Heavy Reading Rates LTE-A Technology Suppliers

NEW YORK, Aug. 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- As LTE-Advanced networks begin to reach commercial deployment, technology suppliers are scrambling to establish market leadership positions, with several vendors taking an early lead in this key mobile sector, according to the latest report from Heavy Reading 4G/LTE Insider, a paid research service of Heavy Reading (www.heavyreading.com).

LTE-A Infrastructure: A Heavy Reading Competitive Analysis summarizes the drivers of LTE-A network investment and assesses the products and solutions offered by eight leading LTE infrastructure vendors.

For a list of companies included in this report, please click here.

The competitive analysis focuses on five key areas: the breadth of each vendor's LTE-A portfolio, range of functions, uniqueness of approach, customer wins, and the "buzz factor" that each supplier has built around its approach to LTE-A. Each supplier is evaluated on each of these core criteria to determine an overall rating.

"Services with LTE-A features are now being rolled out around the world," notes Danny Dicks, research analyst with Heavy Reading 4G/LTE Insider and author of the report. "Networks supporting those features use equipment from network equipment providers keen to ensure their LTE infrastructure continues to support their exiting wireless operator customers as they migrate to ever-faster, denser networks."

While LTE networks up to Release 8/9 are relatively homogenous across the world, those with LTE-A features vary significantly because operators are picking and choosing from a wide range of Release 10+ features depending on their specific requirements, Dicks says. "The market for LTE-A network infrastructure is likely to change as higher-powered chipsets find their way into smartphones and other user equipment," he continues. "When that happens, trials will become commercial services, and rollout will accelerate across networks."

Key findings of LTE-A Infrastructure: A Heavy Reading Competitive Analysis include:

• LTE-A networks are being deployed in trials around the world in significant numbers; commercial networks in South Korea have been the subject of great interest.
• Many LTE infrastructure vendors have developed solutions to support common Release 10 LTE-A features; some have gone further, with Release 11/12 features and proprietary features that build on standards-based functionality.
• Vendors tend to enable LTE-A features to support their existing customer base.
• Some vendors have been significantly more successful than others in selling their equipment to operators.
• Comparing vendors on five key criteria shows three vendors – Ericsson, Huawei and Nokia Networks – in a three-way tie at the top, with ZTE and Alcatel-Lucent snapping at their heels.

LTE-A Infrastructure: A Heavy Reading Competitive Analysis is available as part of an annual single-user subscription (6 issues per year) to Heavy Reading 4G/LTE Insider, priced at $1,595. Individual reports are available for $900 (single-user license).

To subscribe, or for more information, please visit: www.heavyreading.com/4glte. For more information on all Insider services, please visit www.heavyreading.com/research.

To request a free executive summary of the report, or for details on multi-user licensing options, please contact:

David Williams
Global Director of Sales, Research
Heavy Reading
858-829-8612
[email protected]

Press/analyst contact:
Dennis Mendyk
Vice President of Research, Heavy Reading
201-587-2154
[email protected]

About Heavy Reading
Heavy Reading (www.heavyreading.com), the research division of Light Reading, offers deep analysis of emerging telecom trends to network operators, technology suppliers, and investors. Its product portfolio includes in-depth reports that address critical next-generation technology and service issues, market trackers that focus on the telecom industry's most critical technology sectors, exclusive worldwide surveys of network operator decision-makers that identify future purchasing and deployment plans, and a rich array of custom and consulting services that give clients the market intelligence needed to compete successfully in the global telecom industry. 

About Light Reading
Light Reading (www.lightreading.com) combines its research-led online communities and targeted events portfolio to help those in the global communications industry make informed decisions. Lightreading.com is the ultimate source for telecom analysis for more than 350,000 subscribers each month, leading the media sector in terms of traffic, content, and reputation. Light Reading produces targeted communications events and focused one-day conferences each year for cable, mobile, and wireline executives across five continents.

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SOURCE Heavy Reading