LTE originally developed by the Chinese.

Learning from the Chinese

The Chinese government, in the mid-90s, decided to develop a technology to avoid paying royalties to Western companies like Qualcomm. They created TD-SCDMA, a 3G wireless standard. But it never really took off*. The Chinese, in order to avoid paying royalties, had to reinvent the wheel. This made their technology cumbersome and inefficient.

* Personal note: TD-SCDMA in fact took off in 2009, and that was just too late only for international acceptance (being a 3G technology). See the 3G China customer base chart in my earlier OPhone OS (OMS) 2.0 based on Android 2.1 [July 5] article.

The Chinese pumped more resources into it and refined it into TD-LTE. They also roped in two large Western partners, Verizon and Vodafone, to conduct joint trials of LTE combing the Western (FD) flavour with its own (TD) one. Julian Grivolas, an analyst with Ovum in Paris who tracks the LTE space closely, says China’s goal was to make sure that this joint LTE becomes the next equivalent of the mobile world’s ubiquitous GSM standard.

But the company that took advantage of this trend the fastest was the one which was the last to join the LTE party — Qualcomm. For that it had to swallow its pride and abandon Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), a 4G technology it had been developing for many years. In late 2008, it abandoned UMB to focus exclusively on LTE when it saw big operators tilting towards it. A few years earlier it had already spent over USD 800 million to acquire Flarion, a company with a significant amount of patents in areas related to LTE.

Qualcomm smartly co-opted its erstwhile foe China into becoming an ally by announcing plans to build new “multi-mode” mobile chipset** that would combine the version of LTE that Qualcomm and a galaxy of mobile companies like Ericsson and Nokia had developed along with what the Chinese had developed [emphasis mine].

** Personal note: see Qualcomm Introduces World’s First Complete Multi-mode 3G/LTE Integrated Solution for Smartphones [Feb 16, 2009], Qualcomm Now Sampling Industry’s First Dual-carrier HSPA+ and Multi-Mode 3G/LTE Chipsets for Global Markets [Nov 12, 2009] and Qualcomm to launch TD-SCDMA and TD-LTE next year [Nov 19, 2009]. Update: Qualcomm Now Demonstrating Products Based on LTE TDD Technology — Company on Track with Commercialization of Products Based on LTE TDD Technology with First Devices Expected in Mid-2011 [Sept 8, 2010]. At the same time we had news that Qualcomm now has 4G licensing deals with the big three [Nov 16, 2009]: Qualcomm told its investor meeting that LG has joined Samsung and Nokia in agreeing to pay to use its technology in future 4G products. “This means they have 65% of the handset market signed up to long term royalty agreements [emphasis mine],” JP Morgan analyst Steven O’Brien told Reuters. “We have more certainty in the royalty streams and cashflow streams from the major handset vendors.”

Given that a significant chunk of TD-LTE patents rest with Chinese companies like China Mobile, Huawei and ZTE, the only way Qualcomm would have integrated them into its own offerings would be by cross-licensing*** — basically sharing patents with them. The Chinese are returning the love because a global acceptance of TD-LTE will mean cheaper equipment prices for its mobile operators and larger markets for its equipment vendors.

*** Personal note: There is no information regarding these cross licensing agreements, although they definitely exist. We only know that the Chinese were quite successful in licensing negotiations even before. See CDMA success brings Chinese royalty gripes [Feb 12, 2009]: “… in 2000 Irwin Jacobs [the father of current CEO] negotiated government permission for CDMA to be used in China, Qualcomm granted Chinese manufacturers the best rates in the world — around 2.65% as opposed to 5% for other makers. (Qualcomm neither discloses nor confirms its royalty rates).”

Such an advantage even prompted the following: “In fact, outside of China, TD-SCDMA is generally dismissed as a negotiating ploy by China to obtain acceptable patent cross licensing agreements with Qualcomm, Ericsson and the like.” – see An update on TD-SCDMA, China’s 3G technology [Oct 18, 2007]

With TD-LTE under his belt, [Paul] Jacobs [their CEO] knew he had WiMAX cornered.

