The European Commission is to spend €18m onresearch
into the future mobile communications technologythat promises speeds a thousand times faster than
today's handsets.
The Long
Term Evolution (LTE)
advanced standard
will deliver 1Gbps internet to handsets.
The decision to invest in the technology builds on the
commission's original and subsequent support 25 years ago for GSM
(Groupe Systeme Mobile). GSM has become the de facto standard for
mobile telephony, with 80% of mobile handsets using it to make and
receive calls.
The money will be available from 1 January 2010. The aim is to
develop technology that will offer
mobile internet speeds up to a hundred times faster than current 3G
networks.
Communications commissioner Viviane Reding said: "LTE
technologies will turn mobile phones into powerful mobile
computers. Millions of new users will get ultra high-speed internet
access on their portable devices, wherever they are. This will
create tremendous opportunities and plenty of space for growing the
digital economy."
Some mobile network operators will put the LTE standard into
commercial operation next year. It provides mobile internet
speeds of up to 100Mbps, ten times faster than 3G mobile
networks.
Mobile operators and manufacturers such as Orange, TeliaSonera,
T-Mobile, AT&T, NTT-DoCoMo, Verizon, Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson,
Huawei and Nokia Siemens Networks have already committed to using
the LTE standard. It is expected to be available commercially in
Sweden and Norway in the first half of 2010.
By 2013, operators worldwide are expected to invest nearly €6bn
in LTE equipment, according to market analysts.
In September, the commission will start to negotiate the details
with project consortia. The new projects are expected to start in
January 2010.
LTE Advanced will deliver mobile broadband speeds up to 1Gbps,
allowing mobile users access to high quality TV or video on
demand.
LTE will use the frequencies freed by the switchover from
analogue to digital TV.
Signals will travel further than with current GSM technology and
reduce the number of antenna sites needed to achieve the same
network coverage. It is hooped this will preserve Europe's
landscapes and reduce energy consumption.
LTE could also bring mobile broadband to less populated regions
and help narrow the digital divide between rural and urban areas.
In late 2008, 23% of people in rural areas of the EU still could
not get a fixed-wire broadband internet connection.
Between 2007 and 2013, the EU plans to invest over €700m into
research on future networks. Half of this budget will be allocated
to wireless technologies that help develop 4G and beyond 4G
networks.
Demonstration of LTE
technology
Image: Martin
Lee/Rex Features