An Alcatel-Lucent executive sought to put more distance between the company and mobile WiMAX, arguing the wireless industry has clearly chosen LTE as the technology of choice for next-generation networks.

Patrick Plas, Alcatel-Lucent's COO for wireless, said the company is "not putting a lot of effort into this technology [WiMax] any longer," nothing that operators' LTE plans--such as those by Verizon Wireless and MetroPCS--mark "a clear direction taken by the industry towards LTE," according to ZDNet. Plas said LTE handsets will begin hitting the market this year, but the focus for now remains squarely on data connectivity.

Plas is not the first executive to trumpet LTE over WiMAX, but his comments are notable considering Alca-Lu remains a major WiMAX equipment vendor. Indeed, a recent Infonetics Research report found that WiMAX operators gave Alcatel-Lucent high marks, and research from Dell'Oro Group put Alcatel-Lucent as the world's second largest WiMAX vendor in the second quarter of last year--just behind Motorola--with close to 20 percent of the market.

However, Alcatel-Lucent has been heavily promoting its LTE efforts as it seeks to compete with Ericsson, Huawei and Nokia Siemens Networks for the world's growing number of LTE contracts. Recently, Cox Communications said it was working with Alca-LU and Huawei on LTE trials.

In other LTE news, Japan has certified its first LTE modem, made by LG Electronics. LG said NTT DoCoMo will use the modem when it begins testing LTE later this year.

Source:fiercewireless