What happened to WiMAX in the last month I’ve already described in:
• WiMAX/WiBro <=> TD-LTE and LTE in general [June 28]
• Intel dismisses WiMAX Program Office [July 1]

In addition to that it is also worth to note that LTE is Changing the Landscape of IPR Wealth [May 18, 2010]:

… the 2G, 3G, and 3.5G IPR [Intellectual Property Rights] landscape was dominated by Qualcomm, Nokia, and Ericsson … “While Interdigital and Qualcomm are clear leaders in the global LTE patents portfolio with 21% and 19% market shares respectively of the total number of patents, Huawei comes in third position with 9%, Samsung in fourth with 8%, and Nokia, LG, and Ericsson in joint fifth place, each with 7% market share,” [said Malik] Kamal Saadi [, principal analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media].

… Until now only a third of current global LTE patents could be described as essential but about 60% of them are recognised as having the potential to become essential in the future. Whether or not a patent is viewed as being essential could also vary from one market to another. For example, from the 182 LTE patents contributed by Huawei, 178 are registered in China and only a handful of these could currently be described as essential. …

… Informa Telecoms and Media believes that more than 60% of LTE patents from likes of Qualcomm and Nokia, 50% of LG’s portfolio, 40% of Samsung’s patents, and less than 33% of Ericsson’s portfolio could be described as essential LTE patents so far.

The second omen was on March 11, at a press conference in New Delhi’s Oberoi hotel, when Kanwalinder Singh, its India head said, “Today I’m very proud to announce that Qualcomm has invested one billion US dollars into India.”

Singh did not spend that money in building offices, hiring thousands of new employees or buying local businesses. He spent it to buy 20 megahertz (MHz) of spectrum in the cities of Mumbai and New Delhi and the states of Haryana and Kerala. Qualcomm was one of the six companies that won precious spectrum to offer high speed “4G” wireless broadband to Indians. The $1 billion spent in India was its single largest bet anywhere around the world.

The funny thing though is that Qualcomm is betting on deploying a technology that it didn’t think much of to begin with, a commercially unproven technology called TD-LTE originally developed by the Chinese.

OPhone OS (OMS) 2.0 based on Android 2.1

July 5, 2010 10:17 am / 9 Comments on OPhone OS (OMS) 2.0 based on Android 2.1

… the carrier announced on Monday it was preparing to establish its Ophone Innovation Alliance, said Bill Huang, general manager of the China Mobile Research Institute.

“Our Ophone strategy is constantly moving forward,” Huang said during in a speech at a conference in Beijing. Huang did not give any specific details about the alliance, but encouraged potential partners to participate once more information is publicized. The company has spent over a year planning the alliance.

The announcement follows China Mobile’s effort to promote its OMS in April, when Huang urged developers in Taiwan to build more mobile applications for the operating system. At the time, Huang said there were around 600 apps developed specifically for Ophones. In contrast, Apple’s App Store features more than 300,000 third-party applications.

Building less expensive smartphones without sacrificing quality is critical to China Mobile’s business strategy, Huang added. “If we can effectively make an advanced smartphone less expensive, then more users will come to use China Mobile’s services in a shorter amount of time,” he said.

China Mobile is also working to introduce more middle and higher-end smartphones for its 3G network, said company chairman Wang Jianzhou during a speech at the conference.

While China Mobile may have a relatively small number of applications for OMS, the company’s app store continues to gain in popularity. Since it opened in 2009, the carrier’s Mobile Market has recorded 70 million downloads, Wang said. The store features apps and multimedia downloads for different mobile operating systems.

