Bell launched its next-generation high-speed wireless network in areas of Toronto, Mississauga, Hamilton, Kitchener Waterloo and Guelph Wednesday.

The Ontario network, based on a technology called long-term evolution (LTE), "will deliver amazing data access speeds — at least three times faster than the Bell HSPA+ network originally launched less than three years ago," said Wade Oosterman, president of Bell Mobility in a statement ahead of Wednesday's launch.

The company said it expects typical speeds for the network to be between 12 and 25 megabits per second. Bell's HSPA+ network offers typical speeds of 3.5 to 8 megabits per second and 7 to 14 megabits per second in areas where it offers HSPA+ with dual carrier technology. The company is referring to its LTE network as 4G, the same name it has been applying to its existing HSPA+ networks.

The first device able to use the new network will be the LTE Sierra Wireless U313 Turbo Stick, which went on sale at "select Bell stores" Wednesday. Bell said LTE-capable smartphones and tablets will be available later in the year.

Saudi Telecom Company (STC) and Mobily have become the first operators in the Middle East to commercially deploy LTE networks.

The operators, which announced the deployment within a day of each other, have said that their LTE networks will be double the speed of the previous 3G networks and is designed around the growth in mobile data, not voice calls. Saudi Arabia’s mobile phone penetration is the third highest in the world at 188% with the majority crunching through a vast amount of mobile data, making the migration to LTE an integral move for both of the operators who, between them, account for 80% of Saudi’s mobile subscribers.

Speaking ahead of the launch, Said Jamil bin Abdullah Al-Melhem, president of STC, commented: ‘The company continues its pioneering role, and its ongoing quest to provide the most services and the latest and highest international standards. And today [STC] offers the latest mobile communication networks, 4G LTE. The information revolution is coming and to provide a quantum leap in the speed of data transfer – wherever the client – to reach to top speeds of 100Mbps’. Mobily confirmed on launch yesterday that their LTE coverage will exceed 32 cities and towns in Saudi Arabia by mid October including the capital Riyadh, which represents 85% of the most populated areas.

STC will be speaking about their commercial LTE deployment and Telecoms IQ’s LTE Deployment Strategies conference taking place in London in November. If you would like to view the full speaker line up and secure your place, please visit the event website.

Source: Telecoms IQ

­Canada's Rogers Communications has announced the commercial launch of Canada's first LTE network, covering the Ottawa region. Rogers also announced that network rollout to Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal will occur this autumn, and that LTE-enabled smartphones from Samsung and HTC will be available later this year.

The company added that it will expand LTE coverage to a further 21 markets by the end of 2012. Rogers and Ericsson have been conducting technical trials of LTE in Ottawa and Montreal since last autumn.At launch the Rogers LTE network will be capable of maximum theoretical download speeds of up to 75 Mbps on the Rogers LTE Network. Typical download speeds can range from 12 Mbps to 25 Mbps. As device selection evolves, maximum theoretical download speeds will increase to up to 150 Mbps.

"Ottawa is proud to play a significant role in Canada's first LTE network, from the trials through to the launch today. This new technology is a significant step forward towards increasing the accessibility and enjoyment of high speed applications while enhancing the productivity and reliability of mobile communications for Ottawans" said Steve Desroches, Deputy Mayor of Ottawa.

Source: Cellular News

Source: TeleGeography

To wrap up what has been an eventful year for next-generation mobile broadband technology Long Term Evolution (LTE), Light Reading Mobile has compiled a list of the world's commercial LTE services.

It's quite short.

Verizon Wireless and TeliaSonera AB (Nasdaq: TLSN) aren't the only names on the list, however, although you would be forgiven for thinking that, considering how much attention these operators' get for their 4G (or rather, FauxG?) moves. (See Happy Birthday, LTE! .)

We count nine commercial LTE services worldwide, based on our criteria. To be included on the list, it had to be clear that a potential customer could go to an operator's shop or Website and buy a dongle (or handset in case of MetroPCS Inc. (NYSE: PCS)) and sign up to start using the services. We did not include pilot networks or user trials, where consumers or business customers may be able to use an LTE service, but do not pay for it. (See LTE Beckons in Uzbekistan .)

So here's where LTE is commercially available now at the end of 2010:

New research from TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database shows that 14% of the global wireless subscriber base is now connected to a 3G network, with the regional figure varying between 35% in Western Europe to just 6% in Africa. At 30 September 2010 there were 694 million 3G users scattered across the world, from a grand total of 5.12 billion wireless subscriptions. According to GlobalComms, of the wireless total 48.6% of subscribers were located in the Asia-Pacific region, with Latin America accounting for the next largest share, at 10.7%, and Western Europe at 10.1%. The Middle East is the smallest in terms of subscribers, accounting for 279 million subscribers at the end of the third quarter, equivalent to 5.4% of the total.

