LTE might stand for Long Term Evolution but its arrival is expected imminently, according to telecoms analysts.
Juniper Research is predicting that 4G mobile broadband networks will have 100 million subscribers worldwide within five years.
It even expects 'millions' of subscribers within just two years, primarily businesses that require LTE's blistering 100Mbps (minimum!) data rates.
Built-in broadband
Juniper expects LTE technology to be embedded within consumer devices such as MP3 players, netbooks and digital cameras, and forecasts that consumers will use LTE to connect equipment within the home rather than mobile gear, beginning in 2012 or 2013.
The company estimates that embedded LTE chipsets will become the second most popular means of internet access, behind SIM cards, by 2014.
Analyst Howard Wilcox said: "There is intense activity in the LTE market right now, with in excess of 30 network operator commitments. Sony has announced that network connectivity is one of three top priority actions."
The current specification of LTE calls for peak download data rates of 325Mbps, and uploads at 86Mbps, with very little (under 5ms) latency, making it suitable for HD video streaming and online gaming.
Your comments (4) Click to add a new comment
dq46
July 8th
4. 5 milesecond latency? Well that might be possuble if you are close to PoP (point of presense) that actually hosts the content you are after. If the content you want is on the other side of the world you could be looking at 300-400ms - not a lot one can do about the speed of light I'm afraid!
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gandharva81
July 8th
3. Wow, really impressive speed and also free of tension during chatting browsing.
Really unbelievable but we have to believe.
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watcherzero
July 8th
2. Impressive speeds, but think how expensive current mobile internet is...
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jmace86
July 7th
1. 325Mbps/86Mbps download/upload speeds?!
Damn, that is fast!
When is this scheduled to launch in the UK? I am rather looking forward to that day!
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