Defining 4G
3G Americas Publishes White Paper on the ITU Process for 4G
3G Americas
today published a new white paper entitled
Defining 4G: Understanding the
ITU Process for the Next Generation of Wireless Technology.
The white paper provides the factual description of how IMT-Advanced
or 4G will someday be defined by the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU). ITU is the internationally
recognized authority that will produce the official definition
of the next generation of wireless technologies beyond IMT-2000
or 3G.
Chris Pearson, President of 3G
Americas, stated, "The ITU is currently establishing criteria
for IMT-Advanced and will be screening various technologies for
inclusion in the IMT-Advanced family. Only then will we
understand what is and can be rightly and credibly called 4G.”
He continued, "Any claim today that a particular technology is a
so-called ‘4G technology’, in reality, is simply a marketing
spin, creating market confusion and deflating the importance of
the telecommunications industry standards. Technologies should
be verified against a set of agreed-upon requirements in order
to qualify as 4G, and this will happen in the future when the
requirements are outlined by the ITU."
Significant progress has been
made by the Radiocommunication Sector of the ITU (ITU-R) in
establishing an agreed and globally accepted definition of 4G
wireless systems, and ITU-R is close to releasing a full set of
documentation for this definition. Working under a mandate to
address systems beyond 3G, ITU-R has progressed from delivering
a vision of 4G in 2002 to establishing a name for 4G in 2005 (IMT-Advanced).
In 2006, ITU-R set out the principles for the process of the
development of IMT-Advanced. The work of the ITU encompasses
the important elements of business success in the wireless
industry, especially the balance of a market and services view,
a technology view, a spectrum view and regulatory aspects. In
early 2008, ITU-R will translate the vision into a set of
requirements by which technologies and systems can, in the near
future, be determined a part of IMT-Advanced and in doing so,
earn the credible right to be considered 4G.
During 2008 and 2009, ITU-R
will hold an open call for 4G (IMT-Advanced) candidates as well
as an assessment of those candidates' technologies and systems.
The culmination of this open process will be a 4G, or IMT-Advanced
family of technologies. Such a 4G family of technologies, in
adherence to the principles defined for acceptance into this ITU
process, is globally recognized to be one which can grow to
include all aspects of a marketplace that will arrive beyond
2010.
“Third generation technologies
are growing immensely in the marketplace, but they too once
started out with a vision and requirements from ITU,” stated
Pearson. “The evolving wireless marketplace and its customers
will be well served by the current ITU process for the next
generation of wireless services.”
The white paper
Defining 4G: Understanding the ITU Process for the Next
Generation of Wireless Technology is available for free
download at
www.3gamericas.org.
About 3G Americas: Unifying the
Americas through Wireless Technology
The mission of 3G Americas is to promote and facilitate the
seamless deployment throughout the Americas of GSM and its
evolution to 3G and beyond. The organization fully supports the
Third Generation (3G) technology migration strategy to EDGE and
UMTS/HSPA adopted by many operators in the Americas. The GSM
family of technologies accounts for 85% of wireless mobile
customers worldwide. 3G Americas is headquartered in Bellevue,
WA with an office for Latin America and the Caribbean in Dallas,
TX. For more information, visit our website at
www.3gamericas.org.
Vicki Livingston
+1 262 242 3458
vicki.livingston@3gamericas.org
www.3gamericas.org
Bellevue, WA, July 16, 2007
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