The GSA (Global Suppliers Association) is reporting that over the past 8 months there has been a near 100% increase in the number of operators around the world committing to the LTE standard. There are now 51 network commitments in 24 countries, an increase of 96% over the past 8 months. Not all is rosy in terms of a frequencies however with the EU mainly sticking to 2.6 GHz for LTE, American operators using 700 MHz, and the Japanese using 800 MHz, 1.5 GHz or 1.7 GHz depending on operator. Why is LTE (Long Term Evolution) important? It’s going to be 10x faster than today’s networks, with less latency, and it can scale to support more users. It really is going to be the next generation of wireless. Here is a list of who is working on what:

• Verizon (NYSE: VZ) is deploying LTE in the 700 MHz band. Trial networks are set up in Boston and Seattle, each with 10 LTE sites. Verizon in planning to launch LTE in up to 30 commercial markets by the end 2010, giving coverage to roughly 100 million people, and to deploy a nationwide network by 2013.
• AT&T (NYSE: T) will deploy LTE in 700 MHz and plans to launch LTE in “key markets” during 2011.
• China Mobile is building their TD-SCDMA network so that cell sites and other elements can be upgraded seamlessly to support LTE. TD-LTE is estimate to be commercially available around 2012. China Telecom plans to migrate to LTE.
• Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) Germany is deploying an LTE system using digital dividend (790-862 MHz) spectrum. The government plans to auction 6 blocks of 2×5 MHz Digital Dividend spectrum in Q2 2010.
• In Japan the LTE operators will use 1.5 GHz (DoCoMo and Softbank Mobile), 1.5 GHz + 800 MHz (KDDI), and 1.7 GHz (eMobile). NTT DoCoMo plans to launch a commercial LTE launch in December 2010. They will initially focus on PC usage and will only begin offering dual-mode 3G/LTE handsets in 2011. By 2014 NTT DoCoMo plans to provide LTE service to 50% of the population from around 20,000 base stations at a cost of between $3 to 4 billion. eMobile says their LTE network will launchin September 2010.
• SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM), KTF and LG Telecom are deploying LTE networks in South Korea right now.
• Telstra will deploy LTE in hotspots in Australia, mainly in urban areas in 2.6GHz spectrum, and will fill rural broadband gaps using 700MHz. Neither of these bands has been auctioned yet though.
• Telecom Italia plans to deploy LTE and reported in December 2009 that a technical trial using 14 LTE cell sites on its existing mobile broadband infrastructure in Turin delivered 140 Mbps down.
• TeliaSonera Sweden is deploying LTE using nationwide 2 x 20 MHz 2.6 GHz spectrum. On May 25, 2009 TeliaSonera unveiled the world’s first commercial LTE site, part of the LTE network scheduled to launch in Stockholm in 2010.
• Tele2 Sweden and TeleNor Sweden are jointly building an LTE network. The joint venture includes spectrum sharing in the 900 MHz and 2.6 GHz bands. Launch of LTE services is targeted for end 2010, or when modems are available. By 2013 the operators expect 99% of the Swedish population to have access to mobile broadband at speeds up to 80 Mbps in rural areas and up to 150 Mbps in urban areas.
• TeliaSonera Norway is planning to launch an LTE commercial launch in Oslo in 2010.
• TeleNor has an LTE trial network in Oslo and has also committed to commercial deployment.
• France Telecom (Orange) is trailing LTE and deployment is planned for 2011, subject to availability of (2.6 GHz) spectrum.
• T-Mobile Germany anticipates LTE deployment from 2011, with trials underway this year.
• MetroPCS (USA) plans an LTE launch in 2H 2010.
• Cox (USA) has made plans to deploy LTE in 700 MHz spectrum from 2011.
• Aircell will launch LTE in 2011 to boost capacity of their in-flight network.
• Bell Canada and Telus have deployed a joint HSPA network, which will later be upgraded to LTE. Rogers Wireless is conducting LTE trials right now.
• In Hong Kong 2 x 15 MHz blocks of 2.6 GHz FDD spectrum have been auctioned, and won each by China Mobile, Genius Brand (Hutchison Telecom/PCCW) and CSL Limited.
• SmarTone-Vodafone plans to deploy LTE re-using their GSM (900/1800) spectrum in Hong Kong.
• Smart Communications has conducted the first LTE trial in the Philippines. Piltel is reported to have applied for the remaining 3G licence in the country to deploy LTE services.
• Chunghwa Telecom is firmly committed to LTE, however the spectrum situation in Taiwan is unclear. Deployment is expected to start from around 2012.
• Speaking at the LTE Forum 2009 in Lisbon, Portugal, Telecom CEO Zeinal Bava announced LTE trials would be undertaken in Portugal and Brazil.
• Vodacom is testing LTE in its South Africa and reportedly has 1,000 LTE ready cell sites with launch planned “when handsets become available”.
• VivaCell-MTS in Armenia, is reported to have confirmed plans to deploy LTE in 2010.
• MTS, Uzbekistan will deploy LTE and is setting up a pilot LTE network in Tashkent for testing 2010-2012.
• T-Mobile Austria launched a 60 cell site trial LTE network in Innsbruck in July 2009.
• 3 Austria provided a live LTE demonstration at the European Forum in Alpbach, and on August 25, 2009 announced that upgrading of their entire network for LTE had begun, and that the company will have the technical capability to offer LTE to customers from 2011.
• In Denmark a public consultation on 2.6 GHz is underway. An auction is expected during Q1 2010.
• Telefonica has conducted LTE field tests at its Madrid Demonstrations Center, achieving download speeds over 140 Mbps, and plans to trial LTE on its mobile networks in Argentina, Brazil, Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, and the UK.
• Bouygues Telecom has selected an infrastructure partner for Europe’s first LTE trial in the 1800 MHz band. The trial is scheduled to begin in 2010 at a number of sites in the western part of France.
• An auction for 2.6 GHz spectrum recently closed in Finland and three operators (Elisa, TeliaSonera and DNA) won a piece of it; they all plan to deploy LTE.

