4Generation Wireless To Develop China, India

2007 predictions from inCode/Verisign wireless consulting: developing countries in Asia are going to innovate and influence 4G wireless networks before they make it to the western world! Here's what inCode said in January:

China and India Tilt Equipment Market. Together, China and India connect more than 10 million wireless customers per month in 2007, creating a subscriber base that is larger than Vodafone's at 200 million customers. By the end of [2007], China finally starts issuing 3G licenses. Wireless technologies are developed and deployed first in China and India, rather than Europe and North America as in the past. The result is a significant shift in industrial influence. Although Chinese infrastructure vendors may be viewed as the "Wal-Mart of wireless," that's more perception than reality. Chinese manufacturers make rapid technology improvements and aim for long-term strategic advantage. Expect intensified focus to ensure a strong Asian influence in the 4G market.

Most American cell phones get data services (email, SMS, web browsing and such) using 2G, or second generation, wireless networks that have a pretty small bandwidth. As more and more services go mobile - think music, Google, Facebook, YouTube, plus 100s you haven't heard of yet - those 2G and even 3G data highways are going to get congested pretty quickly. The 4G networks are too far in the future for too much Wall Street chatter, but are already being deployed across the developing world. One of those technologies has been dubbed WiMAX for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access. More on that to come...