4G Global Update - September 22, 2011

 

Clearwire CFO: Vendor Financing, Spectrum Sales Could Help Fund LTE Buildout

FierceWireless

Clearwire CFO Hope Cochran said the company has a range of available options in its efforts to pay for its planned rollout of LTE-Advanced network technology in the U.S., including vendor financing and a possible sale of the company's excess spectrum. Cochran said vendor financing could be a "large anchor" in Clearwire's efforts to raise between $150 million and $300 million for the maintenance of its existing WiMAX network and the $600 million the company needs to begin rolling out LTE-Advanced network technology using the TDD configuration. As for Clearwire's other funding options, Cochran said the company may consider tapping capital markets. She said the capital markets are choppy right now, so Clearwire would have to do so carefully. More

 

LightSquared Offers to Pay to Retrofit Government GPS Devices

PC Magazine

LightSquared has offered to spend "tens of millions" of dollars to retrofit certain government GPS devices with a proprietary component, in hopes of convincing the government to approve a billion-dollar plan to launch an independent 4G LTE network in the U.S. The solution, announced Wednesday, is a high-precision receiver that is supposed to drown out interferences caused by LightSquared's proposed LTE network, which runs adjacent to GPS spectrum. More

 

Identifying the Tech Leaders in LTE Wireless Patents

Forbes

In a surprise finding, Jefferies & Co. named LG Electronics as the leader in essential LTE patents. Though the Korean electronics company is rarely mentioned as a patent powerhouse, it claims 23% of the pool of LTE patents that Jefferies analyzed. San Diego-based Qualcomm ranked second on Jefferies’ list with 21% of the patent pool. Four companies basically tied for third place by each claiming 9% of essential LTE patents. They are Motorola Mobility, InterDigital, Nokia and Samsung. More

 

TD-LTE Catching Fire, But Challenges Remain

Fierce Broadband Wireless

Interest in TD-LTE, the version of LTE slated to run in the unpaired spectrum known as Time Division Duplex, has heated up rapidly — so much so that TD-LTE equipment maturity doesn't fall behind Frequency Division Duplex equipment. But the technology still faces challenges thanks to a slow release of spectrum in some areas and the fragmentation of the global LTE market when it comes to the myriad of spectrum bands LTE technology in general will be operating in. More

 

Apple Board Member Al Gore Says iPhones (Plural) Coming in October

Gadget Lab

Key insight on the timing of Apple's next iPhone release appeared, and this time it's no rumor. The news came straight from the mouth of an Apple insider. Former U.S. Vice President and sitting Apple board member Al Gore made specific reference to the release of one or more new iPhone products in October while speaking at a conference Wednesday, according to an attendant of the conference. More

 

Nokia Names New CTO

Light Reading

Nokia has appointed Henry Tirri as CTO, replacing Richard Green, who is leaving the company and returning to the U.S. Previously, Tirri was head of the Nokia Research Center. He now will be based in Sunnvyale, Calif., and will report directly to CEO Stephen Elop. More