Telia’s LTE network changes mobile surfing habits of customers (Sweden)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Mobile surfing habits has been changed by a quarter of Telia’s LTE users because of gaining access to quicker mobile broadband. The result came out in survey conducted by Telia among its LTE customers during the 100 days after launching its LTE network.
26% of the total respondents said they work more on a mobile basis. 23 percent of the total said that they download larger files to a greater extent than previously, 19 percent watch online TV/stream movies, and 16 percent said they began surfing more after acquiring LTE. LTE has been adopted by those who are interested in technology.
Some of the other findings of the survey are- over 90 percent of LTE subscribers upgraded from an existing 3G subscription, 65 percent acquired LTE to complement their fixed broadband, and 43 percent have an iPhone. 54%of the subscribers are not in a mood to return to 3G currently.
LTE network was launched by Telia in Stockholm at the end of last year and 25 locations in Sweden will have LTE coverage by the end of the year.
Armenia’s ArmenTel plans to triple 3G capacity
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Tripling of 3G communications capacity has been planned by national fixed line and mobile operator ArmenTel by the end of 2010. Working under the Beeline trademark of its parent Vimpelcom, more than 100,000 subscribers currently use the cellco’s mobile internet services, including 3G.
The Russian parent of the telco after the successful trials of a test LTE network in Kazakhstan has planned to roll out Long Term Evolution (LTE) in Armenia.
According to Armentel CEO Igor Klimko, it is very important to note that the decision on frequency harmonisation, in which the LTE network construction will be permitted in Armenia, will also have an impact on its plans and it is felt that frequencies within 700MHz-800MHz harmonisation will be optimal. Mixed views have been generated by the rivals of the telco. 4G service based on LTE technology is intended to be generated by VivaCell-MTS during 2010. Orange Armenia has made it clear that it does not plan to replace 3G+ (HSPA) technology with 4G.
T-Mobile Hungary & Ericsson begin LTE tests
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: In order to cater for anticipated demand for data intensive services, ‘4G’ Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology are under development by T-Mobile Hungary and Swedish equipment manufacturer Ericsson.
The trial of the LTE network is already under the process and ahead of a planned commercial launch. The date of the launch is still not revealed.
In October 2009, the LTE equipment was installed. A test system began in earnest in January this year, capable of providing voice and data services, with a goal of achieving download speeds of up to 100Mbps.
According to T-Mobile, since the introduction of HSPA technology, the number of people signing up to mobile internet packages has expanded dramatically and today, more than 90% of data generated by T-Mobile’s 430,000 broadband subscribers is related to its HSPA network.
LTE and WiMAX deployments to go together in 2010
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: December 2009 witnessed the launch of first commercial LTE network by TeliaSonera at Stockholm and Oslo and 2010 will see the continuation of the trend with commercial launch of several LTE networks, including large operators such as Verizon Wireless in the United States and NTT DoCoMo in Japan.
As LTE deployments begin to pick up pace, WiMAX continues its steady progress. Several operators, including Sprint in the United States, have chosen to go with WiMAX as their 4G network of choice.
According to ABI Research analyst Bhavya Khanna, while LTE does promise data speeds greater than 50Mbps, they have yet to be achieved by live or trial networks, whereas mobile WiMAX is now a tried and tested standard. ABI research 242 WiMAX, compared to only 38 for LTE.
Sprint to launch its first 4G smartphone this year (USA)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The current 4G leader, Sprint has announced to introduce its first smartphone before mid-year with an aim to make the greater speed a reality for many businesses over the coming year.
Sprint’s 4G networks reaches about 30 million people in 27 markets and with the addition of Houston, New York, San Francisco, Boston, and Washington by the end of the year; it will expand the footprint to include 120 million people.
Sprint’s 4G WiMAX network has already been launched in 2008 but there have been no handsets to use on it. Apart from Sprint, several other USA carriers has also announced their entry into 4G services with Verizon announcing the introduction of its 4G network later this year using a competing technology called LTE.
AT&T is expected to launch its own LTE network sometime in 2011. Undoubtedly, Sprint’s rush to deliver 4G ahead of its competitors explains its choice of network technology.
Saudi Telecom appoints Ericsson to deploy LTE network
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The contract for the deployment of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network by Saudi Telecom Company (STC) has been awarded to Ericsson. With the deployment of LTE technology in the Middle East and North Africa, the customers in these countries will become the first to benefit from the new chain of high speed broadband services.
Any service available online like HD video, network games, IPTV, blogging and others could be effortlessly enjoyed by the customers after the enhancement of STC’s operational capabilities.
Though STC claims that its LTE network will be the first in the region, it has been reported earlier on February 15, 2010 that Zain had contracted Motorola to roll out an LTE network in Riyadh.
MobileOne completes 100 Mbps call on trial LTE network (Singapore)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: 100 Mbps data call has been completed by Singapore-based mobile operator MobileOne on its LTE trial network. The 100th call was made at M1′s store in Singapore, a place where a trial was conducted by the operator and the applications were showcased over LTE together with its partner Nokia Siemens Networks.
HDTV streaming, as well as high-speed file download over an LTE network at its store will also be showcased by the company until end-March.
Motorola, Zain Saudi Arabia ink LTE deal
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Zain Saudi Arabia and Networks business of Motorola has signed a contract to deploy a LTE network in Saudi Arabia. Both the companies will deploy a FDD LTE network in the 2.6GHz band, overlaying Zain’s existing 3G network.
One of the first in the country, the deployment of the LTE network will begin in the second quarter. The contract will enable Zain to offer high-speed mobile broadband services to its customers.
Radio access network, evolved packet core, devices and optimization and integration services will be provided by Motorola under the deal.
TeliaSonera delivered on its promise: SwissQual
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Against all the reports of the failure to deliver the promise of brilliant LTE network speed, TeliaSonera achieved downlink throughputs up to 47-Mbps, and TCP latency as low as 10 ms five times the performance typically seen in 3G HSPA+ networks.
The announcement was made by Swiss network quality measurement firm SwissQual, which used its own diversity optimizer solution, Samsung’s Kalmia LTE modem, and connected to the Swedish Internet Infrastructure Foundation’s server.
According to SwissQual product manager Magnus Hylen, TeliaSonera’s performance is really impressive and sets a new baseline for mobile high speed data services.
New Zealand’s Commerce Commission considers 4G network
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: With the aim to meet the 4G needs of the country, New Zealand’s Commerce Commission (ComCom) has announced that it is ready to deploy single, open access, Long Term Eolution (LTE) network.
According to Rob Spray, chairman of the Telecommunications Industry Group, in the saturated market of New Zealand, individual LTE networks would be impractical and even the deployment of a single network could double the number of base transmission stations in the country, from 2,500 to 5,000.Rob Spray was the first to raise the idea of a shared network in December 2009.
Even Ernie Newman, chief executive of the Telecom Users Association of New Zealand (TUANZ), expressed his consent to the idea of a single network, but emphasized the need to guarantee open access.