  • Update: Despite of recent reports on weakening OPhone support within China Mobile (see the below update) there are newer reports pointing just to the opposite direction:
    – China Mobile to procure 6 million TD-SCMA handsets, says Chinese media [Oct 8]: “Of the total, 3.6 million will be of entry-level models and 2.4 million mid-range products. … the latest procurement effort is largely due to the fourth phase of the China Mobile’s TD-SCMA network construction. When completed, demand for TD-SCMA end-use products is expected to increase substantially.”
    – China market: Inexpensive TD-SCDMA handsets to be available in 4Q10 [Oct 13]: “Pushed by China Mobile, TD-SCDMA handsets and smartphones at retail prices of about 500 yuan (US$75) and 1,000 yuan respectively will be available in the China market in the fourth quarter of 2010. … China Mobile is setting up its fourth-phase TD-SCDMA network of more than 100,000 base stations and expects the number of TD-SCDMA subscribers to increase from 13.42 million currently to 100 million in 2012.”
    – China Mobile: 4G network coming soon [Sept 15] is stating that “4G data card is close to debut and the carrier and partners are working on the research of 4G handset chip … China Mobile is expected to launch 4G mobile communication services as early as 2011 to boost its high-margin data services, according to the GSM Association.”
    – China Mobile to set up device sourcing company [Sept 17] is telling that “The planned device-sourcing company will begin to purchase TD-SCDMA-enabled feature phones with prices below 1,000 yuan (US$148) at the end of the year and then shift to smartphones priced below 2,000 yuan in the first half of 2011“.
  • Update: OPhone fails to connect [Aug 24] which reports that with the change of leadership in June all the technology initiatives started under the previous GM and managed by Bill Huang (Huang Xiaoqing), head of  China Mobile’s Research Institute, will get less support — this is the case of OPhone — or even have been put on hold — the case of mobile payment project. Reasons are the insufficient progress. The estimations are, for example, that OPhone sales are less than half of the number of iPhones bought in China. Quite important article on what is going inside China Mobile.

• OPhone 2.0 Platform Debuts in Beijing [June 28]
• Samsung first to unveil handset for oPhone 2.0 [June 29] – important to note: “Nokia is also planning a smartphone for the carrier using the oPhone overlay and hardware specs, but running on Symbian.”
• Samsung I7680 (Oscar) parameters – Google translated from Chinese
• The world’s first mobile phone Samsung I7680 evaluation OMS 2.0 [July 1] Google translated from Chinese
• Page 3: Fusion Android 2.1, OMS 2.0 magnificent transfiguration [From Android2.1 transfiguration OPhone2.0 evaluation Samsung I7680] – [5 July] all Google translated from Chinese

The developer of the platform is the Beijing based Borqs: http://borqs.com/index.jsp. They describe the OPhone OS (short for Open Mobile Phone Operating System) platform here: About OPhone OS. See also the recent interview with their CEO: BORQS Ophone OS & more & the China mobile revolution [May 27], important to note: “Borqs is the only company that has done significant Android customization.”

But the supporter is the world largest mobile phone company: China Mobile wants Android apps for its Ophones [April 7], launching the first version of the platform last year: China Mobile Ophone hopes [Sept 1, 2009], China Mobile Launches OPhone [Sept 1, 2009], China’s first OPhone-based mobile phone hits market [16 Dec, 2009]. The last, OMS 1.5 was Android 1.5 based: OPhone SDK 1.5 New features and API changes ENG.1 [Nov 19, 2009].

Note [updated with June data on July 20]: The 3G customer base of the China Mobile is still embryonic with just 1.9% (10.46 million) of the overall number of customers (554 million) at the end of June 2010. Also this number has not been increased significantly for the last 18 month, as shown by the chart below. Meanwhile the rival China Unicom has 4.8% (7.56 million) of the 2G+3G customer base (157 million) on 3G (by end of June 2010):

Another rival, China Telecom, is not publishing 3G numbers. The MIIT* Q1’CY10 3G numbers for China Telecom (CDMA2000) were 5.57 million, i.e. 8.5% of their total CDMA subscriber base (65.45 million).
*Ministry of Industry and Information Technology

Overall 3G market share in Q1’CY10 according to the above MIIT report:  42.5% China Mobile, 30.8% China Telecom, 26.7% China Unicom. For end of May a China Telecom “official said it now has between 6 million and 7 million 3G subscribers”, i.e. about the same number as China Unicom (6.5 million).

The follow-up MIIT report for end of June 2010 is indicating 7.18 million 3G subscribers for China Telecom. When combined with the company’s July 20 stock market closing report this would be 9.6% of their total CDMA subscriber base (74.52 million). Overall 3G market share at the end of H1’CY10 corresponding to the follow-up MIIT report would be: 41.5% China Mobile (-1% vs. Q1’CY10), 28.5% China Telecom (-2.3% vs. Q1’CY10), 30% China Unicom (+3% vs. Q1’CY10). A significant gain for the W-CDMA!

