O2 to trial LTE in the UK

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O2 will be trialling LTE technology in the UK as part of a wider scheme by parent company Telefonica.

The mobile provider has chosen six countries – the UK, Spain, Germany, Czech Republic, Brazil and Argentina – to trial 4G wireless technology, which at its best could achieve internet speeds of up to 340 Mbps.

Julio Linares, chief operating officer at Telefonica, said in a statement: “At Telefonica we are working with the conviction that we can only offer our clients the maximum levels of quality and innovation.”

He added: “To do this, we are defining our strategy and the rollout of LTE with the objective of driving mobile broadband and offering the best service from the moment that the equipment and terminals can support the new standards and are available for sale.”

Equipment partners for the trials have been named as Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Huawei, NEC, Nokia Siemens Network and ZTE. They will roll out the hardware needed for the tests in the coming months, ready to start within six months.

The trials include laboratory tests and the installation of e-node Bs in the field.

Motorola started its own trial of LTE back in February this year but only across the small area of Swindon.

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