14 DAY TRIAL // After months of speculations Clearwire has just announced plans to add LTE technology to its current 4G network.
The company also stated that it will continue to support WiMAX 4G network technology, which will be gradually replaced by the new standard.
Clearwire's statement follows the company’s successful completion of 4G technology trials that achieved download speeds exceeding 120 Mbps.
According to the company, Clearwire's LTE network will be initially implemented in densely populated, urban areas of its current 4G markets where current 4G usage demands are high.
“Clearwire plans to raise the bar again for mobile broadband service in the United States. Our leadership in launching 4G services forced a major change in the competitive mobile data landscape. Now, we plan to bring our considerable spectrum portfolio to bear to deliver an LTE network capable of meeting the future demands of the market,” said John Stanton, Clearwire's Chairman and interim CEO.
For the non-tech savvy, LTE Advanced is a 4G technical standard that calls for peak download mobile speeds of at least 100 Mbps.
It appears that Clearwire decided to call its LTE network “LTE Advanced-ready,” which means that it will use an ultra-high-capacity spectrum configuration that is superior to the typical configuration of the existing commercial LTE network designs in the United States.
However, Clearwire's LTE implementation plan comes for a price, which means that the company requires additional funding.
The solution to obtain additional funds might be the deployment of Time Division Duplex (TDD) LTE technology and the reuse of its flexible all-IP network architecture, as well as the upgrade of base station radios and some core network elements, which is supposed to offer significant capital savings.
As we already mentioned, Clearwire restated its commitment to its existing 4G WiMAX network and expects to end 2011 with approximately 10 million 4G customers.