News19,134 Articles

November 23, 2009

Mobile 4G moving closer

Operators rush to upgrade 3G networks while LTE waits in the wings

Lexton Snol

Mobile 4G trials are picking up pace, with operators eager to roll out 4G networks as soon as possible.

As of the end of September 2009, 100 mobile networks had Long Term Evolution (LTE) - the last step toward the 4th generation (4G) of radio technologies designed to increase the capacity and speed of mobile telephone networks - trials or commitments to trial underway.

The Asia-Pacific region accounted for more than 40 of these trials, with operators in Japan and South Korea leading the way.

In addition, 33 contracts for LTE equipment have been announced.

ABI Research forecasts LTE subscribers to reach 32.6 million by 2013.

However, the first LTE networks are only expected to roll out towards the end of 2010.

ABI Research analyst Bhavya Khanna says: "In order to keep up with the exponential growth of mobile data that has been spurred by fixed-rate data plans, operators must upgrade their existing 3G infrastructure."

Many operators cannot wait until LTE is operationally ready, and have already started to upgrade their existing 3G networks to the HSPA (HSDPA and HSUPA) standard.

Try out our virtual BlackBerry

This allows operators to increase their download rate to up to 21Mbps. In addition, close to 200 networks have upgraded or are in the process of upgrading their 3G networks to HPSA, including more than 50 networks in Asia-Pacific.

Contracts for 54 networks upgrades to the HSPA+ standard have also been announced, indicating a firm commitment to the 3G progress path.

"While progress towards the deployment of LTE is clearly racing ahead," Khanna concludes, "operators cannot afford to neglect their existing networks."

On August 18, 2009, the European Commission announced it will invest a total of €18 million into researching the deployment of LTE and LTE Advanced.

Mobile phone buying advice

See all mobile phone reviews

<<newer story | back to index | older story>>

What is this?

Subscribe to PC Advisor now and claim your FREE gift

Keep up to date by adding PC Advisor News to your iGoogle home page or Google Reader


Question of the day!

Does your smartphone replace your need for a laptop when on the move?

Question of the day!

Does your smartphone replace your need for a laptop when on the move?

% of PC Advisor readers agree with you

Yes
TBC
No
TBC

What tasks can your smartphone do that would have traditionally been done on a laptop?

119 characters remaining

Follow the conversation at @SmartphoneFocus

web browsing, search facilities, voip, email, word processing everything RT @Graham_D_C

Mainly email but getting better at spreadsheets etc, RT @IDGdan
Google


Recent reviews

Reviews index


Latest reader comments

Latest reader comments


Top news

News index


Latest blog entries

Blogs index


 Our RSS feeds

Sponsored Content

  • Take the internet to new places with the Nokia N800
    Communicate how you want to, where you want to with instant messaging, email and internet calling. View movies, browse the internet wirelessly and watch TV on the high-resolution screen and listen through high-quality stereo speakers with headphone jack.
    Buy now