O2 UK said it recorded download rates up to 150 Mbps across the 25 sites in central London during trials of its LTE service.
The trial, which ended earlier this week, has been running since December 2011 with 1,000 users equipped with a Samsung USB modem or personal mobile hotspot, according to Mobile Today. The most active users involved in the LTE trial typically downloaded 200 GB per month, and the trial recorded speeds of between 20 Mbps and 50 Mbps, around 20 times faster than 3G rates.
The company said additional findings were a "click to bang rate," i.e. (latency) of 0.07 seconds across the LTE network that spanned 40 square kilometers, stretching from Hyde Park to Canary Wharf and the O2 Arena, including, Soho, Westminster, South Bank and Kings Cross.
Of note, according to Mobile Europe, O2 UK obtained these results using trial spectrum at 2.6GHz, not the digital dividend frequency band at 800MHz.
"The forthcoming spectrum auction is a watershed moment for the UK mobile industry, releasing the airwaves that will power a whole range of exciting next generation mobile services," O2 UK CEO Ronan Dunne said in a statement. "The new spectrum will increase capacity, quality and speed (we estimate that mobile broadband capacity will increase by 20 to 40 times from today's levels), and will allow us to deliver true connectivity through a suite of innovative digital services, that work seamlessly and at speed for the benefit of consumers, business and UK plc."
However, this LTE trial was less about what headline speed could be achieved and more about how to integrate this network technology into O2 UK's existing back-office systems. This also included, according to a report in The Register, testing customer authentication and cell handoff on the LTE network, both of which are understood to have performed well.
For more:
- see this Mobile Today article
- see this Mobile Europe article
- see this The Register article
Related Articles:
BT extends white spaces trial to Cornwall
O2 UK boosts network capacity 50% with new 3G 900MHz deployment
BT: Tests using white space for rural broadband are 'very encouraging'
UK regulator gives go-ahead for spectrum trading
Everything Everywhere pressures UK regulator for early LTE deployment