TechNewsWorld's Jay Lyman looks at last week's announcement of the Next Generation Mobile Networks initiative, a consortium of wireless carriers working to develop a set of common requirements for 4G wireless networks.

"The companies, which formed the British company NGMN Limited for the initiative, are working to develop a 'common vision for mobile networks' and technology that will take the industry beyond current wireless technology roadmaps, including projections for High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO)," Lyman writes.

"We are convinced that by drawing on our combined experience and commercial insight as operators, we will be able to bring a whole new perspective to the debate and continue to ensure that we give our customers exactly what they want," says NGMN Chairman Thomas Geitner.

The companies involved are China Mobile, KPN, NTT DoCoMo, Orange, sprint nextel, T-Mobile and Vodafone.