4Ging ahead
Telecom equipment giant, Nokia Siemens Networks, has made the world's first voice call on next generation 4G LTE mobile technology.
The call, made at the company's research and development facility in Ulm, Germany, apparently used a commercial Flexi Multiradio base station and "fully standard-compliant software", according to a Nokia Siemens press release.
The first bunch of LTE services should arrive by year's end in certain select markets, but larger-scale deployments won't start until 2010, according to Nokia Siemens. The firm is apparently focusing heavily on deployments, with a strategy to be first to the mass market with the purportedly super fast technology.
Global telecom carriers are flocking to the technology's infrastructure vendors in preparation for LTE's much anticipated launch and Finnish phone company, Nokia, has even launched its first LTE modem, the RD-3, rumoured to be capable of lightening 100Mb/s speeds and of supporting HSPA and EDGE networks. The technology could, potentially, revolutionise the way people use their mobile devices, being able to download films and music at incredible speed.
Meanwhile telecom equipment vendors, stuck in a shrinking market plagued by price wars, are also rushing to sell LTE networks to operators, who have dramatically cut back on investments.
In the US, mobile carrier Verizon Wireless has said it will be LTE ready sometime next year, while rivals such as AT&T are purportedly aiming for 2011 introductions.
