Slovakia to test LTE, while Portugal plans

Orange Slovensko has obtained a 6-month permit to test LTE in the Banská Bystrica district starting in January 2011. This move follows permission granted earlier to O2 Slovakia to begin LTE tests in the same region starting this year.

Orange spokesman Peter Tóth said that the LTE tests would provide information on LTE performance for the whole Orange group, and confirmed that the technology was on the company's technology roadmap for the future.

T-Mobile Slovensko has also confirmed that it would shortly ask for permission to test LTE, although the company admitted that its test results would be combined with larger trials already underway with T-Mobile Germany.

On the other side of Europe, Vodafone Portugal has indicated it would like to have implemented LTE by the end of next year. However, Capelas Fernandes, head of technology at Vodafone Portugal, said that the deployment of LTE depended on the national communications authority releasing more radio spectrum. A public consultation on the use of frequencies in the 2.6GHz band had been launched by the regulator in December 2008.

For more on this story:
Spectator & Wireless Federation

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