4G Americas look back, ahead
Editor’s Note: RCR Wireless News over the next two weeks will begin to look back at 2014 and ahead to 2015. This will include retrospective columns and “best-of” lists looking back over the past 12 months, as well as 2015 predictions from sources across the wireless communications industry. Here we kick off the proceedings with an interview with 4G Americas.
Wireless network technology was active in 2014, with mobile operators in the U.S. and Canada continuing to bolster coverage of their “4G”-based LTE networks, while operators across Central and South America began either deploying or setting the stage for their own deployments.
Along with that coverage progress, operators in the U.S. also were busy rolling out the initial tenants of LTE-Advanced onto their networks, including spectrum aggregation and small cell support. Those moves are expected to pick up steam heading into 2015, with LTE-A bringing true 4G services to consumers.
Perhaps most interesting in 2014 was the increased attention paid toward “5G” technology, with a number of equipment vendors announcing their initial moves in regard to just what 5G could look like. While standards bodies will eventually be tasked with mapping out the path to 5G, the past 12 months showed that at least the vendor community was ready to take on the challenge.
RCR Wireless News spoke with 4G Americas President Chris Pearson on technology advances witnessed over the past 12 months as well as where the trade organization sees the market heading in 2015. Pearson also touched on key regulatory challenges facing the Americas moving into 2015, including the continuing need for spectrum resources and the Federal Communications Commission’s recent decision to postpone the highly anticipated 600 MHz incentive auction until 2016.
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