14 DAY TRIAL // Infrastructure provider Nokia Siemens Networks announced recently that it managed to make the first LTE call while using a commercial base station, as well as the necessary software solution for it. According to the company, its LTE call was made on base stations that included software fully compliant with the 3GPP Rel.8 (March 2009 baseline) LTE standard.
As a wide range of companies in the telecommunications industry are moving towards the deployment of LTE, expected to become commercially available next year, the new achievement announced by Nokia Siemens Networks shows that big steps are being made towards the future rollouts. At the same time, the company also states that standard compliant LTE network products, as well as handsets, are needed for the commercial launch.
“This call is a significant landmark in building and strengthening our entire LTE ecosystem and shows our commitment to the technology,” says Marc Rouanne, head of Nokia Siemens Networks' Radio Access business unit. “We see customers adopting LTE along differing timelines and we stand ready to meet the needs of early adopters of LTE as well as operators with extended migration paths from 3G/HSPA+ to LTE,” he adds.
According to the infrastructure solutions vendor, the first LTE call has been made at its R&D Centre in Ulm, Germany, using its Flexi Multiradio Base Station. At the same time, the company also stated that the first LTE rollouts should happen sometime at the end of 2009, while the commercial availability of LTE networks is expected only next year.
Nokia Siemens Networks' LTE compatible Flexi Base Station hardware already went to a number of more than 80 wireless carriers, the company added. As many of you might already know, LTE, a 4G standard, has been adopted by some of the largest operators around the world, including Verizon Wireless in the United states, which is expected announce the availability of its LTE network in early 2010.