As for LTE devices, LG is saying that the first LTE handsets should come to market. Samsung and Nokia (NYSE: NOK) have already demonstrated LTE modems that you’ll soon see sticking out the side of laptops in cafés all around the world.

Telecom Italia and Movincom, the Italian consortium of companies and service providers for the promotion of mobile retailing, have signed an agreement that will let Telecom Italia’s customers use their mobile phones to purchase a wide range of goods and services via Movincom. Starting in 2010, Telecom Italia will be building in an ad hoc application into its new Sim cards. Using this application, directly from their mobile phones, customers will be able to buy tickets for public transport and trains, pay for parking, purchase ski passes, buy tickets for a night out at the theatre or other events, and book hotel rooms. Payment for these services will make use of methods offered by banks who sign up to the venture.

Using a SAT (SIM Application Toolkit) technology solution developed by Telecom Italia, this mobile commerce solution ensures high standards of security and authenticates the phone number from which each transaction originates. Specific menus integrated directly into the Sim card will guide customers through the process and make it quick and easy to make purchases. Orders placed for goods or services are dispatched by a text message generated automatically by the application. The text message features the purchaser’s cellphone number but no sensitive data about the selected method of payment. The configuration-free service will be available on all mobile phones. It will be possible to update the service at any time, as and when new goods and services are added.

The Movincom Consortium currently has more than 650 operational services on board, a figure that is destined to rise to over 1,500 services in seven different market sectors.

“After becoming an indispensable personal communications tool,” says Oscar Cicchetti, Manager of Telecom Italia’s Domestic Market Operations, “the mobile phone is transitioning into a personal gateway to the internet, content and services, ranging from information to entertainment and professional applications. Leveraging the potential of the latest SIM cards and terminals, mobile phones are poised to become a powerful and secure transactions and identity management tool too. Today’s agreement paves the way for this by offering a broad range of services and a secure, straightforward and intuitive method for making purchases.”

“We know that security and a user-friendly purchase experience are vital to the development of mobile commerce via mobile phones. This agreement with Telecom Italia is a major step in that direction,” says Enrico Sponza, Deputy Chairman of the Movincom Consortium. “Banks will have access to an integrated set of operational processes and be able to fast track their entry into the mobile payment business.”

This should be a successful solution all-round, because it does the key thing for service delivery – takes end-to-end control of the user experience, encompassing (in this case) device, network, and service provider(s).

[Via: Telecom Italia]

…And Nokia (NYSE: NOK) has a new partner for its Nokia Messaging scheme – Telecom Italia (NYSE: TI). Starting from the middle of September, the Italian company will offer its customers the Finnish giant’s push-email service along with dedicated service plans.

For instance, with the so called MAXXI Mail plan, TIM customers get 1 GB of storage a month to check their email while on the move at a cost of EUR 4 per month. The offer is valid for both those customers who choose the top-up option, as well as the ones who have a contract. In addition, there will be other plans specially designed for business customers.

Again, with the Nokia Messaging application installed, users can check their email from various webmail providers (Yahoo, Google (NSDQ: GOOG), HotMail, etc), as well as country-specific accounts such as alice.it, TIN.it and virgilio.it. In total, users can have up to ten personal email accounts pushed directly to their Nokia device…

In an effort to spur competition, Argentine anti-trust authorities ordered Telecom Italia (NYSE: TI) to sell its telephone holdings in the count­ry to prevent Spain’s Telefonica (NYSE: TEF) from dominating the local market. More specifically, the Italian company has been given one year to sell its 50% stake in Sofora, the holding company that controls Telecom Argentina.

