14 DAY TRIAL // Everything Everywhere, the merger between T-Mobile UK and Orange UK, and BT Wholesale have just announced the first live trial of next-generation 4G LTE high-speed broadband to customers
According to the company, this is the first trial in the UK and is aimed to provide high-speed wireless broadband to customers in rural Cornwall.
To be more specific, the trial will take place at test sites south of Newquay in Cornwall, and will cover an area of 25 square km.
As part of the trial, Everything Everywhere stated that it will also test 4G-enabled mobile handsets and broadband dongles.
“Our ambition is to have the best 4G network and be pioneers in enabling Britain’s superfast wireless future. We strongly believe that, by sharing our network and mobile assets in this way, we can make a valuable contribution to the economics of rural broadband services,” said Tom Alexander, CEO, Everything Everywhere.
As the agreement between the two companies suggests, the field trial will utilize 2 x 10MHz of test 800MHz spectrum and will test its capability as a long-term complementary solution to fixe broadband technology for customers who currently get low speeds or are unable to get broadband at all.
This seems to be the main reason that the companies chose this site, as customers in rural areas are hard to reach with fixed broadband technology.
On related news, an initial test at BT Wholesale’s labs in Adastral Park in Suffolk is already underway, with the field trial set to test 4G broadband data speeds outside of laboratory conditions.
However, BT's field trial is expected to start in September and run to early next year. The trial will involve up to 100 mobile and 100 fixed line customers living around the St. Newlyn East area of South Newquay, Cornwall.