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If there is an auction for 4G spectrum, carriers should jump to buy it. However, it’s not the only way to offer better data traffic to customers, said Qualcomm Inc.’s Bill Davidson, senior vice-president for global marketing and investor relations. HSPA+ and LTE are parallel evolution paths, so telecom operators could choose to evolve their 3G technologies to HSPA+first, Davidson noted today at a press conference in São Paulo, Brazil.“It’s not necessary to migrate to LTE, because HSPA+ ensures similar user experience outside the LTE coverage, they have similar performance, both in spectral efficiency and peak data rates,” he said. The decision to choose HSPA+ rather than evolve the technology to LTE is a different situation compared to disruptive migration from 2G to 3G.
However, in Brazil, HSPA+ is still expensive for operators to deploy. That will change, Davidson said. “It happens every technology transition and it’s related to volume. The more volume, the lower the price of equipment,” he said. “Carriers will deploy LTE when they have huge demand for data,” said Flavio Mansi, president for Qualcomm Latin America.
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