And Then There Were 2: Qualcomm Stops Development on UMB in the Race for 4G

Yesterday in the race to become the standard for 4G wireless data network technology, there were three competing  networks: Qualcomm’s UMB, WiMax led by Sprint, Samsung and Intel’s and LTE. backed by AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Vodafone and China Mobile. Today, Qualcomm announced that it was halting development on UMB, and throwing its support behind LTE. So let’s take a look at the scorecard:

LTE: AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Vodafone, China Mobile, Qualcomm

WiMax: Sprint, Samsung and Intel

Although most carriers are looking to squeeze the life out of their current technology and deploy their 4G technology of choice 2-5 years from now, Sprint actually launched Xohm, its WiMax 4G service in Baltimore last week. We’re looking forward to reports of how users in Baltimore find the new service.