The 3G numbers in China are well below of other geographies. See: Could China close the gap in mobile Internet? It should! [July 21] The Chinese government and all the three mobile operators are therefore making extraordinary efforts to close the gap between China and the rest of the world.

There is also an OPhone SDN (OPhone Software Developer Network) community site: http://www.ophonesdn.com/. Here you can find the OPhone SDK Documentation in English, currently for v1.5: http://www.ophonesdn.com/documentation/index. The rest is in Chinese.

The platform is also going out of the mainland China:
first, to Taiwan: Taiwan-based III to cooperate with China Mobile to develop OPhone [brief, June 10], China, Taiwan agree on Android, Ophone, WiMax, TD-LTE, more [detailed, June 10]
then to US and RoW: China’s OPhone to find its way to US as Android+ [May 28, 2010]

China, Taiwan agree on Android, Ophone, WiMax, TD-LTE, more

Intel dismisses WiMAX Program Office

July 1, 2010 9:33 am / 6 Comments on Intel dismisses WiMAX Program Office

As has been reported in my infonugget WiMAX/WiBro <=>
TD-LTE and LTE in general Intel’s WiMAX initiative started in 2006 is not bringing the yields once hoped by chip giant.

As a result of that the Taiwanese DigiTimes has just reported an internal Intel announcement that Intel backs off WiMAX industry, dismisses WiMAX Program Office, say sources. Intel’s Taiwanese partners haven’t got any information from Intel yet and hope that this will not end the cooperation which started years ago.

Industry executives estimated MediaTek Inc. would likely become the world`s No.1 supplier of WiMAX chips in the second half of 2011 thanks to the unmatched strength of Taiwan`s networking-communications equipment industry, which has filled 80-90% of the world demands.

The projections arise at a time when Intel Corp., the foremost engineer behind WiMAX trend, exits the market because of low acceptance of its embedded WiMAX modules for laptops. Industry executives felt MediaTek would likely fill up the vacancy left by Intel in WiMAX.

[But WiMAX is, certainly, not the only bet for Mediatek: MediaTek, NTT DoCoMo Partner on LTE Mobile Tech [July 28]]

… affected by the WiMAX industry’s uncertainty in the future, executives and technicians of the company’s WiMAX department have started leaving and the business is generating monthly losses of NT$10 million for the company. …

[despite clarifications by Intel, as described in the update well below] Intel’s partners in Taiwan remain concerned whether Intel will continue to support WiMAX and fulfill promises made in an MOU signed with the Taiwan government …

… The move has also upset the government seriously, which has been cooperating closely with Intel in pushing investments in WiMAX technology. The Taiwanese government and industries have reportedly requested Intel to make three commitments, including transference of patented WiMAX technology and IOT (interoperability test) solution to Taiwan, signing of a letter of intent for cooperation with Taiwan, and maintenance of its Asia-Pacific WiMAX office or institution of a new unit dedicated to WiMAX business. …
… Industry insiders noted that the retreat from the WiMAX camp will jeopardize the trust of Taiwan in its long-standing cooperative link with Intel. Huang Chung-chiu, vice economics minister, however, noted that even if Intel decides to quit, the Taiwanese WiMAX industry will remain intact, since it has established a complete supply chain.

… Among advanced wireless broadband access technology standards, WiMAX is the best in terms of maturity of technological development and application and is expected to share 20-25% of the global market of wireless communications in the future, MOEA indicated. …

… The five WiMAX operators expressed a consensus that WiMAX has taken a considerable lead in technological development over its rival LTE (Long Term Evolution) whose development is not mature yet.

Far EasTone Telecommunications, the only WiMAX operator not attending the press conference, issued a statement stressing its support of the government’s promotion of WiMAX and its intentions to continue expanding its WiMAX operation. But it said it will also watch the development of LTE to assess the possibility of integrating the two standards.

