Hi Slacker,
I too became a little disappointed after hearing the remarks on HDR by NT (and I forgot who else on that panel commented on HDR). Their point, however, was that they are only pursuing, at this time, technologies that have been set as standards. From their infrastructure poing of view, they have already invested in, and have begun marketing, 1X with a smooth migration to 3X. Therefore, publicly at least, they are not supporting this new breakthrough technology.
Durring Q&A, I asked Kevin Kennedy about Cisco's VOFDM strategy and whether or not that was intended to compete or compliment Q*'s HDR. I also asked what role satellite technology would play going forward in Cisco's strategy. I didn't understand his response to VOFDM (I think I caught him off guard), and his response to my satellite question was basically that he didn't see the tornado yet (for satellite).
After disseminating all the information and pondering that evening, I came to the realization that the presenters that were presenting the first day (some of them at least) probably didn't understand or were out of the loop on the very high level strategy sessions that are occurring within their respective organizations.
Luckily, I had the privilege of staying for the workshop on Thursday (I noticed many of the attendees left Wednesday evening). I can tell you, without a doubt, that hearing Dr. William Lee, Vice President and Chief Scientist for Vodofone Airtouch Plc, and Dr. Chuck Wheatley, Senior VP of Technology for Qualcomm (he developed the first commerial CDMA phone)was the highlight of the week for me. Actually, it was the highlight of the entire year for me. These two gentlemen were in a class second to none. There was no comparison,IMHO, to any of the other presenters at the entire congress. Dr. Wheatley presented and conducted discussion on HDR, and Dr. Lee presented the future of 3G, the events that have led to where we are today, as well as a touch of 4G (this will incorporate satellite, IP, fixed wireline, etc., all at broadband rates not possible for 3G).
In case you missed this workshop, some highlights included:
The initiation of 3G in Europe came from vendors,not operators. As a result, it has been manufacturing driven, where vendors tell service providers, who in tern tell the end users. Because of this dilemna, it is a risk approach for service providers, with no assurance of G3G cost from vendors, and no guarantee of satisfaction from users. Service providers have no choiec but to take whatever is offered to them by the vendors.
The convergence of the two CDMA 3G standards was discussed, including chip rates, and how sad it was that we have to have to different rates, different pilots(common vs. dedicated), and different synchronization--synchronous vs. asynchronous--for no reason other than politics.
Further, one region is driven by IPR and innovation, and another is driven by politics and hidden agendas.
Enough rambling for now, I will post more when I get the chance later on.
Take it easy,
JN |
