By Joni Morse
Thursday, June 14, 2007
WASHINGTON, D.C.—AT&T says its next-generation roadmap leads to LTE, though it's evaluating the use of WiMAX technology for backhaul.
AT&T's Chris Hill, vice president of Government Solutions for Mobility, commented during an interview at the Wireless Communications Association (WCA) conference that, "LTE provides similar throughputs, so we're taking a wait-and-see approach to WiMAX. We just don't see the value proposition for mobile WiMAX."
Hill also spoke of AT&T's Networx contract win, noting that AT&T was adamant that it win the General Services Administration's (GSA) business this time around after losing out when contracts were doled out for the government's Federal Telecommunications System 2001 project.
Hill said AT&T's Networx team spent the better part of two years working on the Networx proposal. The GSA wrapped up its contract awards at the end of May after handing contracts to AT&T, Level 3 Communications, Qwest Communications, Sprint and Verizon.
The Networx project will span 10 years and is valued at about $20 billion, covering voice, IP, wireless and satellite services for federal agencies.