But keep in mind: China Mobile and Far EasTone Enter Into Share Subscription Agreement and Strategic Cooperation Agreement [April 29, 2009], China Mobile, Far Eastone Team For TD-LTE Wireless Trials [April 8] and Taiwan’s Far EasTone, China Mobile to Offer Games, Music on Mobile Phones [July 8]

… Far EasTone shareholders have approved the sale of a 12 percent stake to China Mobile, which in April last year agreed to pay NT$17.8 billion ($554 million) for the stake in the Taiwan phone company. The two carriers have said they are awaiting the easing of the Taiwan government’s restrictions on Chinese investment in the island’s communications industry to complete the transaction. …

That is coming sooner than later, see: Mainland investment in Taiwan set to rise [June 29], President Ma orders Legislature not to tinker with ECFA [July 1], Government commission to implement ECFA in September [July 13]

  • Update [July 7]: Intel’s Director, Product and Technology Media Relations, Global Communications Group, Bill Kirkos responded to that on Intel’s technology blog Backing Off 4G WiMAX? Hold Your Horses [July 1] with saying:

There has never been one single wireless standard out there, and WiMAX, LTE, 3G et al will all co-exist. And who knows, others will probably pop up, too, in the coming years. As we’ve said before, 4G WiMAX and LTE are very similar and Intel could support both technologies. …

As for the WiMAX Program Office. Intel forms program offices to help create, support and get a technology, standard (and/or new customer) into market as fast as possible. We have a handful of them around the corporation. By definition, these offices are temporary. And that’s what has happened in the case of WiMAX. That office was formed some four years ago, and in that time, the standard was complete; testing and full-scale deployments have happened (>500 worldwide); and heck, even a really popular phone among several other devices have hit the market. The standards group has even identified the next generation enhanced 802.16e specification.

So for us, the mission of getting WiMAX off the ground and in the market is accomplished. The folks working in the program office merely are being housed under our existing Intel business groups.

  • There has been another response as well from Nick Jacobs, Intel APAC Regional PR Group Manager as the following comment to the TechEYE’s Intel pulls out of WiMAX post [July 1]:

Digitimes applied more than their usual license to this one – yes, Intel is reorganizing its WiMAX Program Office (WPO) to better integrate WiMAX into its existing platform and product groups. However, this change is intended to put WiMAX-focused resources and expertise within the teams that can best commercialize WiMAX as it moves beyond start-up phase to a mature wireless technology. Today there are already more than 500 WiMAX networks in 147 countries bringing broadband to over 10 million people.

This evolution is a normal process that takes place as technologies mature and become a standard part of existing computing platforms. Intel remains committed to WiMAX.

FYI, Digitimes called us to ask about what they’d heard from “sources” and we told them just this – but somehow the truth wasn’t allowed to get in the way of a good story…

GigaOM’ conclusion: Intel’s WiMAX Office Closure Could Open Doors for TD-LTE [July 1].

This failure is quite significant since only the investment done through Intel Capital (i.e. not speaking of billions spent on chip development by the mother company) is by far the biggest part of the fund’s portfolio with not less than $1B put into an estimated $12B deal between Clearwire and Sprint where additional non-telecom companies (Comcast, Time Warner, Google) have put together $2.2B alone:
• Clearwire Completes Transaction with Sprint Nextel and $3.2 Billion Investment to Launch 4G Mobile Internet Company [Dec 1, 2008]
– Combination of Sprint and Clearwire’s WiMAX Businesses with $3.2 Billion Cash Investment from Comcast, Intel, Time Warner Cable, Google, and Bright House Networks Creates New Opportunities for Next-Generation Services
• Big Tech Firms to Invest in Wireless [May 7, 2008]
– Sprint, Comcast, Google, Time Warner and Intel Join Forces in New Broadband Joint Venture
• Q&A: Intel Capital’s Arvind Sodhani explains Clearwire-Sprint deal [May 7, 2008]
• Intel’s $600 Million Clearwire Investment Shows Its WiMax Commitment [July 6, 2006]
• In Depth: Intel’s Chip Plans Give WiMax A Mighty Push Forward [July 3, 2006]

