3 Austria will switch on its LTE network tomorrow using equipment supplied by ZTE. The operator said the service will initially cover selected areas of Vienna with plans to expand into other network-congested regions around Austria in the coming months.
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Trionow |
3 Austria CEO Jan Trionow told the Austrian newspaper Der Standard that LTE is ready to become a mass market service with the capabilities to compete with fixed broadband for residential customers and SMEs in Austria.
Of note, ZTE will provide infrastructure to enable 3 Austria's network to support LTE and HSPA+ and upgrade the operator's 3G core network to support LTE services. ZTE will also provide management and maintenance for the network. HD voice will also be included within the package of network improvements.
The company is says it will offer LTE in combination with a dongle modem for €49 per month that will include unlimited data usage and a maximum download speed of 100Mbps. Commenting on the launch of LTE, Trionow said that the LTE was ready for service, and he expected the operator's first LTE-enabled smartphone to be available in January 2012.
However, Trionow declined to comment on what, if any, progress had been made with 3 Austria's bid to acquire Orange Austria.
For more:
- see this Der Standard article (translated via Google Translate)
- see this Telegeography article
- see this Telecom Paper article (sub. req.)
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