Ericsson, the world’s largest provider of mobile networks, today announced Australia’s first live full-speed demonstration of LTE (Long Term Evolution) mobile network technology, with data downlink speeds exceeding 160Mbps.
LTE is the next generation mobile network technology that will enable telecom providers to meet the burgeoning demand for mobile broadband, and deliver high-speed connectivity to devices ranging from digital cameras to wireless modems. LTE is a natural extension of HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) mobile network technology that is currently used in Australia’s 3G networks.
This week Ericsson is holding a series of demonstrations and briefings at Sydney’s Macquarie University, to highlight the status of LTE technology for an audience that includes service providers, telecom engineers, and representatives from government and regulatory bodies. A Masterclass training session will provide senior telecom engineers with an update on the latest mobile technology and the opportunity to see LTE working.
Ericsson’s LTE demonstration involves a complete end-to-end solution that showcases LTE’s ability to deliver ultra-fast downloads. In an actual LTE network deployment, individual users could expect downloads of around 10-20 times the speed of today’s HSPA services.
“We have been very pleased at the industry’s high level of interest in LTE. Although it is a next-generation technology, LTE is capturing the interest of telco operators due to the strong growth of mobile broadband, and many are working on incorporating LTE into their strategic plans,” said Colin Goodwin, Strategic Marketing Manager – Networks, Ericsson Australia.
“Riding on the success of HSPA, LTE is the next generation of mobile network communications. Due to the prevalence of existing WCDMA/HSPA networks, LTE has the scale and scope to become the next global standard for mobile communications,” said Mr Goodwin.
While operators today are testing Evolved HSPA (also referred to as HSPA+), which uses building blocks of 5MHz of spectrum and offers peak downlink speeds up to 42Mbps, LTE is able to provide even faster speeds by using building blocks up to 20MHz of spectrum.
Ericsson expects LTE to be commercially available for pioneering operators in the second half of 2009 in countries where spectrum is made available, with the user equipment market initially focussed on devices for data connectivity (wireless modems and fixed-wireless terminals) and sophisticated smart phones, with more consumer oriented handsets to follow.
Following on from the improvements introduced with HSPA, LTE delivers further benefits to operators including the reduction of average costs per bit, high throughput with low latency, reduced operation and maintenance costs, and backwards compatibility with WCDMA and HSPA networks. Major overseas operators who have already announced LTE deployment plans include DoCoMo, Verizon Wireless, Vodafone, China Mobile, and AT&T.
Ericsson customers with the latest generation of WCDMA/HSPA Radio Base Stations (RBS) will be able to introduce LTE by the addition of plug-in units (space and capacity permitting), thereby greatly reducing deployment time and eliminating the need for a completely new radio network build.
End users will benefit from a superior user experience, enhancing applications such as mobile video, blogging, advanced gaming, rich multimedia telephony. Businesses will benefit from applications such as video conferencing, mobile health, learning, and field force automation.
This week’s LTE demonstrations are the latest in series of recent industry milestones that underscores Ericsson’s leadership in the next generation of mobile technology, including:
• Demonstration of the world’s first end-to-end LTE call on handheld devices at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, 2008
• Announcement of the world's first commercially available LTE-capable platform, the Ericsson M700 mobile platform
• World-first demonstration of a common LTE platform supporting both Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex (TDD) mode
In addition, Australia is set to play a major role in the global development of LTE following Ericsson’s recent establishment of the Ericsson LTE Global Competence Centre in Melbourne, a facility that will provide a bridge between Ericsson’s R&D labs and its global services organisations, thereby supporting the worldwide commercial deployment of LTE.
Wireless broadband is shaping up to have a starring role in the future of telecommunications - out of the estimated 1.8 billion broadband subscriptions by 2012, some two-thirds will be mobile broadband services. While fixed broadband services to the home will flourish, they will be complemented by numerous mobile broadband services leveraging the convenience of mobility and connectivity of a plethora of appliances, such as cameras, laptops and tablet computers.
View Ericsson's LTE White Paper.
For more information on LTE please go to the Ericsson Australia web site:
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About LTE
LTE is the next evolution in mobile network standards defined by 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) and supports operations in both the paired spectrum and unpaired spectrum. It enables efficient spectrum utilization for both legacy and future wireless frequency bands. Channel bandwidths of 1.4-20MHz are supported. The wide industry support for LTE ensures economies of scale, providing cost-efficient solutions. The first commercial devices will support peak downlink speeds of up to 100Mbps.
About Ericsson
Ericsson is the world's leading provider of technology and services to telecom operators. The market leader in 2G and 3G mobile technologies, Ericsson supplies communications services and manages networks that serve more than 195 million subscribers. The company's portfolio comprises mobile and fixed network infrastructure, and broadband and multimedia solutions for operators, enterprises and developers. The Sony Ericsson joint venture provides consumers with feature-rich personal mobile devices.
Ericsson is advancing its vision of "communication for all" through innovation, technology and sustainable business solutions. Working in 175 countries, more than 70,000 employees generated revenue of USD 27.9 billion (SEK 188 billion) in 2007. Founded in 1876 and headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Ericsson is listed on OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm and NASDAQ.
Visit www.ericsson.com or www.ericsson.mobi.
For more information please contact:
John Papanidis
External Relations Manager
Ericsson Australia
Tel: +61 (0)2 9111 4412
Mob: +61 (0)401 237 854
