LTE Awards 2012 – Category 3 Preview: Most Significant Development for Commercial LTE Network by an Operator

Now in its third year, the annual LTE Awards, in associated with Telecoms.com, are now established as the leading event of its kind. The LTE Awards are designed to recognise, celebrate and reward the great innovations that are being made in the industry, and this year are co-located with the LTE World Summit 2012, taking place on the evening of the 23rd, at the El Xalet, Montjuic, Barcelona. The event is sure to be a glamorous and entertaining evening for all participants.

The winners, from a varied selection of 10 categories and 48 shortlisted companies, will be picked by an independent panel of judges, consisting of leading industry experts, during a two week assessment process.

To whet your appetite for the event here is a preview of Category 3: Most Significant Development for Commercial LTE Network by an Operator.

This award recognises the progress by operators in deploying LTE.

CSL Limited

CSL announced that its network was ready for commercial service in October 2010. It was the first LTE network in Asia and the first 4G LTE dual-channel network in the world. 4G LTE was deployed across the entire Hong Kong market, with deployment emphasis placed in the areas where mobile broadband traffic is heaviest.  Key aspects of the innovation are, development and deployment of quad-band antennas, Software Defined Radio (SDR), CSFB for LTE smartphones and common 2G/3G/LTE packet core. CSL has launched USB modem, a pocket wifi and a smartphone that support LTE. CSL also launched new volume based pricing models with one set of service plans for both 4G and 3G to enhance market adoption. Contracted revenue for new mobile broadband customers was up by 50 per cent compared against the three months average before the service launch.

Etisalat

Etisalat launched the first mobile LTE network in the UAE in November 20, integrating 1000 base station with overlap to the 3G network using same SIM card. The deployment covers 80 per cent of the populated area of UAE. The LTE launch focussed on the high volume hotspots and targeted business users. An extensive indoor rollout for consumers is planned to cover the main shopping malls, airports, high rise towers such as Burj Khalifa, Dubai international Airport and Dubai mall. The launch used Huawid USB modem and routers and Samsung Galaxy smartphones and tablets. New customers receive a USB device for free or discounted when subscribing to Etisalat’s My DataPlan bundles on a six or 12 months contract. The My DataPlan bundles provide customers with a data allowance of up to 20GB, the largest in the UAE.

KT Corp

KT launched commercial LTE service in South Korea on 3rd January 2012 aiming to roll out the service nationwide to 84 cities by the end of April 2012. The service is called WARP to bring to mind faster-than-light propulsion systems from sci-fi such as Star Wars. The system is designed using a cloud-based radio access technology bringing together 144 base stations under on virtual station. The serive launched with four devices and plans to provide 18 by the end of 2012. As of Feb 2012, LTE smartphones were driving revenue and ARPU 1.43 fold higher than other smartphones.

Smart Communications

Smart Communications Inc. officially launched its 4G LTE network in April 2011 in over 30 locations in the Philippines. A key beneficiary of the launch was SHINE, an mHealth service operated by Smart. SHINE is a hosted electronic health information and referral system that can be accessed by mobile phone or a computer with internet connectivity. It enables doctors, nurses, and midwives to record patient encounters, easily find and retrieve patient records, remind patients and healthcare providers, facilitate referrals among facilities, and more efficiently generate government required reports. The LTE network facilitates speedier and more reliable access to this critical system on mobile devices.

The LTE World Summit is taking place on the 23-24 May 2012 CCIB, Barcelona, Spain. Click here to register your http://ws.lteconference.com/interest.