Samsung Electronics announced its plan to demonstrate 4th Generation (4G) mobile technology at the annual Samsung 4G Forum in Jeju Island, Korea for the first time in the world. Demonstration will take place at the specially designed bus in mobile circumstances reaching 100 Mbps data transmission as well as at the display area inside forum venue to show speeds of 1Gbps of data transmission.

The bus demonstration will give participants a first-hand experience of this latest technology. A demonstration bus will be moving at speeds of 60 km/h to show multi-cell Handover with data speed of 100Mbps. A live broadcast of the Forum, VOD, and internet access will be shown simultaneously in a demonstration bus allowing delegates to experience the stability and speed of 4G connectivity of 100Mbps data speed.

(Handover: the process of transferring an ongoing call or data session from one channel connected to the core network to another)

1 Gbps data speed under nomadic circumstances is 50 times faster than current Mobile WiMAX technology. It takes about 2.4 seconds to transfer 100 MP3 files (300MByte), 5.6 seconds to transfer 1 Movie (800MByte) at speeds of 1Gpbs. Samsung will demonstrate 1Gpbs data speed at nomadic circumstances by showing 32HD channel broadcast (20 Mpbs) download, Internet access and video telephony all at the same time. Furthermore, a 3.5 Gbps data transfer demonstration will be shown using 8X8 MIMO (Multi-Input Multi-Output) technology.

Samsung’s 4G technology demonstration is a next generation wireless communication service, a step up from last year’s Mobile WiMAX demonstration. Samsung has recently announced its plans to provide Mobile WiMAX systems and handsets to Sprint Nextel and lead the industry in next generation telecommunications technology. Additionally, Samsung has plans to commercialize Mobile WiMAX with nine major operators in seven different countries such as US, Italy, Brazil.

Ki Tae Lee, president of Samsung’s Telecommunications Network Business, says, “We are proud to demonstrate 4G technology for the first time at Samsung 4G Forum. We hope to drive development and standardization of 4G mobile technology with the successful demonstration and realize our dream to begin the 4G era.” He adds, “We hope to work with associated parties for the successful commercialization of 4G technology.”

Samsung hosts an annual 4G Forum to discuss about technology development and standardization of future telecommunication technology. Around 175 high-profile industry representatives from 20 countries meet to discuss the key technologies for 4th generation mobile communications at the 4th Annual Samsung 4G Forum from August 30th to September 1st covering the “Service Requirements & Spectrum for 4G”.

ITU defines 4G technology as a future wireless telecommunications technology allowing data transfer rates of 1Gbps at nomadic circumstances and 100Mbps at mobile circumstances. The spectrums for 4G technology will be decided at WRC (World Radiocommunication Conference) in October of 2007. The 4G mobile communications format is expected to become commercially available around 2010.

Vodafone has introduced its second UMTS broadband phone at ‘turbo speed’. The second Vodafone live ! UMTS broadband phone, the Samsung Z560V, is now on sale only four weeks after the first UMTS broadband phone in Europe was launched. It looks great and delivers impressive data power. The Z560V has a lot more to offer than just elegant design. It sets new standards for multimedia services because of the faster transmission rates of up to 1.8 Mbit/s that are possible with UMTS broadband.

The little black clamshell phone incorporates high-speed UMTS broadband features. Weighing in at only 98g, it has plenty of data power, together with a 2 megapixel CMOS digital camera that has a resolution of up to 1600×1200 pixels, 3x digital zoom and auto focus for needle-sharp photos in 262,144 colours. It also has plenty of memory to store music files and games. The Samsung Z560V has an internal 30 megabyte memory and the option to extend external memory with microSD/TransFlash cards. A 64 MB microSD comes with the phone.

In combination with UMTS broadband, which is being implemented step by step in the existing Vodafone UMTS network in 1800 German towns and cities, there are very few limits on high-speed downloads and Web surfing. The phone can also be connected up to a PC or notebook for photo fun on a larger scale. The mobile modem is ready and it guarantees easy Internet surfing.

Diverse telephony and office functions round off the features of the Samsung Z560V and make it an attractive new generation UMTS mobile phone. Data transmission can be made via USB cable, wireless or Bluetooth with the Samsung Z560V. The Z560V also has staying power. Its 900 mAh battery delivers up to 375 hours of stand-by and up to 2.5 hours of talktime in the UMTS network.

Friedrich Joussen, CEO of Vodafone Germany said, “This second of our UMTS broadband phones shows that we’re committed to speed. We’ll have upgraded almost 90 percent of our UMTS transmitters for UMTS broadband by the end of this year to give our customers unlimited mobile fun with UMTS broadband.”

