A press release from this morning details KDDI plan to use Nortel and Hitachi’s joint collaboration for their LTE deployment.
Very interesting news as:
1) KDDI plans to roll-out LTE
2) Nortel and Hitachi join hands in this effort
As you may well know UQ Communications, a KDDI company, will deploy Mobile WiMAX in 2009 using a 2.5GHz spectrum. This report from Unstrung addresses the biggest problem, lack of Spectrum:
“Spectrum holds back Japan’s LTE
But Japanese operators do not yet have the spectrum they need to deploy LTE.
The KDDI spokesman explains that the operator cannot use its existing 3G spectrum in the 2 GHz frequency band for LTE because there is not enough of it. There is spectrum available for LTE at 1.5 GHz, but KDDI, along with DoCoMo and Softbank, is waiting for the Japanese regulator to decide who can use how much of this spectrum, according to the spokesman.
Another LTE spectrum option in the country will be in the 800 MHz band, which will be made available by 2010 as cable operators switch from analog to digital TV transmission.”