According to the National Commission for the Defense of Competition (CNDC), Telefonica has assumed a “dominant position” in the market, noting that the Spanish group controls Telefonica Argentina and through its stake in Telecom Italia, also has an indirect stake in rival operator Telecom Argentina.

Of course, Telecom Italia denied that Telefonica’s minority stake in the telco consortium — which in turn owns 24.5% of the Italian company — has no impact on the Argentine market…

[Via: CellularNews]

Telecom Italia (NYSE: TI) has launched the first city-wide mobile broadband service offering peak speeds of 28 Mbps/s in download and 5.8 Mbps/s in upload. The service has launched in Milan, and is set to hit Rome in October.

Ericsson provided the equipment for the network upgrade, which [network] BTW is based on MIMO technology (Multiple Input and Multiple Output). Mentioned solution relies on two radio antennas at the same time to transmit data to a single consumer, making such high speeds possible.

After the two major cities, Telecom Italia plans to offer the upgraded mobile broadband service at national level. That’s, of course, until they start rolling out LTE network, which is also being made in partnership with Ericsson.

[Via: CellularNews]

Adding the HTC Magic is obviously not enough for Italy’s TIM. They decided to follow the footsteps of Vodafone by including the Nokia (NYSE: NOK) N97 in their offering, too. The problem, however, is the price — HTC Magic will be available for 449 EUR, while Nokia’s flagship device will be sold for whooping 150 EUR more. If we would compare the two devices in an “apples to apples” manner, that would mean that QWERTY keyboard costs 150 EUR, which is kinda ridiculous. On the other hand, we’re talking about two different platforms, each having its loyal followers.

Finally, I’m guessing the current steep price is for hard-core Nokia fanboys and will go down with the time. We’ll see…

[Via: BGR]

Aside from offering the first Android handset, HTC Dream aka T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) G1, Italy’s TIM will be adding the second one as well. Of course, we’re talking about the all-touchscreen HTC Magic, which is set to hit the operator’s portfolio in the coming days or weeks. The exact release date is unknown, but we do have the price. It’s 449 EUR, which is about $595. It’s kinda steep, but I guess that’s the price without any contract signing activities, though you’ll certainly want some data plan with this baby, right?

[via: Engadget Mobile, Technophone]

Good news for our readers from Italy. The leading telecom company in the country, Telecom Italia (NYSE: TI), along with Ericsson have already started deploying a new mobile network technology of 28 Mbps speeds in early 2009. The deployment will include the so called MIMO (Multiple Input and Multiple Output) technology and Milan will be the first Italian “ultra-broadband city,” enjoying speeds of up to 28 Mbps in download and 5.8 Mbps in upload.

From the official release:

Telecom Italia will be first in Italy to deploy live mobile broadband speeds of 28 Mbps with Ericsson’s mobile network technology. Tests in Telecom Italia’s mobile network will start early 2009 and initial deployment is planned in the city of Milan in June 2009. National coverage will follow in the second half of 2009.

As expected, not every part of the city/country will be able to use the maximum speeds. Actual download speeds can be less and will vary due to congestion, distance from the cell, local conditions, hardware, software and other factors. Still, it’s good to see these things rolling out.

TIM has announced the BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) 8220 for Brazil, but without any pricing or dates, unfortunately. TIM has already released the Pearl Flip in Italy, so it’s only a matter of time before the 8220 reaches satellites in Brazil and Turkey. It was a little curious to see the site previously calling the 8220 the Kickstart (even though I totally love that name over the Pearl Flip), and their store image watermarked with “CONFIDENTIAL”. It sounds like these guys are getting most of their info from us bloggers.

[via BlackBerry World BR]

TIM has scored an exclusive deal with LG to launch the LG KS360 Messenger phone in Italy, which they are offering as the LG Tribe. The slide-out QWERTY keyboard equipped feature phone is targeted towards “generation Web 2.0,” and among other things also packs a 2.4-inch QVGA screen, 2 megapixel camera, media player, FM radio, Bluetooth, 15MB of internal memory that is further expandable with microSD memory cards.

And that’s about all we can say about this phone. Lack of 3G may kill the deal for many, but for staying in touch with your buddies on the go – it provides a solid bang for the buck. And while we’re talking about pricing, TIM is offering the Tribe for 149 EUR with a contract, which also includes a Windows Live Messenger service that’s free for two months. Afterwards, it costs 3 to 6 EUR a month for continued access…

[Via: Unwired View]