TeliaSonera touts first LTE '4G' launch
Residents of Oslo and Stockholm are set to get the zippy mobile broadband service, though not necessarily at the official 4G minimum speed.
The world's first commercial LTE mobile broadband services went live in Oslo and Stockholm on Monday, through the Scandinavian operator TeliaSonera.
Offering theoretical maximum speeds of 100Mbps and real-world speeds of 20Mbp to 80Mbps, the services are about 10 times faster than predecessor HSDPA. As of Tuesday, people in Norway and Sweden will be able to buy a mobile dongle that supports the long-term evolution (LTE) of 3G. (TeliaSonera is calling its network "4G," but the official IEEE definition of that term cites 100Mbps as a minimum speed.)
"We are very proud to be the first operator in the world to offer our customers 4G services," TeliaSonera mobility chief Kenneth Karlberg said in a statement Monday. "The use of mobile broadband in the Nordic countries is exploding, and customers need higher speeds and capacity."
Read more of "First '4G' services go live in Norway, Sweden at ZDNet UK.