Clearwire LTE trial casts doubt on WiMax telephony

The only WiMax service operator in the US is to begin testing LTE hardware

Clearwire, which runs the only US commercial WiMax telephony network, is to begin trials of Long-Term Evolution (LTE) equipment.

The trials will start in Phoenix, Arizona and will be conducted with Huawei. Clearwire already uses Samsung base stations which can be adapted for use with LTE and WiMax hardware.

"As we have consistently stated we remain technology agnostic, but WiMax provides unique advantages to meet the needs of our customers today," said Dr John Saw, chief technology officer at Clearwire.

"Ultimately, consumers don't care about technical acronyms, but they do care about quality and affordable internet services that work where and when they want, and that's what we're focused on delivering."

The news is a blow to WiMax backers such as Intel, and casts doubt on the long-term viability of the technology in the face of competition from LTE.

Clearwire had reportedly struck a deal with Intel to use only WiMax hardware for next-generation telephony, but that now seems to have lapsed.

"LTE has growing momentum and the support of more players in the industry. It's going to be hard for WiMax to gain the kind of user base it needs to succeed," said Dr Saw.

"There's still a window of usefulness in WiMax, since the new network will take some time to roll out. It's still a viable solution, but the mid- to long-term outlook is that LTE will succeed."

Russian firm Yota, the world's largest WiMax telephony operator, announced in May that it will switch its network to LTE.