WiMAX 4G Is Ahead of Verizon's LTE, Sprint Says

From what Verizon has said this week about its plans to build out a new wireless network based on Long-Term Evolution (LTE) technology, its 4G technology appears to be on a collision course with the WiMAX technology pushed by Clearwire and Sprint.

First and foremost, the wireless carrier's investment in LTE technology is focused on the embedding of LTE technology in a wide range of consumer devices. In this respect, Verizon appears to be following the same playbook that Sprint has been laying out for the past six months, noted Sprint Vice President Todd Rowley, who heads the company's 4G unit.

"At one level it's a validation" of Sprint's strategy to have it "being endorsed by our competitors," Rowley said.

A Data Growth Driver

During his presentation at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week, Verizon Wireless Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Dick Lynch noted that data usage on cellular networks only really started to take off when 3G handsets went mainstream. Going forward, Lynch sees videoconferencing, advanced gaming, HDTV, 3-D TV, virtualization and on-demand "anything" as the big drivers for LTE data growth.

The 4G products and services now being offered by Clearwire and Sprint feature download speeds of two to four Mbps, which is comparatively fast with respect to any cellular technology currently available. However, LTE has the potential to make data downloads up to 10 times faster, opening the door for a wider range of devices -- including cameras, camcorders, navigation products, and smart meters -- with automatic upload capabilities.

On the other hand, WiMAX is already well on its way to becoming embedded in a large number of laptops, which means there's no reason why Sprint's technology could not be used for the same purpose in other devices right now, Rowley said. "We talked about this...