Japan's NTT DoCoMo said it began operation of its LTE network in the Tokyo area in a move to verify operation prior to a full-scale launch of commercial LTE service in December.
The verification process is testing LTE for data speed, latency, stability of inter-cell handover and other conditions required for commercial operation. DoCoMo said it expects to confirm 5 MHz-bandwidth throughput for 37.5-Mbps downlinks and 12.5-Mbps uplinks and, later, 10 MHz-bandwidth throughput for 75-Mbps downlinks and 25-Mbps uplinks in select test areas.
Operating at 2 GHz, the network includes dual-mode WCDMA/LTE base stations, the core network equipment and LTE-enabled mobile devices. Some of DoCoMo's existing W-CDMA base stations are already LTE equipped and can be upgraded to LTE by adding LTE base station digital equipment.
For more:
-see this EETimes article
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