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American LTE came a step closer to reality this week when the FCC approved the first device for the mobile broadband network. This comes from LG Electronics, a key partner of initial deployer Verizon.

Very few details can be gleaned from the FCC filing, which is referred to simply as 'LTE user equipment', but it is certainly not a phone. Most likely it is a modem for use with notebooks or in the home. Verizon has said its initial roll-out will focus on bringing fixed and nomadic broadband to gaps in its rural broadband network, and as with most next generation build-outs, the first commercial services will target PC users rather than handsets. Few are expecting LTE smartphones in any numbers until 2011.

The mystery LG device will transmit in the 1.7GHz band and receive in the 2.1GHz band (the AWS spectrum, auctioned in 2007 and mainly expected to be used for 3G). This will make the LG product unsuitable for Verizon's first build-out, which will be in 700MHz, but the carrier could also look to offer LTE in its AWS band in future. This would be a more suitable area of the spectrum to support broadband services in densely populated areas. Verizon says it will cover 25 to 30 markets by the end of 2010 and go nationwide by 2015.

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