Next-Generation Mobile Broadband – The 4G Summit

Visionaries who speak about fourth-generation mobile technology (aka 4G) often allude to the tantalizing promise of services and features previously found only in science fiction; interactive holographic video, handheld devices with high-resolution (better than HDTV) images, streaming HD video conferencing and real-time interaction while mobile. 4G also promises a convergence between technologies, for example; mobile payments using near-field communications and handset-based smart cards, personal assistant technologies in which your mobile device will interact with networked devices and services based on your location/schedule/current actions/etc. Implementing the 4G vision of the future will require a bandwidth of at least 100Mbps, which has implications for spectrum policy not supported by current licensing and bandplans.

It's generally accepted that 4G will run over an IP infrastructure, will interoperate with 802.xx technologies (Wi-Fi, WiMAX, Bluetooth, ZigBee, etc), and will need to support data-rates from 100Mbps to as high as 1Gbps. It's also expected that 4G will be a collection of technologies and protocols; versus one single standard. There are at last three major camps (and a few upstarts) that aspire to be the major 4G mobile data service provider and have a dominant influence at defining the mobile broadband market for decades to come. Will it be one of the major camps, or will there be a dark horse that emerges?

On July 15th 2008 the Wireless Communication Alliance CenterStage will proudly present "Next-Generation Mobile Broadband : The 4G Summit". Stakeholders from various camps around the 4G battleground will come together under a flag of truce to debate the strengths and weaknesses of the approach on which they're betting. What's real, and what's simply hype? Who will be the first to achieve 4G ratification, and when is a realistic date when this will happen? What are the implications for technology vendors, service providers, and content developers? Are there any non-Western standards also likely to be contenders? How will the industry address spectrum licensing challenges and bandplans which today would seem to favor FDD versus TDD technologies? How will spectral refarming, cognitive radio, and spectrum-sharing technologies affect the market? Given that the evolution of technology demands that existing 3G systems will have to co-exist with future 4G systems; how will that transition take place and are there business opportunities in helping to facilitate that transition?