The black clamshell phone is now available in connection with the Vodafone UMTS Per-Minute Package Plus 200, which has a 24-month minimum term, involves a one-off connection fee of EUR 25 and offers users low-cost standard domestic call rates of EUR 0.30 or EUR 0.40. If the Vodafone WebConnect Fair Flat National data tariff option is also booked, the phone only costs EUR 169.90. Without a contract you can buy it for EUR 799.50.

The Vodafone WebConnect Fair Flat National is a Vodafone data tariff option that was specially designed for UMTS broadband network users. Mobile users can use the German Vodafone network without any restrictions on time or data volume for a flat rate of EUR 49.30, and it makes no difference whether they go online via UMTS Broadband, UMTS or GPRS. The new flat rate is perfect for mobile users who use their notebooks and a PC card to surf the Internet or to access their corporate Intranet, and for UMTS broadband phone users. The Fair Flat Policy gives tariff subscribers up to 5 GB data package volume free of charge every month. National data packages are only billed at EUR 0.58 per MB when the flat-rate allowance is exceeded in two successive billing periods. The services are billed at the end of each connection and at least once every 24 hours, rounded off to the nearest 100 KB. Use of UMTS broadband is free of charge until 31.10.06. Then a maximum rate of EUR 10 per month is payable.

Samsung Z560V: Facts and Figures

Dimensions (mm):98 x 52 x 17 mm
Weight: 98 g
Battery: 900 mAh (Li-Ion)
Integrated antenna: Yes
Stand-by: Up to 375 h
Talktime: Up to 2.5 hours
HSDPA: Yes
UMTS: Yes
GPRS: Yes
Tri-Band: Yes (900/1800/1900 MHz)
Colour: Black
Memory: 30 MB free dynamic internal memory; Extension via 64 MB microSD slot;
Display: 2.3-inch QVGA display with 262,144 colours;
Integrated digital camera: Photo resolution up to 1600 x 1200 pixels; Video resolution up to 176 x 144 pixels; 3x digital zoom, auto focus
Sub-camera: For video telephony
Interfaces: USB, Bluetooth
VideoMMS-capable: Yes
Vibrating alert: Yes
Polyphone ring tones: Yes
Real tones: Yes

Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) today announced its plans to develop and deploy the first fourth generation (4G) nationwide broadband mobile network. The 4G wireless broadband network will use the mobile WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) IEEE 802.16e-2005 technology standard.

Working together with Intel, Motorola and Samsung, Sprint Nextel will develop a nationwide network infrastructure as well as mobile WiMAX-enabled chipsets that will support advanced wireless broadband services for computing, portable multimedia, interactive and other consumer electronic devices. These efforts are intended to allow Sprint Nextel customers to experience a nationwide mobile data network that is designed to offer faster speeds, lower cost, and greater convenience and enhanced multimedia quality.

The Sprint Nextel 4G mobility network will use the company’s extensive 2.5GHz spectrum holdings, which cover 85 percent of the households in the top 100 U.S. markets – the most of any wireless carrier in any single spectrum band. To access that network, Sprint Nextel will work with Intel, Motorola and Samsung to incorporate WiMAX technology for advanced wireless communications and help make chipsets widely available for new consumer electronics devices, connecting consumers to the Internet and to each other while providing them with the flexibility to do what they want or need to do regardless of time or place.

“None of us today can envision our lives without wireless connectivity or the Internet,” explained Gary Forsee, president and chief executive officer of Sprint Nextel. “Sprint Nextel is taking a major step forward by linking the incredible potential of these two cornerstones of daily communications. We’ll give customers the power to harness business information and personal entertainment easily and inexpensively — and in ways that they will one day wonder how they lived without.

This announcement is another step in Sprint Nextel’s broadband mobility leadership, and we expect to establish a first-to-market next generation network advantage. We will have a unique broadband capability for meeting the growing access and mobile Internet needs of businesses, governments and consumers when and where they want.”

In working together with Intel, Motorola, and Samsung, Sprint Nextel has the experience, network infrastructure, spectrum and distribution channels to make 4G mobility services pervasive and indispensable for customers. The company’s deployment plans target a launch of the advanced wireless broadband services in trial markets by the end of 2007 with plans to deploy a network that reaches as many as 100 million people in 2008. Sprint Nextel plans to expand mobile WiMAX network coverage thereafter.

The company will continue to invest in and offer access to its current wireless and Sprint Power VisionSM mobile broadband networks to serve customer communications needs today and into the future. As evidenced by its strong data results and expanding 3G broadband network, Sprint Nextel continues its innovation and leadership in driving mobile data.

