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First LTE network outside TeliaSonera goes live in Tashkent

DoCoMo unveils Xi brand for its own LTE launch, scheduled for December

By CAROLINE GABRIEL

Published: 30 July, 2010

READ MORE: Uzbekistan | MTS | NTT DoCoMo | LTE

The world got its fourth commercial LTE network this week, and its first outside the Nordic region - in the unlikely telecoms hotspot of Uzbekistan. Meanwhile, a more predictable 4G frontrunner, Japan's NTT DoCoMo, unveiled its 'Xi' brand, under which it will launch its own services in December.

The Uzbek launch came from Russian giant MTS, and shows how some emerging global telecoms players plan to leapfrog rivals by deploying LTE or WiMAX in markets where 3G is under-developed, and then harness that experience for their mainstream territories. MTS follows TeliaSonera's three LTE commercial switch-ons (in Sweden and Norway plus a soft launch in Finland).

MTS calls its new network "the first fully operational 4G network in the CIS and Central Asia" and is it initially available in the central zone of capital Tashkent, boasting theoretical peak speeds of up to 100Mbps using dongles. The network runs in the 2.5-2.7GHz band and the equipment comes from Huawei.

"The development of our networks is a key driver for growth, particularly in a region with relatively low fixed line broadband penetration," said MTS' Оleg Raspopov. "The introduction of LTE in Uzbekistan will also allow MTS to gain valuable insight from this unique experience and eventually apply it to other markets of operation in the future."

Over in Japan, DoCoMo officials got somewhat carried away with brand consultancy speak. Pronounced 'crossy', Xi consists of an 'X' that denotes "both connection and infinite possibility," and an 'i' that says "individual user and innovation". The logo also resembles the infinite symbol, and "aligns the letters in a single stream to embody the bonds that organically link people, goods and information, and lead to new innovation."

Unless Japanese consumers are considerably more sophisticated than their counterparts elsewhere, this may all be lost on them, and they will be swayed by peak speeds (claimed to be 75Mbps, 10 times faster than the current FOMA 3G offering), and tariffs (not yet available).

Handsets will be another factor. Dongles will come first, but DoCoMo expects to be one of the first cellcos with LTE smartphones thanks to its long standing joint development with local suppliers Fujitsu, NEC and Panasonic and its own terminal architecture, LTE-PF, licensed to chipmakers Renesas and now MediaTek. The Xi service will be available in the Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka areas by the end of 2010, before later nationwide expansion.