TeliaSonera demos live LTE connection

Nordic carrier TeliaSonera’s Norwegian subsidiary Netcom, claimed Thursday to have achieved a world first by connecting to the internet over a live commercial LTE network in Oslo.

Engineers from Chinese vendor Huawei, which supplied the kit, and Netcom posted a short video of the event to YouTube on Wednesday, which doesn’t show much other than some cheering and back slapping. As one wag pointed out, the footage raises the question as to why there is an Ethernet cable connected to the LTE-equipped laptop used to make the connection.

Netcom said the showcase of the live LTE network in Oslo, between a laptop with a 4G modem and public internet access, included downloading of high resolution photos, music, movies and mobile business applications, at a speed much quicker than most available fixed internet accesses of today.

By adopting MIMO and OFDM technologies in LTE, the download peak data rate can reach 150Mbps in one LTE cell with multiple terminals, the companies said.

In January TeliaSonera announced that it had tapped Swedish vendor Ericsson and Huawei for the roll out of LTE networks in Sweden and Norway. Ericsson said it has already started the rollout in Stockholm, Sweden and is set for commercial launch 2010.

However,  Dominic Rowles, business unit director at test and measurement firm Anite, pointed argued this week that the industry should stop focusing on which technology, LTE, WiMAX or HSPA+ wins the “4G war”.

Increasingly polarised articles are being published, arguing that Long Term Evolution (LTE) is the 4G technology of choice, or that WiMAX is racing ahead, or that HSPA+ will suffice, Rowles said. “The question that we should ask of the authors is “Who cares who wins?” The torrent of propaganda washes over the essence of mobile broadband and puts sustained growth in the mobile industry at risk. By generating fear, uncertainty and doubt, the mobile broadband “battle” diverts attention away from the critical issues that will determine the success or failure of these evolving technologies.”

Read Dominic Rowles’ comment on the 4G war in Front Line