GSMA Launches "Mobile Broadband" Branding Initiative To Start Defending Against WiMAX

Author: Philip Solis, Principal Analyst, Mobile Broadband

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:08:17 EDT

The GSMA announced its branding initiative to promote HSPA and LTE as the broadband technology of choice by using the generic words "mobile broadband."  It is interesting to see how the GSMA was able to get some device manufacturers like laptop vendors to support this initiative when these companies should be very neutral when it comes to air interfaces.  The United States in particular, will see EV-DO (Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel) and WiMAX (Clearwire, Sprint Nextel, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks) services competing with HSPA networks for a few years before LTE networks are widespread.

The fact that this branding includes HSPA and LTE and exludes EV-DO will not matter so much for EV-DO operators since for the most part they will adopt LTE as their 4G air interface as well.  So this leaves just WiMAX as an air interface that will compete with HSPA and LTE.  This branding initiative is more than just creating a brand that easy to understand - it is about creating a unified brand against WiMAX even before it gets started.

To put it in a more broad sense, this branding initiative is not just to make it easier for consumers to understand the capabilities of mobile broadband-enabled products and mobile broadband services.  It is to do just that only for the mobile broadband air interfaces supported by the GSMA - HSPA and LTE.  It is this last point that is looked over in most of the stories covering this news.

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