New Business Model

Sprint Nextel has created a unique business model designed to foster the rapid deployment and adoption of mobile WiMAX technology in the United States and abroad. Sprint Nextel is expecting to invest $1 billion in 2007 and between $1.5 billion and $2 billion in 2008 relating to the 4G mobile broadband network. The WiMAX technology to be deployed in the network is expected to offer a cost-per-megabit and performance advantage that reflects a substantial improvement in the comparable costs for the current 3G mobile broadband offerings.

Commitments from Intel, Motorola and Samsung in the areas of market development, mobile WiMAX devices and other contributions to Sprint Nextel’s core business are expected to accelerate Sprint Nextel’s goal of deploying services and market adoption. Motorola and Samsung will also support Sprint’s current and CDMA/EV-DO network technologies by creating multimode devices that will support services on both the 4G network and the 3G network in areas outside the planned 4G coverage, and will provide voice service using the core 3G network. The 4G broadband network will offer a complementary, high-bandwidth service driven by data centric devices.

* Intel, one of the early members of the WiMAX Forum and one of the key contributors to the IEEE 802.16e-2005 standard, will deliver next generation WiMAX solutions for Centrino Mobile Technology and next generation computing devices. Intel will bring its extensive history in device-to-network verification as well as marketing expertise to expose customers to the breadth of new WiMAX capabilities and services.

* Motorola has been a long-standing proponent of WiMAX and will offer Sprint Nextel both single- and multimode devices designed to enable seamless mobility for users, while playing a major role in its WiMAX infrastructure roll-out. Since Motorola is the exclusive supplier of iDEN technology as well as a major supplier of CDMA and EV-DO Revision A technology, it can offer a complete end-to-end solution (from radio access network equipment to both single- and multimode mobile devices) and is uniquely positioned to expand the seamless mobility experience into the wireless mobile broadband market.

* Samsung Telecommunications America will be a primary Mobile WiMAX infrastructure supplier to Sprint Nextel and will also deliver dual-mode devices supporting Mobile WiMAX and CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, designed to enable Sprint’s Mobile WiMAX users to utilize Sprint Nextel’s existing 3G network resources. With its installation of networks in South Korea and other markets, Samsung Electronics is the first to commercially deploy Mobile WiMAX and with its alliance with Sprint Nextel will bring this global expertise to North America. Samsung is the global leader in delivering Mobile WiMAX technologies and offers Sprint a total solution including chipsets, infrastructure, mobile devices and consumer electronics focused on Mobile WiMAX and dual-mode WiMAX/CDMA services delivery.

Sprint Nextel’s long-term goal is to have a broad range of mobile WiMAX-enabled chipsets and modules and an array of portable data and consumer electronics devices available from multiple vendors which work seamlessly among Sprint’s network offerings. To that end, Sprint Nextel and other leading consumer electronic companies are planning to form a strategic marketing and product alliance for the purpose of introducing innovative consumer electronic devices and multimedia content solutions using Sprint’s 4G mobile WiMAX network.

“Sprint Nextel has built its success on being a pioneer – beginning with its rollout of the first nationwide digital fiber optic network 20 years ago,” said Sean Maloney, executive vice president of Intel. “With the choice of mobile WiMAX for its 4G mobile broadband technology, Sprint Nextel again helps move the U.S. to the forefront of technology innovation and competitiveness. Sprint Nextel’s decision confirms Intel’s belief that WiMAX is the wireless technology of choice to deliver affordable broadband access. Intel is pleased to work with Sprint Nextel, Motorola and Samsung to bring the promise of mobile broadband and WiMAX to consumers nationwide.”

Motorola Chairman and CEO, Ed Zander, stated, “We are excited that Sprint Nextel has selected WiMAX, and we believe that mobile WiMAX is a perfect choice for a visionary company like Sprint Nextel. Today’s announcement is another milestone in Motorola’s focused strategy to continue to expand and grow our wireless broadband business and advance our vision of seamless wireless broadband mobility. We expect that this decision from one of America’s leading carriers and the largest holder of 2.5GHz spectrum will influence the adoption of mobile WiMAX by other carriers worldwide.”

KiTae Lee, president of Samsung Electronics’ Telecommunication Network Business, stated, “I believe Sprint Nextel’s decision to deploy Mobile WiMAX as the 4G network technology will set a milestone in the U.S. telecommunication industry’s history and contribute to further advancements in wireless technology. Mobile WiMAX has the fastest data transfer rate among the existing wireless technologies and is based on all-IP technology. Mobile WiMAX-based services will create a new paradigm shift in wireless services and improve consumer lifestyles. I believe that Sprint Nextel will successfully provide this mobile WiMAX technology based service and begin a new revolution in mobile broadband services nationwide.”