article/2180926/software/microsoft-inks-licensing-deals-with-two-more-android-makers.ht In recent times, with the popularity of Android systems, many more Android device makers, including Amazon, have joined the list of companies who have entered into agreements with Microsoft. So, Microsoft's strategy to diversify its software patent portfolio is paying rich dividends to the tune of offsetting the losses it is facing from its own device businesses. More recently, Apple and Samsung are still embattled in further patent violation warfare, which could have more implications for Android device manufacturers in pushing up licensing costs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc._v._Samsung_Electronics_Co.,_Ltd..). Business Challenges In the previous section, we discussed issues related to LTE as a technology and how different aspects of the solution development could affect deployment and delay plans to roll out. This section will discuss issues related to business planning aspects of LTE deployments, which, though not numerous, are still very important in terms of impacts and in need of a thorough understanding and appreciation. CHAPTER 3 DEPLOYMENT CHALLENGES IN EVOLVING 4G Investment Issues As mentioned previously, LTE was designed from the ground up to provide the next futuristic network with very high data rates and strict targets to achieve QoS and latency issues. Also, there were strict performance criteria specified for various aspects of the solution as seen from the subscribers' perspective. Note These performance criteria are discussed in Chapter 1, with overall guideline requirements for LTE. In order to meet these stringent requirements, newer NEs were introduced in the LTE network architecture, both in the radio network and on the core network side, when compared with 3G. Thus, we have NEs, including UEs that are new, that have much more complex functionality to accomplish. This directly implies a few things. Operators mostly are unable to reuse their current networks and need to invest in building their