3G subscriber growth is clearly driving the market as a whole. ‘Subscriptions to third generation networks increased by over 40% in the twelve months ended 30 September 2010’ said Tig Harvey, Research Director at TeleGeography. ‘Compare that figure to the 15% recorded by the market as a whole, and you get some idea of just how important the UMTS platforms now are,’ she added. What's more, the next generation of networks are now coming on stream, just in time to provide new impetus to the industry in 2011 and onwards. According to TeleGeography’s 4G Research Service there are currently 13 Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks in commercial operation, with a further nine due to be unveiled before the end of the year, including high profile launches by Verizon Wireless and Japan’s NTT DoCoMo. 'Since the launch of the first W-CDMA network in 2001, it has taken ten years for 3G to achieve 14% penetration of the wireless subscriber base; this is indicative of how quickly new technologies permeate the global wireless market, and is one pointer towards the future success of LTE,' Harvey added.

Source: TeleGeography

Verizon Wireless has announced that it will launch its Long Term Evolution (LTE) network on Sunday in 39 markets and 60 airports, covering more than 110 million people. The new network will offer download speeds of up to 12Mbps – more than ten times faster than current data speeds. Tony Melone, senior vice president and chief technical officer at Verizon Wireless promised that the new network would deliver superior performance.

The first devices to use the new network will be USB wireless data modems for laptops and are expected to appeal primarily to business customers and technology early adopters. However, Verizon Wireless will announce up to five new smartphones capable of running on the network at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January. These handsets are expected to use the existing 3G network for voice calls and the 4G network for mobile internet access and running applications. There has also been speculation that Apple could announce an LTE version of the iPhone 4G early next year, though both Verizon and Apple have declined to comment. Initially Verizon will offer two monthly data plans – USD50 for 5GB of data and USD80 for 10GB. It will charge customers USD10 for each additional 1GB used.

Source: TeleGeography

The Asia-Pacific region has overtaken North America as the home to the largest number 4G broadband wireless subscribers. According to figures from TeleGeography’s 4G Research Service, there were around 1.7 million pre-WiMAX and WiMAX customers in Asia at the end of March 2010 compared to 1.4 million in the US and Canada. With the global 4G subscriber total standing at more than 5.7 million, the Asia-Pacific region now accounts for 29% of the overall market, up from 22% a year earlier and just 6% at the end of 2006.

Source: TeleGeography

Le régulateur des télécoms lance sa consultation afin de caler les modalités d'attribution des licences qui seront distribuées dans un an exactement.

Le très haut débit mobile poursuit son cheminement en France. Comme prévu, le régulateur des télécoms vient de lancer une nouvelle consultation publique sur les modalités d'attribution des bandes de fréquences 800 MHz et 2,6 GHz qui permettront de déployer les réseaux 4G exploitant la technologie LTE (Long Term Evolution).

L'enjeu est de taille. Alors que la 3G+ plafonne théoriquement à 42 Mb/s en download (7 Mb/s en usage pratique), la LTE permet un débit descendant théorique de plus de 100 Mb/s et montant de 50 Mb/s afin de répondre à l'explosion des usages datas et à la saturation des réseaux. La consultation s'achèvera le 13 septembre prochain. Ensuite, après quelques allers-retours gouvernement/Parlement, la procédure d'attribution sera lancée, certainement avant la fin de l'année. Situation économique peu favorable Les opérateurs pourront alors faire acte de candidature. Et les heureux élus seront connus "entre le printemps et le début de l'été 2011". Rappelons que la 4G, une réalité en Suède, est actuellement expérimentée par les opérateurs français. Pour autant, le déploiement de la 4G risque de ne pas ressembler à un long fleuve tranquille. "La consultation publique et les auditions ont souligné la maturité encore limitée, sur les plans techniques et industriels, des projets dans la bande 800 MHz, dont le déploiement s'étendra sur de nombreuses années." a précisé Jean-Ludovic Silicani, le patron du régulateur en juin dernier.

Par ailleurs, "l'articulation entre les procédures d'attribution des bandes 800 MHz et 2,6 GHz, en particulier le caractère séquentiel ou simultané de l'attribution, ne recueille pas, pour l'instant, de consensus entre les acteurs" constate-il. Enfin, le déploiement de la 4G peut se heurter à la situation économique des opérateurs. Ces derniers ont aujourd'hui tendance à limiter leurs investissements réseau et cherchent avant tout à augmenter les capacités de la 3G/3G+ qui 'en a encore sous le pied". D'ailleurs, les quatre opérateurs mobiles ont finalisé le dispositif de partage d'installations de réseau mobile 3G : sa mise en oeuvre permettra d'atteindre d'ici fin 2013 une couverture 3G analogue à celle de la 2G (environ 99,8% de la population). Cet accord porte sur des zones peu denses du territoire, incluant notamment les communes du programme national d'extension de la couverture mobile 2G en zones blanches.

Source: ZDNet

TeliaSonera AB on Monday launched commercial fourth-generation mobile networks in Sweden and Norway, which it called the first in the world.

The new 4G networks will allow users to stream mobile multimedia, such as TV broadcasts and online games, with speeds up to 10 times higher than today's third-generation, or 3G, networks.

Source: Inside Bay Area