Considering Clearwire’s current market capitalisation of $6.9B the loss is quite evident. “As of December 26, 2009, our investment balance in Clearwire LLC was $261 million …” [see: Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, 2009 Annual Report]. The current state of services is well described in this recent article:
• Clearwire Expands 4G Wireless Service [June 28, 2010]
– Richmond, Va., Salt Lake City, and St. Louis join the growing list to receive WiMax Internet coverage from Sprint/Clearwire
Note: Originally WiMAX should have been capturing the 4G market well ahead of LTE because it is “two to three years ahead of any competing technology” (see the above Q&A). The stock market – however – had indicated as early as end of 2008 that ClearWire had much less business potential. “As a result of the year-end market price of Clearwire Corporation stock, Intel will impair the value of its investment, resulting in a non-cash charge to fourth-quarter earnings of approximately $950 million.” (see Intel Announces Preliminary Fourth-Quarter Financial Information [Jan 7, 2009]). Almost all of the original investment, and a year later that was just still $261 million in real value!

Intel Capital has also supported the WiMAX initiative worldwide by other, smaller investments targeted for accelerated deployment:
• Intel, Taiwan Government to Establish Mobile Device Open Source Software Development Center [Oct 30, 2008], Intel Capital Intends to Invest NT$386 Million in VMAX for Mobile WiMAX
• Intel Capital Makes RM50M Investment In Malaysia’s Green Packet To Advance WiMAX [May 19, 2008]
• Intel Capital Invests US$8 Million in Innowireless to Accelerate Wimax Deployment [Nov 27, 2007]
• Intel Capital and MCI have invested in Bulgarian WiMAX operator Nexcom [Sept 12, 2007]
• Intel Capital Extends WiMAX Investments Worldwide [May 22, 2006]

•

Mobile search SaaS battle

June 28, 2010 9:09 am / 5 Comments on Mobile search SaaS battle

Excellent essay on the subject by Krishna Subramarian on TechCrunch:
Clash of the Titans: The Battle To Become The Mobile Search Leader.

The essence is well summarized in the introduction:

Mobile search is still one of the big unclaimed prizes on the mobile web. Everyone from Google and Yahoo to Apple is going after it, but Microsoft’s Bing may stealthily become the king of the castle by aggressively promoting Bing through mobile apps. Let’s look at each player’s mobile search strategy.

Update: there is a specific battle under formation in China which could significantly alter the worldwide search SaaS battlefield as well
– China Mobile Challenges Baidu With Plans for Online Search [Sept 16] which is making the mobile operators’ position pretty clear by observing that: « The operator joins carriers in the U.S., Europe and Japan in turning to data services to spur earnings as the Chinese phone market saturates. “For China Mobile to get a meaningful contribution from new businesses, they really have to turn into big successes to make a difference, as the company is so big,” said Jim Tang, who rates the stock “neutral” at Shenyin Wanguo Securities in Shanghai. “China Mobile gets about 70 percent of its revenue from voice, and growth is completely flat there.” »
– China Mobile: 4G network coming soon [Sept 15] is stating that “4G data card is close to debut and the carrier and partners are working on the research of 4G handset chip … China Mobile is expected to launch 4G mobile communication services as early as 2011 to boost its high-margin data services, according to the GSM Association.”
– China Mobile to set up device sourcing company [Sept 17] is telling that “The planned device-sourcing company will begin to purchase TD-SCDMA-enabled [3G] feature phones with prices below 1,000 yuan (US$148) at the end of the year and then shift to smartphones [likely with integrated 2G, 3G and 4G] priced below 2,000 yuan in the first half of 2011″.

Background information on this blog:
– 3.9G TD-LTE rollout in 2012 with integrated 2G, 3G and 4G? [July 19, with updates till Sept 17 and beyond]
– OPhone OS (OMS) 2.0 based on Android 2.1 [July 5, with updates till Sept 17 and beyond]

The operator joins carriers in the U.S., Europe and Japan in turning to data services to spur earnings as the Chinese phone market saturates.

“For China Mobile to get a meaningful contribution from new businesses, they really have to turn into big successes to make a difference, as the company is so big,” said Jim Tang, who rates the stock “neutral” at Shenyin Wanguo Securities in Shanghai. “China Mobile gets about 70 percent of its revenue from voice, and growth is completely flat there.”

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