TD-LTE again in Focus

TD-LTE has been in news since some time and is making WiMAX proponents nervous. Here is quick summary of what has happend in last couple of weeks.

TD-LTE has been in news since some time and is making WiMAX proponents nervous. Here is quick summary of what has happend in last couple of weeks.

MediaTek Inc and Qualcomm are seeking the opportunity brought by the construction of TD-LTE network by China Mobile. China Mobile is seeking to test its TD-LTE networks in three coastal cities first, namely Qingdao, Xiamen, and Zhuhai, in the second half of 2010. Qualcomm is also bidding for TD-LTE spectrum in India.

Earlier this week, Japanese cellco Softbank Mobile said that it is considering deploying the Chinese-developed TD-LTE standard as a 4G network. Senior executive vice president Ted Matsumoto told telecomasia.net the company could deploy it in the 2.5GHz spectrum it gained access to when it bought a stake in failing PHS operator Willcom last month. 

“We’re going to have 2.5GHz TDD spectrum, so we will seriously explore TD-LTE,” he said. Softbank is also focused on winning access to the key 700MHz or 900MHz frequencies, the “golden spectrum” with a much higher propagation range already that is used by both of its competitors.

According to FierceBroadbandWireless, Ericsson has already signed an MoU to create a strategic cooperation with Datang Telecom in China to develop TDD solutions and likely gain a foothold in China Mobile’s planned TD-LTE network.

Motorola, the only vendor to heavily tout LTE in TDD spectrum, is heavily leveraging its expertise in WiMAX, which operates in the TDD band, to do so. It has been targeting China Mobile for some time and is demonstrating TD-LTE capabilities in China Mobile’s showcase TD-LTE network in Shanghai. It is aggressively gearing up for the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, China, to showcase its momentum in TD-LTE.

Nokia Siemens Networks is not behind and has opened a TD-LTE lab aimed at accelerating commercial TD-LTE device deployments.

Some informative links are below for further reading

MediaTek, Qualcomm Eyeing TD-LTE Chip Market

700MHz band for LTE in Taiwan

Softbank Mobile mulls TD-LTE for 2.5GHz

Motorola’s TD-LTE Expertise

See my an old blog to know more about TD-LTE What is TD-LTE and Why the sudden interest in TD-LTE