LTE: O2 Germany launches consumer pilot

Having already conducted technical trials of LTE in the Munich area, O2 Germany has now invited several hundred consumers to use the network for six months--at no cost.

The company said that it had received over 1,000 applications from consumers interested in joining the pilot trial that would cover Munich, Ebersberg, Hall and Teutschentahl.

Commenting on the launch of this consumer trial, Andrea Folgueiras, MD of network technology for O2 Germany, said that the initial trial of the LTE network had been expanded and could now be considered 'commercial grade'.

"In total, over 1,000 square kilometres are now covered by LTE, reaching a million inhabitants," added Folgueiras.

The company said that it planned to further expand the 800MHz network during the next year, and would launch an LTE marketing campaign starting from around the middle of 2011. The focus of this promotion would be targeted at rural areas where high-speed broadband service remains poor. However, no details have been made public on the tariffs for this level of service.

The company would also seem to be planning to use the 2.6GHz spectrum to provide a commercial LTE service in Munich sometime next year.

For more
- see this teltarif article (German lang.)

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