First commercial LTE service launched in Stockholm and Oslo

TeliaSonera’s mobile broadband commercial network in Stockholm is now the fastest and largest in the world, due to the deployment of LTE (long term evolution). Huawei, and TeliaSonera, the largest telecoms operator in Scandinavia and the Baltic countries, have also jointly announced the deployment of the first LTE commercial network in Oslo, Norway. The 4G services launched today offer maximum speed of up to 100 Mbps, which is about 10 times faster than existing 3G networks.

LTE, the next-generation mobile communication technology, is designed for transferring huge amounts of data in a most cost- and energy-efficient way, optimising use of the frequency band and realising fibre-like access speed over the air. With decreased latency, consumers can now enjoy whatever service is available online: HD video, network games and whatever the imagination can imagine. These applications cannot be realised in current 3G networks.

Kenneth Karlberg, President and Head of Mobility Services, TeliaSonera, says: "We are very proud to be the first operator in the world to offer our customers 4G services. Thanks to the successful cooperation with Ericsson and Huawei, we can offer 4G to our customers in Stockholm and Oslo earlier than originally planned.

Carl-Henric Svanberg, President and CEO of Ericsson, said, "The new era of mobile broadband has just begun today. With LTE, so-called 4G, your mobile broadband experience is moving to unequalled levels. The LTE speed gives you an absolutely effortless feeling of broadband access.”

Downtown Stockholm is completely covered with the Ericsson LTE network, making it the largest LTE deployment to date. TeliaSonera's subscribers are the first to have access to the LTE service by commercially available Samsung LTE dongles.

Huawei delivered both network infrastructures and services to TeliaSonera, such as access network, core network, operation support system, and network planning and optimisation. Its field-proven, fourth-generation base stations and SAE solution ensure the stability of the network, and enable fast deployment.

Yu Chengdong, President of Huawei Europe, said: “In partnership with TeliaSonera, Huawei began this journey 11 months ago to introduce the most advanced mobile broadband technology on earth to the residents of Oslo. This milestone was achieved in such a relatively short period, reflecting our unwavering commitment towards accelerating the commercialisation of LTE/SAE solutions. Operators such as TeliaSonera are now able to fully realise economic benefits from the many new applications that can only be made possible with ultra broadband services.”

Ericsson provides TeliaSonera with an LTE system (4G), including LTE Radio Base stations, which are part of the new RBS6000 series, an Evolved Packet Core network, a mobile backhaul solution including SmartEdge 1200 routers, the latest EDA multi-access aggregation switch and an operation and management system. The LTE system is based on 3GPP standards for LTE radio technology and evolved packet core (EPC) technology.

Jacqueline Hey, CEO, Ericsson ANZ, said, “Around the world we are seeing data traffic growing at around 12% per month, and LTE will play an important role to help operators manage this growth efficiently, as well as offering exciting increases in average data speeds. As people experience faster speeds and the convenience of mobility, they just want more, and as Australians and New Zealanders come to enjoy the benefits of faster wireline networks, they will demand more of their mobile service for business and personal productivity as well as convenience and entertainment services.”

There are currently 51 operator commitments to LTE globally, of which 19 are expected to enter into commercial service during 2010.