TEF Preps 4G LTE Trial

Spanish Telecom giant Telefonica (TEF - Analyst Report) has unveiled the details of a large-scale field trial project related to the company’s 4G network services, which is based on the Long Term Evaluation (“LTE”) mobile broadband technology.

The company will test run its 4G LTE network in six countries across Europe and Latin America. The outcome of the trials will help Telefonica to chalk out its next phase of network deployment strategy.

Telefonica will conduct 4G LTE trials during the next six months in multiple European countries such as Czech Republic, Germany, Spain and the UK, while the Latin American trials will be staged in Brazil and Argentina. The company has already conducted its first LTE trial in Madrid in April 2009, which has demonstrated encouraging throughput levels.

Telefonica has also announced network infrastructure and equipment vendors to facilitate the field testing. It has reportedly selected six technology providers: Alcatel-Lucent (ALU - Analyst Report), Ericsson (ERIC - Analyst Report), Huawei, NEC, Nokia Siemens Networks and ZTE.

Leading carriers across the world have adopted LTE as the base technology standard for 4G network upgrade initiatives due to its fast data transfer capability. LTE offers rapid downlink and uplink speeds that averages 100 megabits per second (Mbps) and 50 Mbps, respectively, which is competitive or faster than other leading 4G standards, including WiMax.

Telefonica has recently expanded its strategic alliance with the second-largest Chinese carrier China Unicom (CHU - Analyst Report). This extended collaboration is expected to offer significant technological and operational synergies. Additionally, the companies are likely to collaborate in future technology upgrades, such as the development of 4G LTE technology.

By moving to the 4G LTE network, Telefonica will offer its customers super-fast mobile broadband experience, representing an encouraging opportunity to improve customer retention. The company hopes to offer peak network speed of up to 340 Mbps in ideal conditions. Moreover, the ultra high-bandwidth multimedia data applications fostered by the 4G LTE network will boost revenue per user through increased minutes of use.

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