4G wars: LTE spending to surpass WiMax, says IDG

Spending on Long Term Evolution (LTE) will continue to gain momentum and surpass the total spent on WiMax deployments by the end of 2011, according to a report by IDC.

Telecom carriers are busy building out 4G networks and most of them—led by Verizon Wireless—are betting on LTE. Sprint, Clearwire and partners are betting on WiMax, but also leaving the door open to LTE.

IDC reckons that more than a dozen LTE networks will go live this year. LTE infrastructure revenue will be just below $8 billion by 2014, according to IDC.

Simply put, LTE is positioned to be the 4G standard with more than 100 operators supporting it. IDC said that LTE still has challenges, but its ability to support 3G networks, marketing heft from key players and next-generation smartphones will push it to be the 4G standard.

More:

• Verizon: LTE’s launch on the horizon; not worried about WiMax
• CTIA: Sprint, Clearwire CEOs talk about the rise of 4G
• Sprint, Clearwire rev 4G: What’s the shelf life for WiMax?
• Alcatel-Lucent upgrades wireless portfolio; Enables tiered data plans, LTE