Clearwire To Begin Testing Co-Existence Of WiMax And LTE In The Fall

Right now, Clearwire's 4G network is based entirely on the WiMax technology. The same one that Sprint uses for their own infrastructure. But, Clear has come forward in the past to say that they've never counted Long Term Evolution (LTE) out, and now with this new report, it looks like they're strengthening that statement. With tests planned in the Fall of this year, Clear will take a hard look at LTE.

The tests are designed primarily to see how LTE and WiMax live together, within the same market and utilizing the same spectrum. Clear stated that they are going to use hardware from Chinese manufacturer Huawei, utilizing FDD LTE and TDD LTE equipment. And the tests will take place within the 2.4 and 2.6GHz bands, where Clear currently holds assets.

Now, for the download speeds. Clearwire said that they fully expect to reach download speeds of between 20Mbps and 70Mbps. To put that into comparison, Verizon's expected to reach somewhere between 5Mbps and 7Mbps on their own LTE 4G network, which is scheduled to launch later this year. Apparently, Clear believes that with their spectrum assets and their technology, the combination of LTE and WiMax will result in these increased speeds. AS for participating wireless carriers, Clear didn't name any names, but they did say that a number of entities are involved in the testing. The tests are scheduled to begin this Fall and go all the way through the Winter of 2011, all in Phoenix, Arizona.

[via Phone Scoop]