Two carriers trial LTE in Benelux
Tele2 shows off 4G in Amsterdam, Mobistar runs trials in Belgium
Published: 19 July, 2010
READ MORE: Spectrum | Netherlands | Tele2 | LTE
The latest LTE activities in western Europe are seen in Benelux, where Dutch MVNO Tele2 has built a trial network in Diemen and Amsterdam, and Mobistar is conducting trials in Belgium.
Tele2 is emulating Japan's Emobile by acquiring spectrum to build its own network at the 4G stage, having relied on MVNO deals until now. This should allow the firm to leapfrog larger players like incumbent KPN. It bought a 2.6GHz license in the recent auctions.
Tele2 Netherlands (formerly Versatel Telecom International) is particularly focusing on video and gaming applications and expects to introduce many new device formats to its network, once it rolls out on a wider scale, probably from next year. In particular, CEO Henrik Ringmar said he expects LTE to provide a much improved platform for online games because of its lower latency.
However, he was cautious about timescales for extending the network beyond Amsterdam and Diemen. He said that there needs to be more clarity over the distribution of 800MHz digital dividend, and of refarmed GSM spectrum in 900MHz and 1.8GHz, before his company could put together a clear mobile strategy for the years ahead.
Over the border in Belgium, Mobistar has deployed an experimental LTE network using a test license from regulator BIPT. This is in the Evere-Diegem region and will draw on results from a larger trial in Paris by Mobistar's majority shareholder, France Telecom/Orange. The first LTE tests demonstrated download speeds of more than 60Mbps, said the Belgian unit, with response times of 18ms, compared to 70ms on an HSPA network. However, HSPA remains the main priority for Mobistar, as for most European cellcos, for the next few years. It plans to upgrade to the 14.4Mbps version by the summer and 28.8Mbps by the end of the year, as it waits for the regulator to announce auctions of new spectrum suited to LTE.
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