Long Term Evolution a.k.a LTE, is one of the emerging technologies in 4G mobile communication which is being globally adopted by most of the telecom equipment vendors and operators. This technology promises the broadband speed 10 times faster than the current 3G network is supporting. The LTE network offers 5-12 mbps downlink speed and 2-5 mbps uplink speed which will decrease the latency in real time applications, online gaming, connected to a virtual clinic and telematics.
LTE promises a very low latency and high bandwidth. This will set the mobile networks suitable for accessing real time applications where responsiveness is very critical. With this technology you can think about the things like taking high definition videos and streaming it to others mobile across the country, multiplayer online video games with your friends in remote locations, live camera broadcasting etc...
LTE provides a global ecosystem where everyone can tap into using the laptops, personal computers, smartphones and other consumer electronic equipments. It will allow the business customers to connect to the office systems, teleconferencing, video collaborate, stream database applications and other applications to which we had bandwidth and security constraints earlier.
The first LTE network was launched in December 2009, by TeliaSonera and only a few operators have followed the suit. Why operators are waiting to adopt LTE even though it is the next big evolution in the mobile technology? This could be because of the lessons learned from the early 3G front runners who suffered after implementing the expensive networks but had very few compatible devices in the market.
However, LTE offers the equipment vendors a unique opportunity to create a long term relationship with operators and its associated companies. The early adoption of LTE has the advantages like capture the highest-spending users market, improve the brand equity by projecting as a technology leader, gain better knowledge and experience in the technology than its rivals. In addition to the these advantages the early migration will lower the CAPEX over time through long term partnerships and lower the OPEX by integrating the existing networks into single core network earlier than the rival operators.
Some of the vendors & operators Launched LTE are given below.
NetCom (TeliaSonera) – Operator (Norway)
Telia (TeliaSonera) – Operator (Sweden)
Vodafone – Operator (Germany)
Verizon Wireless - Operator (US)
Ericsson – Network Vendor
Huawei – Network Vendor
NSN – Network Vendor
