Well, not a lot of people were surprised by this move. Clearwire has revealed that it will conduct Long Term Evolution technology trials this this Fall and through the Winter of 2011 in Phoenix, Ariz. Does this mean that LTE has finally triumphed over WiMAX? Well, no because the tests will focus on finding a way for LTE to co-exist with WiMax in the same market, on the same spectrum.

Clear's LTE 4G trials will be conducted in the 2.4GHz to 2.6GHz bands, where Clearwire holds spectrum assets. FDD LTE and TDD LTE equipment from Chinese manufacturer Huawei, Samsung, and Beceem will be used in the 4G trials. Clearwire expects to reach download speeds between 20Mbps and 70Mbps, compared to the 5Mbps to 12Mbps of the Verizon Wireless LTE 4G network.

Dr. John Saw, Clearwire's chief technology officer comments on the upcoming 4G trials:

"Clearwire's unmatched spectrum and all-IP network make us the only service provider in the U.S. able to conduct tests of this nature and on this scale. As we have consistently stated, we remain technology agnostic, but WiMAX provides us with unique advantages to meet the needs of our customers today. Ultimately, consumers don't care about technical acronyms, but they do care about quality and affordable Internet services that work where and when they want, and that's what we're focused on delivering. Part of our technical due diligence at Clearwire is to be prepared to leverage a number of possible opportunities as we future-proof our network, and that's the goal of these tests."

So an end to the WiMAX vs LTE phenomenon may be insight. However, it may end up as a marriage instead of a fight to the death.

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