LTE, or Long Term Evolution, is a a 4th generation (4G) mobile broadband standard and is aimed to be the successor to the 3G technologies GSM/UMTS. It is currently in development and is considered the competitor to WiMax. Carriers will include Verizon, T-Mobile, Vodafone, AT&T, and many more worldwide.
This technology will provide broadband services wirelessly (like EVDO), and will transmit signals via radio platform. You will need an LTE modem to access the network, which can be in USB format, ExpressCard, PCMCIA, or embedded in a laptop. It will also likely be featured as the internet connection on PDAs and phones.
This network, which is promising peak download rates of up 100Mbps, will provide an alternative to DSL, cable, satellite, and dial-up internet. It will free people from the burden of having to find a WiFi hotspot when they are on the road – as long as you have an LTE modem, you can connect to the internet anywhere in the service provider’s coverage area.
Key Details:
- Downlink peak data rates up to 100 Mbps with 20 MHz bandwidth
- Uplink peak data rates up to 50 Mbps with 20 MHz bandwidth
- Reduced latency to 10 msec round-trip time between user equipment and base station
LTE deployment won’t be widely available until about 2012.
