Wireless Lingo from Technology, not Spectrum, Tabassi Says
4G wireless technology is distinct from 3G, despite confusion over labeling, Ali Tabassi, Sprint Nextel vp- technology development, told a Wed. Wireless Communications Assn.’s (WCA) Carrier & Enterprise Leadership Briefing. Also addressing Sprint Nextel’s spectrum stance, Tabassi urged that each generation be defined by technology, as it long has, not by which spectrum band the technology operates on, as is done by some with 4G. Telling Communications Daily he can’t speak for any standards organizations or policy groups, Tabassi nonetheless warned that generational nomenclature has the potential to disrupt the wireless standards process.
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“Sprint is not a standards body,” Tabassi said, still insisting on the 4G designation because “if you put all the political battles and financial challenges” aside, especially as seen in Europe, “this is a new technology.” He condensed the begetting of wireless technology as follows: (1) The transition from analog to digital was a clearly delineated technology jump, seen as such by the FCC and standards bodies -- digital wireless became 2G. (2) When faster speeds and more efficiency improved on that digital capacity, but the base technology stayed the same, that more or less universally was called 2.5G. (3) CDMA2000/WCDMA marked a paradigm shift to 3G. Accordingly, Tabassi said, OFDM technology for high-powered wireless data networks marks a significant technology change and so ought to be referred to, standardized as and even regulated to whatever extent necessary as 4G.
The FCC “fortunately” bases generation on technology, unlike bodies in Europe and Asia that base generation designations on which spectrum the technology is deployed over, Tabassi said. The Commission “clearly called” the analog-digital transition, essential to the very idea of “2G,” he said. Later, he told us, the FCC was equally clear with labels in the switch to higher capacity, higher speed data networks over CDMA technology. Standards bodies have been unclear on what distinction they're going to draw, he said -- some call the new technology 802.16e, some simply call it WiMAX and other nomenclature abounds, Tabassi said: “Based on what we see, we're calling it 4G.”
Sprint Nextel has spectrum position for wireless broadband superior to competitors’, according to Tabassi. “We believe that we have a 12-18-month lead through our spectrum position,” he said. This is especially true given a recent AWS auction, he said, since that spectrum won’t be available nationally to high bidders for at least 3 months. The amount of spectrum auctioned won’t have the capability that the 2.5 GHz spectrum Sprint uses has, Tabassi said. He said he was unable to answer questions about his own or other companies’ plans with AWS spectrum.