LTE Mobile Broadband Trial in Cornwall extended

  • January 25, 2012

Long Term Evolution ( LTE ) based 4G Mobile Broadband trial that is currently underway in Cornwall will be extended until the end of February 2012.

Broadband provider BT and mobile operator Orange UK (Everything Everywhere) have jointly launched the trial in rural St. Newlyn East in last October with an aim to find out how the rural areas in Cornwall which do not have access to superfast, fibre broadband could benefit from the faster mobile broadband service enabled by LTE technology.

According to Olaf Swantee, CEO of Everything Everywhere, ‘the trial has been key in investigating ways to rapidly bring 4G LTE to Britain,’

‘Ofcom is helping us do the groundwork to accelerate the UK from laggard to leader.’ he added.

“The rollout of 4G will help drive economic growth and create jobs across the UK by making the economy more competitive, by enabling businesses to be more productive, and by allowing consumers to benefit from the latest mobile innovations.” he said.

BT said it would assess other potential solutions including other mobile and wireless technologies to meet the rural broadband challenge.

LTE enables mobile broadband operators to offer over 50Mbps speeds and better coverage. The firms Nokia Siemens Networks and Huawei are also working with BT and Orange on this project.

LTE mobile broadband trial in Cornwall uses the analogue TV frequencies (800MHz radio spectrum). Ofcom is set to auction this spectrum by the end of 2012.