GSM Association (GSMA), a trade association for the global mobile industry, said yesterday that Taiwan should focus on the development of long-term evolution (LTE) wireless broadband technology to achieve greater economies of scale in the device manufacturing market.
For the past few years, Taipei has supported WiMAX 4G (fourth-generation) technology as part of its efforts to boost local products and become the world’s largest exporter of WiMAX devices.
Both LTE and WiMAX are 4G mobile broadband technologies that can accomodate high levels of data transmission over mobile phone networks, ushering in a new era of smartphone capability.
However, WiMAX, which was developed first, has faced severe setbacks as more mobile carriers worldwide have committed to LTE to upgrade their networks.
The low level of worldwide WiMAX demand, evidenced by the fact that no global WiMAX hub has been developed, would most likely translate to WiMAX devices that cost more than LTE devices, said Chris Perera, GSMA director of spectrum policy and regulatory affairs for the Asia-Pacific region.
“Although local demand will drive the WiMAX market, given the smaller market size in terms of lower demand, it is in Taiwan’s best interest to focus on the manufacturing of HSPA [High Speed Packet Access] wireless networking and LTE equipment, rather than WiMAX equipment,” Perera said at the second 4G International Forum in Taipei.
In addition, Perera suggested that the National Communications Commission (NCC), the nation’s primary regulatory institution in the field, define a clear roadmap to help local WiMAX operators deploy standard LTE spectrums, such as the 700 megahertz (MHz) band.
“The NCC’s most important task is to ensure that the reallocation of spectrum in the 700MHz band is as efficient as possible. The regulator must also facilitate changes in WiMAX operators’ licensing conditions to deploy LTE,” Perera said.
According to GSMA, worldwide WiMAX operators are using the 2.6 gigahertz band, while China Mobile Ltd (中國移動), the world’s largest carrier by subscribers, as well as most Asian telecoms operators, are now focusing on the deployment of LTE in the 700MHz band.
Currently, Taiwan has six licensed WiMAX operators: Global Mobile Corp (全球一動), VMAX Telecom Co (威邁思), Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信), First International Telecom Corp (大眾電信), Tatung InfoComm Co (大同電信) and Vee Time Corp (威達雲端電訊).
However, the combined total number of their WiMAX subscribers was only 58,300 as of March. The low number of users casts a shadow over the future survival of WiMAX technology.
Representing 219 countries and territories, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile communications industry, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies and media and entertainment organizations.
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