Joint venture extends LTE trials

Everything Everywhere, the joint venture between British mobile network operators T-Mobile UK and Orange UK, will extend LTE trials it is undertaking with BT Wholesale, TeleGeography CommsUpdate reported.

The joint venture and BT announced last May plans to launch a pilot of the 4G technology in the St Newlyn East area of Cornwall during the second half of 2011, with the tests initially expected to run for a three-month period.

The duo said the testing was to determine the capabilities of LTE in the 800MHz band for customers in rural regions that either receive only slow fixed line broadband or cannot be connected at all via traditional fixed line technologies due to cost or geographical difficulties.

Trials began in October. Everything Everywhere notes that since then some 180 customers living in the area have been using the wireless broadband service.

United Kingdom telecoms regulator Ofcom has signed off on approval for the trials to run until the end of June 2012, to allow the operators to continue examining the use of LTE in rural regions.