Abstract :
Casual observers of the telecoms sector might be forgiven for thinking that the battle to become the global standard for next-generation (or 4G) mobile networks had already been won, with LTE easily beating WiMax. The reality isn´t that simple. Each camp has been busy developing its technical specifications and lobbying the network operators, governments and equipment vendors who will ultimately decide who wins. While a number of wireless broadband services and devices (including mobile phones, USB dongles and laptops) are already being marketed as ´4G´, the world is yet to witness the first official transmission and reception of an IP data packet over a proper fourth-generation cellular network.
